What is Craigslist?
With over 700 local sites in 70 countries, Craigslist is one of the Internet's most extensive global classified markets. It's the Internet's seventh most-visited English-language site (it also publishes in French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish), and users post 50 million new classified ads on it each month.
Not bad for a hobby project started by San Francisco software engineer Craig Newmark in 1995. The original Craigslist was a humble list of local events that Newmark e-mailed to friends and colleagues. Today, Craigslist garners a whopping 20 billion page views per month across its global sites.
Craigslist's popularity makes it a natural resource if you're looking to post or search classified ads. It doesn't handle any financial transactions, but simply helps interested parties find one another. Its popularity gives it enormous range and because it's online, you can update your listings in real time so you're not fielding inquiries long after you've sold that old coffee table.
Here's everything you need to know to use Craigslist safely.
How Craigslist works
The fastest way to find your local Craigslist is to Google "Craigslist" and your city name. This will bring up your local city site, or that of the closest city to you.
For example, if you search for 'Craigslist Halifax' you'll be directed to Craigslist Halifax, while if you type in 'Craigslist Bobcaygeon' you'll be directed to the site for Craigslist Peterborough, which includes the smaller city of Bobcaygeon.
If you're unfamiliar with the Craigslist look and feel, you may be surprised by how basic it is. But everything you need is there if you look carefully through all that little blue print.
To browse ads, just find the appropriate subject heading and dive in. Ads will include contact info so you can get in touch with the seller.
Page 1 of 2 - find out how to stay safe on Craigslist on page 2!
