The peculiar thing with Craigslist is it is very easy, as a poster (seller or want to buy) with an account, to get permanently banned from using Craigslist. I have with the simple act of looking for concert tickets.
There is only a certain number of postings per time period one is allowed to make from one account OR one IP address. You can't delete listings and relist them (top-posting). You cannot list the same ad in different places. If you have "similar" postings in different locales, you can be banned. Those are just a few of Craigslist's rules.
I was looking for concert tickets to two different concerts in two different college towns in Michigan, both outside of Detroit (East Lansing and Ann Arbor) and both with their own Craigslist. I was certain (and turned out, correct) that some tickets would be listed in the Detroit area, others at the respective separate Craigslist sites. I posted WTB (wanted to buy) advertisements in all three locations. Technically not prohibited, but since the concert artist was the same, the "bots" (robots) they have patrolling the listings thought it was. So, my account was "put on hold". Turns out this is a quite common thing, and since there are actually no human beings at Craigslist to speak with, no phone numbers to call that answer a phone, there is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY to resolve the issue. The only solution is to open another account using another email address. There is just nobody home at Craigslist.
This is so prevalent a problem with Craigslist, even with honest people like me, that there is an active market SELLING working "Craigslist accounts" that have not been banned!
http://pva-craigslist.org/ In some jurisdictions, you need a "phone verification" to make Craigslist work, and there are companies selling PVA (phone verified accounts) for use in Craigslist postings! Here is a sample of the advertising for selling working Craigslist accounts, right from the website listed above:
We offer Phone Verified Craigslist Accounts that have been manually created by our experienced team. Each account is created with a unique IP address and a unique phone number in the USA. The accounts are also created with a unique email and unique password leaving no way for Craigslist to find patterns and delete them. The accounts are created fresh for each order and each account is tested so please allow up to 3 days for delivery. If any accounts are not working within 48 hours of being delivered and no posting activity has been initiated we will replace them. This is not your father's classified advertising....
