The Great Craigslist Experiment Of '08

Status
Not open for further replies.
H

HaskinsElectric

Banned
Location
Helping K8MHZ demo a kitchen.
For the last 2 weeks, I've been posting 15 times a day in the skilled trades section of Craigslist. With so many posts, my ads get flagged down a lot, but I always appear on the top when searching for electricians, etc.

I am paying a posting company $1 per post to post these ads. This company in turn pays kids in 3rd world countries .25 for every post they make.

On average, I've been getting one call every other day from all this effort and the calls are so idiotic that I haven't actually done a single job. Yesterday someone wanted a dimmer switch replaced, I said I'd do it for $99, they said someone else quoted $10.

A couple of days ago someone wanted me to come out and bid a job that was basically putting a cover on an LB. They said they were getting 3 estimates.

Another person wanted a dimmer switch and 2 sconce lights cut in, I charge $195 for every item I cut in ($585 + material), they were outraged and said that it was an "easy 2 hour" job and quickly hung up.

I have learned that Craigslist is the absolute bottom of the barrel and only the worst, most unqualified scumbags can actually make a living by advertising on it.

The whole experience has been extremely unpleasant.
 
For $210 it's still way cheaper than running an ad in the Sunday paper on the weekends, and you probably got about the same result.
 
I recently ran a few ads on craigs' .....

HaskinsElectric said:
The whole experience has been extremely unpleasant.
Click to expand...

My experience was just the opposite ~ my phone never rang :D
 
OK, here's a typical CL ad by a "roofer"

OK, here's a typical CL ad by a "roofer"

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/sks/594472579.html

Around the cloc'k roofing we do
ridgecaps
hotmop
torch down
shingels
tile
wood shak
tuneups n much more 20% discount in sfv area $99 doller special stop leak
call for free eset. (818)454-4567 vito

* License info: Unlicensed

Please note that he can't even spell the word "dollar", and he can't even spell the roofing materials he installs. This is the type of guy who does well on CL...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Richard, I understand your pain, but we are not going to turn this into a link posting thread.

What I have done was send the handyman / moonlighter link to the local electrical inspector who then contacted them.

In NC you must be licensed to charge for electrical work regardless of how small, I don't know CA laws or statutes.

Roger
 
HaskinsElectric said:
Sorry about that, I was really getting on quite a roll... ;)
Click to expand...

Yeah you were, :) and to be clear, I do understand your frustration, I really do.

Roger
 
I have posted on CL before. Have gotten a few responses, but nothing panned out for work, though.

OTOH, I scour all the skilled trade ads and look for remodelers & builders that advertise there as well. I drop them a short email letting them know of my services. I've picked up two small remodelers that way. Not a ton of work, mind you, but a couple of basement finishes.....
 
My wife thought it would be a good idea to put me on craigs list as she heard about it from a friend. I got one call went to see the job and talk to the guy. it was for an estimate on a house he was "thinking" to buy and flip. I found this out at the house. I told my wife to take me off the site "Right this minute"
 
I try on CL when its slow. I have gotten a few decent jobs from it. Like you said mostly lowballers. Word of mouth is the best, but until that happens I did anything it took to make it. Always charge what your worth.:D :D
 
i have never tried craigslist for advertising electrical services, but i have both bought and sold tools and materials on it and have never had a problem. one contractor bought over twenty thousand dollars worth of tools and he came from canada to florida to pick them up!! so i know it gets a lot of attention!

ps: i tried to talk mike holt into adding a section for contractors to buy and sell materials and tools but he wasn't interested. i thought it would be a great service to the members!!
 
Last edited:
My daughter and her husband got the greatest deal I've ever seen for a toy for their 2-year old son from a CL ad. It was a castle about the size of a 3 foot cube, and it has all the pieces and characters and functioning doors and all. $5.00. He loves it.

That said, I wouldn't look to CL for a handyman, and I won't advertise my engineering services that way either. ;)
 
I spent the last month dealing with plenty of useless internet advertising, online yellow pages, & maps. I dealt with Online Listing companies, Pay-per call, & Pay-per clicks. I finally battled craigslist.org skilled trades section for several days last week. Craigslist was especially agravating after being flagged and auto-deleted I had to repost 2-3 times per day just to keep an ad going.

The craigslist FREE skilled service ads were scrolling my computer screen every hour with new ads. I'd estimate half of those were collectively flagged & deleted by the members within 4 hours. Different sellers of the same service were typically within 5-10 lines apart, and the 100 ad per page limit was filling up about every 12 hours.

With perfect compliance to the web site's Terms of Use and local laws, I quickly suspected other members were the primary readers responsible for collective flags & auto deletions.

As a retalitory experiment, I posted new ads offering "free electrical", "slave for a day", etc.. After several days of keeping at least one ad active at all times, I never received any takers, except further auto-deletions from member flags, then reposts by me.

Either the sellers outnumber the buyers by a substantial margin, or buyers go with their first call, without checking similar service providers appearing on the same page.

Dealing with craigslist enraged me, consumed the majority of my early mornings and evenings for several days; and could do so indeffinately if more promising advertising did not exist.

After the weekend, I collected every local publication available at grocery stores, gas stations, laundry mats, and my local library. I have become a recovering addict of craigslist. Perhaps never cured, but out of sight & mind within a sober living, brick & mortar, advertising program.
 
HaskinsElectric said:
For the last 2 weeks, I've been posting 15 times a day in the skilled trades section of Craigslist. With so many posts, my ads get flagged down a lot, but I always appear on the top when searching for electricians, etc.

.
Click to expand...


Soooo you don't like the people that use caigslist or the unlicensed guys who troll there BUT it is ok for YOU to ingnore the posting rules? Ok got it. :rolleyes:
 
How can you argue with a deal like this from CL?

Provider of affordable electrical services for all. Ceiling fans, Surge Protection, Washer Dryer recepticals, GFCI protection, an all your electrical needs at an affordable price. Before you Settle with one estimate get 2. If i'm not the lower estimate i'll do the job for 20% of the lower estimate. Garaunteed!!!!! CALL FOR A FREE ESTIMATE : . High quality work for a low quality price.
 
electricmanscott said:
Soooo you don't like the people that use caigslist or the unlicensed guys who troll there BUT it is ok for YOU to ingnore the posting rules? Ok got it. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I'm not ignoring the posting rules, apparently it's the posting service I hired that is violating the rules. They seem to be total scofflaws.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top