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Deleting a Competitors Craigslist Ads - Unethical Practice By Some

By
Real Estate Agent with KW North Sound 103527

This morning, I am doing the usual follow up, answering emails and voicemails, reviewing yesterday's web traffic, and double checking of our seller's ad placement. One place I advertise is on Craigslist. No surprise there as many real estate brokers use Craigslist as a form of prospecting and seller advertising. Over the past 6 months I have noticed a trend, which I do think is done by competing brokers and not Craigslist consumers, is to flag competing ads for deletion.

Other brokers I know in Washington experience the same phenomenon with their accounts and here is a screenshot of my account from this morning's work.

As you can see, the ads are being deleted shortly after posting which leads me to believe a competing broker is having some fun at my expense. Unknown to them, I am steaming and the only venting, source without swearing up a storm, is to write a blog sharing the frustration caused. As far as I know, there are no safe guards or protection when it comes to flagging ads for deletion as anyone can log in and hit the flag button.

If people where paying for Craigslist ads then I could there be more safe quards, however, all real estate ads can be posted for free. With that said, it doesn't lessen the frustration nor decrease the work load my sellers expect of a full service real estate team.

As I continued to write this post, I continued to repost with the same exact results.

I also posted:

Does this happen in your market? How do you manage it? Do you want to face punch or call in a favor to Chuck Norris to curb this practice? I sure do.

Comments (10)

Jason Sardi
Auto & Home & Life Insurance throughout North Carolina - Charlotte, NC
Your Agent for Life

Wow Toby.  Sounds to me like something fishy is going on.  You may want to reach out to craigslist on this one.

Aug 28, 2012 04:27 AM
Dianne Deming
RE/MAX Realty Group - Rehoboth Beach, DE

We do not advertise on Craig's List because we have a problem with homes for sale being snagged and listed For Rent by scammers.  People are asked to send in a deposit for their vacation week, and then come to town to find no such vacation home exists for rent--it was a For Sale listing that had been relisted as a rental.  Deposit gone.  Vacation over.  Very sad.

Aug 28, 2012 04:28 AM
Ken Brandon
Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage (Jacksonville, NC) - Jacksonville, NC
Camp Lejeune, Jacksonville, NC

Zig Ziglar said something that is, unfortunately, applicable here. "...Remember the only taste of success some people get is when they take a bite out of you."

Aug 28, 2012 05:57 AM
Toby Barnett
KW North Sound - Marysville, WA
Toby Barnett

@JasonSardi, yea it is fishy, however, not sure what can be done about it.

@DianneDeming, One of my friends recently got scammed off CL for a $300 deposit on a vacation rental. I'm surprised people don't even go further research prior to giving money to people. Another scam we have seen is in rental application fees where the prospecting tenant gives money to the so called property manager only to find they had nothing to do with the property.

@KenBrandon, that is too fitting and it's sad we there are people out there that want the short cut.

 

Aug 28, 2012 06:04 AM
Franklin & Brentwood, TN Homes Mike Nastri
Keller Williams Realty - Franklin, TN
It matters to us as much as it matters to you.

Have been experiencing this and it is spreading to other agents.  Craigslist was such a good source of leads but someone has all but shut it off for me. It is spreading to other agents too.  Somebody is just sniping us one by one.

Jan 08, 2013 06:27 AM
Toby Barnett
KW North Sound - Marysville, WA
Toby Barnett

Agents, or their admins, should know that Craigslist is a big enough pond to play in. I don't care much for a Craigslist, however, our clients want a presence their. Keep your hopes up and keep pluggin along. One item to think about is creating a new style of ad that doesn't look like the older version as it will be harder discern your ads from others. I've gone as far as posting ads that state "stop deleting my ads".

Jan 09, 2013 04:14 AM
Jake Bodnar
Arizona Housing Experts - Phoenix, AZ

Craigslist isnt operated by humans. If you try to contact any employee there with 'Who is flagging my ads and why?' you will just get an automated email response of their community guidelines. No one will call you. Ever.

I already commented on a similar blog earlier and someone suggested i get CraigslistAdTracker. Its $15/mo and allows you to not only see when and how often your ad's are being seen but also to get the IP address of your flagger which you could use to track down this ad sniper. They let you try it free for two weeks but the $15 is more than worth it for all the extra features. Signed up today and am anxious to play with it when I get into the office tomorrow.

Apr 02, 2013 03:46 PM
Toby Barnett
KW North Sound - Marysville, WA
Toby Barnett

I disagree with Craigslist not being operated by humans, www.craigslist.org/about/craigslist_is_hiring. But with that said, there is no controls in the flagging system that momintors who is reporting and what the violation is. Its just flag and delete system.

I couldn't see spending $15 just to track leads that much out of Craigslist. Maybe others have better luck with qualified applicants but personally I could care less. It makes my sellers feel good I am advertising there and I do get click through to my main website.

I would be curious to know how robust the system is and if you feel it is of value.

Apr 03, 2013 03:53 AM
Anonymous
John

Craigslist Flagging Service

http://adflaggingservice.com/

Mar 15, 2017 07:55 AM
#9
Toby Barnett
KW North Sound - Marysville, WA
Toby Barnett

Seems like website that can be abused easily.

Mar 15, 2017 11:59 AM