Craigslist as an ebay alternative

[Colt]

I was one of the many who closed their ebay and paypal accounts several months ago.

While I've found Gunsamerica and Gunbroker to be good alternates for gun-related items, a replacement site for classified/auctioned general merchandise proved harder to find.

I recently used craigslist to buy one item and sell another. There is no listing or buying fee, and you don't have to open an account. Craigslist makes their money by charging for job postings.

2 things that I've learned about Craigslist that you may want to keep in mind, however:

- They are 25% owned by ebay
- They have a spin-off foundation, the mission of which is "community outreach." It claims to be a place to volunteer and make your community better, but has ties with, and links on the foundation websites to, anti-gun and other socially "progressive" institutions. There are links to the foundation and its child sites on the main craigslist webpage.

Just an FYI from my own experience and research.

 

[kd7nqb]

The also close any ad's dealing with firearms. There pretty leftist, they are very ok with "420 friendly" personal ad's, erotic services ad's but heaven forbid you advertise a gun.

 

[saltpepperPA]

I think this is a way to cover them... they don't bother to look up the laws.

 

[MinnMooney]

I still use eBay and Paypal occasionally because I haven't been able to find a decent alternative. Some are probably asking, "Where ae your principals?" Well, what are the views/beliefs of J.C.Penny's, Sears, K-Mart, Target, Macy's, Herberger's and others that we all shop at? Do they believe in abortion, stem-cell research, exorbatent 'user-fees' (taxes), the Iraq war? I don't know, either. If we didn't shop at any store that held a belief different than ours, it could be difficult getting goods!

 

[AntiqueCollector]

No saltpepperPA, they know illegal porn and such has been sold through craigslist and IIRC went to court over some issue along those lines, but the founder is rabidly anti-gun and doesn't want them listed...

 

[saltpepperPA]

fair enough.

 

[chris in va]

...and I believe it's based in San Francisco.

That being said I've bought and sold many non-firearm items on Craigslist. Motorcycles mainly.

 

[blo0dyhatchet]

I have bought and sold guns on craigslist. You just have to do it before they get flagged. lol

 

[thorn726]

Craig -is pretty much the everything SF you guys hate.

also the bigger issue , especially given the HUGE usage of craigslist here in SF bay area

guns for sale would equal stolen guns for sale.

there's no regulation, no identification. all you need to post is an email addr.
totally anon

forget the porn type stuff, there is lots of victimless/ moral crime on craig's.

WHAT blows is how much actual stolen property more than likely ends up on there. laptops, car stereos, etc. not cool.

besides the general anti-gun sentiment of Craig and the rest of the idiots running CL (craigslist)
there is also California law- who use CL as a sting site frequently, as well as other states
there is just plain the fact that it is not the best idea to facilitate anonymous
weapons transactions.

OR, leave your gun on the seat of your car in SF and see how long it takes to find it on CL

in states with less rules, it may be feasible but in Cal, CL would only serve as a way to get around the law

 

[Geronimo45]

They have a spin-off foundation, the mission of which is "community outreach."

Community outreach? Craigslist?

Heh. Some of that 'community outreach' charges by the hour. Extra charge for housecalls.

 

[PPGMD]

Heh. Some of that 'community outreach' charges by the hour. Extra charge for housecalls.

Well they have to be good for the community they don't charge money, they charge "roses."

 

[Scanr]

I have bought and sold guns on craigslist. You just have to do it before they get flagged. lol

How you get around it is to put your email addy in the title or disguise your ad:

Remington ATV with a 30.06 motor, barely used only about 50 rd miles.

 

[akodo]

I saw an interview with the Craig. His stance was that you cannot stop criminal activity on line so you should attempt to control it and keep it in certain areas, but truely terrible action, like using racial slurs or selling guns needs to be constantly patroled for and stomped out. They then cut away from the talking heads and showed Craig at a computer banning some guy for using the N word.

Using codewords many many drugs are sold over craigslist.
Using codewords to denote prices (roses = dollars) prostitutes sell their services. There have been a lot of local busts here were pimps were bringing in underage girls and using craigslist to advertise them. (they weren't advertised as underage, they just were underage)

So yes, you can probably come up with some gun slang to avoid his and his worker's radar, but I personally would rather use a poorly thought out system like gunbroker or whatnot than a system that is headed by that Craig

 

[cpttango30]

I have looked on the crigs list for my area and it is full of guns for sale? Guns compound bows and many other items used for shooting and hunting.

You can also pick up a tranny(Not a transmission), or if your looking for a women with an STD the same as yours well you can get them there too.

 

[atblis]

Gunbroker

Gunbroker is about it. I use them. No complaints. There's some dealers and such that have multiple adds, it's really easy to filter those out. Find a word that's unique to their adds and simply put that word with a minus sign in front of it in your search.

It's basically ebay for guns.

 

[Dick1911]

Gunbroker works for me.

I understand that Craigslist is now owned by eBay so I'm not surprised if they flag any guns.