Years ago, craigslist made a change to its posting system that shook up the landscape of the "cars & trucks - by dealer" section. They started charging $5 for every vehicle ad that you wanted to put up. While this news was originally frowned upon by many dealers, they quickly came to realize there was a very positive side effect: gone were the days of dealers spamming the same vehicles hundreds of times a week. The "cars & trucks - by dealer" section was transformed over the next 30 days, as spam posts were moved down the list, to the more user friendly ad space it is today.

I get asked at least daily now, "can you post our inventory on Facebook Marketplace?" (spoiler alert: no). Today, I was thinking about what that question really is: "Can you post my lower priced, used inventory on a market style website with tons of visitors local to my store?". Yes, yes I can. The problem is, too many dealers don't think the original marketplace has value. Here's the thing...they're wrong.

 You receive a call from a potential customer about the luxury car you have posted on craigslist. They say they'll give you cash on the spot since it is only $500. WAIT. $500? Where did that low price come from? You quickly go to your local craigslist market and search for your vehicles. Every single one of them has a $500 price point. As the day goes on, you become flooded with calls from customers asking about the vehicles that are clearly not priced correctly. By the end of the day, you have your "sorry for the inconvenience" messaging down pat.

Craiglist Search Relevency is a Thing of the Past

In August, 2017, Craigslist updated its search algorithm to make WHEN you post the single most important factor in getting eyes on your ads. Some of the primary methods posters have used for years no longer provide any benefit, and your 2 week old post will NOT be on the front page anymore no matter the content. If you are not aware of and using this change to get leads, this is not a nice to have suggestion that you can take or leave, but a very powerful insight that every Craigslist ad poster should make sure they are taking advantage of as soon as possible.