Even though I have been using Craigslist to buy stuff locally for a long time, yesterday was the first time I sold something. A Lexmark Color printer. We sold it within a day of listing it.
Craigslist has adopted the less is more principal in terms of design, features, etc. ut, for the power users it’s interface can be limiting at times. We have looked at a Craigslist alternative before (Crgslst.com) but it has been blocked. I have found a few more alternatives now.
CLHack.com – A nifty javascript driven web interface
Clhack.com provides a familiar Windows Explorer look in teh web with the States and Cities presented in a folder hierarchy structure.
Once you dig into the United States or Canada, the state/province, the city, it lists the various categories under the city. Clicking on US -> Michigan -> Lansing -> Cars+Trucks look like the picture. Plus, the pictures zoom out when you mouse over it.
You have the option to see the listing with pictures (default) or all listings. You can search through the listings, choose to search only the titles and set a min or max price or both.
I also like the fact that the whole interface is tabbed. Which means you can keep the existing searches open and start a new search in a different tab. This means i can search for an item across cities or even states in different tabs.It even remembered my last search tab when I closed and re-opened the tab in Firefox.
Now, let’s take a look at a desktop alternative.
CraigsPal – Advanced Craigslist Search
Now, if you are looking for something beyond just a nice looking interface than the 90’s look of the original, CraigsPal might fit the bill. CraigsPal is a Windows based desktop software that brings additional features like
- Highly customized filtered content
- Multi-city, multi-state search
- Ability to remove listings containing certain words
- Browsing with keyboard shortcuts
- Spam flagging
CraigsPal comes in free and paid versions ($29.99). With the paid version, you get additional features like
- fully automated search
- instant notifier for search results
- email/mobile notifier
The free version is pretty useful too although it has ads on one side. It can be very useful if you are on Craigslist everyday looking for stuff in various cities.
Search All Craig’s
If you are quickly looking up stuff though and you want to get listings of a particular item no matter where they are in the country, like a freelance job, Search All Craigs can help. All Craigs is a Google Custom Search engine, just like the WordPress Custom Search engine I put together. It is helpful while searching across the country for something but its helpfulness ends there.
You don’t get image previews or advanced filtering capabilty you get with the other 2. But, someone took the trouble to put this together and is definitely worth a mention.
Craigslist is an excellent place to find some items at a steal. Using a powerful visual interfaces such as these could make you a Craigslist ninja and zap items or get gigs before others can. Do you have any Craigslist secrets you would like to share with us? Comment away.
true. i appreciate the simplicity of the site, but at times, it just feels a bit too limiting.
koujis last blog post..haiku poem: war (doctrine)
I had no idea anything like this existed. Incredible!! I wonder how CL feels about people scraping their site to make these different interfaces.
Andrew. Virginia Lawyer.s last blog post..Can You Call Your Lawyer?
CraigsPal looks pretty slick, will have two look into it further.
John Edwardss last blog post..Baltimore Real Estate
Cool, Craigslist can definitely use more features.
This “living in fear” shit is getting old.
Wow! I use craigslist all the time, but didn’t realize there was actually a way you could change how it looks! I will have to check these out! Thanks!
Cool ideas – it’s a shame CraigsList hasn’t (yet) become more popular in the UK. Adoption here seems quite slow
Jons last blog post..Internet Salon Marketing – Google Maps UK adds traffic information
Awesome! I love CraigsPal !!!!
There is another tool at http://www.craigstoolbox.com. It is unique because it allows you to use Craigslist like normal. WITH ONE BIG EXCEPTION. It shows images in the search results.
I run a new Startup called MidwestAds.Net. It is similar to Craigslist, but contains no Adult content.
It includes all the basic listings- Free Stuff/ Employment/Community Events/Real Estate/Autos/Etc.
Try it out!
Man the CraigsPal program looks like a winner! C’mon multi city searches, usually when I look for something I just check my city and give up after that..
Lockes last blog post..How to Increase Google Page Rank | What is Link Juice?