Most dealers have found Craigslist to be an effective way to market their vehicles. However, many dealers have taken up the practice of posting their vehicles in multiple cities, several times per week. They reason that because they are on the top of the list, they will sell more cars since they are in front of more people.
Here are 5 reasons why a dealer should not follow this practice:
1. It Is Against The Craigslist Terms Of Use
The moment you post an ad on the Craigslist.org website, you agree to their terms of use. According to Section 7 of the terms of use document, you agree not to:
v) post non-local or otherwise irrelevant Content, repeatedly post the
same or similar Content or otherwise impose an unreasonable or
disproportionately large load on our infrastructure;w) post the same item or service in more than one classified category or
forum, or in more than one metropolitan area;
That’s reason enough in my eyes, but let’s explore a few more.
2. You May Tarnish Your Image With Legitimate Buyers
Users of the site can be internet savvy and might be turned off by businesses that don’t play by the rules. If you are breaking the rules with your advertising, what makes them think they can trust you in respect to the vehicle? When I shopped for a new car last year, I personally avoided the dealers who spammed Craigslist, even if they had the vehicle I was looking for. How many other users do you think are doing the same thing?
3. Your Ads Might Be Ghosted
You’ve posted the ad to your account and everything looks green in your admin, however doing a search for your vehicle on the front end yields no results. Why? The sites administrators have full control over any account, and it appears they have the ability to remove or not display ads even if it appears that they are still on the site. This is not a good place to be and could cause you a lot of time and lost sales trying to figure out what’s gone wrong.
4. You Aren’t Increasing Your Odds Much
In large metropolitan areas, Craigslist moves pretty fast, and posting your ad to be on the top doesn’t last very long. (Some areas allow a vehicle to stay on the system for 30 days!) Most users use the search feature to find the vehicle they want, and then consult the available vehicles close to them first. Believe me, if you have what they are looking for, they will find you regardless of when you posted the ad.
AutoAdManager.com customers are encouraged not to spam the system, and they are proof that posting your vehicles once a week still yields excellent results. One dealer who posts only once a week recently had their best month since they have been in business, and they didn’t need to break any rules to get there.
5. It’s A Free Website
You didn’t pay anything for your ad did you? So why are you going against the terms the website has asked you to follow? You will be saving a ton of time every week, and have less stress knowing that you are following the rules. Users will respect you more and you can avoid the cat and mouse game that goes on between Craigslist and the real spammers trying to exploit the site.
There might be a dealer down the street that appears to be getting away with posting their vehicles multiple times in different categories. However, it’s only a matter of time before Craigslist catches on to their game and starts making it really hard for them to post anything at all. Save yourself the heartache and show your customers that you play by the rules. You’ll be glad you did.