Does anyone know how many times an ad must be flagged before it is removed?There used to be a site that flagged ads many times until removed.I am curious because the Chicago CL has a flagging war going on and I like to see if it is easier to flag an ad or just repost it and let the flagger waste alot of time.It seems to me it takes alot more time to keep reflagging an ad than reposting it.

LA too, it's ridiculous....

I believe there are "auto-flag" programs that can get a post flagged and removed within minutes. There is a pretty funny flag war that flairs up from time to time on the Eugene C-list bike section. Flippers selling $250 Varsities VS. idiots advising people to go out and buy a $100 bike from Wal-Mart.

KC cl is efing stupid! I hate flaggers. If they'd let it go, they would only have to see the same ad once a day. Because of them, we all see them 10+ times a day. plus all of the stupid conversation posts. People need to get a life.

I've been selling stuff on craigslist for years, with no problems whatsoever, til some assclown recently decided to get into a flagging war with my posts.

I'm assuming it's someone with similar stuff for sale trying to "ice out" the "competition".

I'm so fed up with Craigslist. The NYC bike section is a joke.

Flag with care. Had a guy here (Orange County CA) reposting the same Univega Nuovo Sport 3-4 times a day. He was asking $250.00 for a dusty pile of sad. I and others started flagging and posting ads pointing out his excess of enthusiasm & optimism. Recieved some hysterical emails threatening me with a horrible fate when he caught me. Too bad he was using his girlfriend's email with the user name of Pink Roses.

C-list seems to work here OK. Haven't seen much to buy, but prices are coming down. No more flipping for me unless I can get the bike for close to nothing. The profit is lacking.

the casual encounters section is all spam these days too. frickin b.s.!

AFAIK, it takes around 5 flags from 5 different non proxy ip to take down an ad. Sometime more, sometime less, I think it also depends on the ad poster's email address. So if you live in an apartment near free wi-fi restaurants and coffee shops, it will take you very little effort to take down an ad.

You guys ain't seen nothing. Spend ONE DAY on the Dallas CL. It'll blow you away. I also get fake ads, both bikes and personal ads, with my number in them. It's entertaining actually. This one guy has been messing with me for over 5 weeks now. Lmao.

i can see how constant reposters can be annoying, especially if they are just trying to top post. but did he have to repost because you guys kept on flagging him?

what is it to you if he is enthusiastic or optimistic about his ads/bikes...? if somebody wants to buy a nuovo sport for 250, they would be parted with their money soon anyways... who anointed you protector of the stupid?

You know, we all howl, and snivel, and b!tch, and complain about how terrible Craigslist is, or how crappy Ebay is. Take em away, and see how hard it used to be, to find vintage bicycles.

As for the flaggers, to heck with them. I can scan Craigslist, in other cities of course because Craigslist is, pretty much, unused where I live. I can scan the few cities I choose and do so, having fun, in less than twenty minutes and for free, remember.

So, forget the stupid people in the world. After all, don't them make us feel good about ourselves?:-)

I always flag posts that are whining about being flagged.

I flagged this post.

Totally agree!!!!! I am SICK of the stupid, self-appointed "Craig's List Police," and the holier-than-thou crowd of morons on the KC list who berate each other. They're nothing but personal vendettas, I think, and I've just stopped visiting KC/CL for that reason. Plus, as you already pointed out, the same two or three idiots keep posting five, six, ten times a day. One dude has a crappy frame/fork for eight bucks that has been up there five times a day for the past two or three months. If he wasn't clear on the other side of town, I'd buy the damn thing just to stop having to see the ad over and over and over again. I see that re-cycle has come to our city now, but I'm not sure very many people know to visit it yet.

They publicly threaten each other with violence here on a regular basis - which I kind of thought was against the law, myself.

Are you talking about the "Belgian Touring Bike" that frequently gets posted several times a day and then flagged off?

https://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/bik/2200578254.html

1970's Belgian Road-Touring Bike - $185 (Chicago's - North Side)
Date: 2011-02-06, 3:58PM CST
Reply to: sale-eybhh-2200578254@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]

This is a beautiful road bike that was manufactured in Belgium for the Montgomery Wards Co. It's in fabulous condition and has a nicely detailed , lugged 24" frame. Simplex components that are the same as those used at the time by all the better European manufacturers like Raleigh,Gitane and Peugeot. Belgium has long been known to make beautiful products and some of the finest bike companies use Belgian rims on their bicycles . This bike has a rear touring rack with spring . Altenburger center pull brakes . Brand new blackwall tires and new black handle bar tape . The saddle is a heavy leather and is similar to the Brooks classic saddle . A very elegant road bike , as you can see in photos below .

Over posters can be pretty bad in OC, CA. It seems to come in waves but not as bad as on LA CL where they have flag wars a lot.
It seems there are more commercial and semi-commercial postings now so hopefully it won't get to be like the automobile section where businesses post with no problems.

I am pretty sure the folks getting flagged have never read the CL TOS, probably don't care or can't comprehend the meaning of it as they seem to TYPE LIKE THIS YA NO WHAT I AM SAYING TO YOU MAN HEY BYE MA BIKE CUZ ITZ A KEWL FIXY BRA.

How many flags it takes depends on who is administering the site. I check Craigslist regularly in Tokyo, and it takes very few flags to get bad ads removed. The worst offenders are Americans trying to sell their old "classic" cars to buyers in Japan. When I am in Japan shopping for a car on Craigslist, I am likely looking for a car which is actually in Japan, not in California or Texas. I flag these ads as "miscategorized", and they are removed within a day or two.

You have three scenarios when it comes to flagging on CL. One, every time a re-poster gets flagged and re-post puts them back on top of the front page! Two, to remove the competitions ad's. Three, self flagging to re-post.

I'm going through this now in Philly. I've been posting my Raleigh International once every week or so and now a guy is routinely flagging it...I have no idea how many it takes, but I am a bit annoyed that I follow the site rules and am still being hit with this.

I don't care what anybody pays for anything. I do care about extreme overposting and jackasses posting threatening messages. After a week of this, I started flagging the guy. A constant source of irritation are the guys who post motorcycle ads in the bicycle section.

I think there are some simple guide lines to flagging...

If it's dangerous, flag it. A kid's bike with a bent fork should definitely be flagged...maybe with an email to the seller explaining it nicely and in a way that assumes he might not know he's doing something wrong.

If the ad is fraudulant, flag it. I have no problem with overly optomistic pricing, but if something says it's a titanium frame and it's clearly aluminum...it should be flagged.

I can see the rationale for flagging top posters, but I wouldn't waste the time myself.

Otherwise...let's all go about our day and treat CL for what it is...a classified section and a forum for people to sell things.

I can see flagging someone who post everyday, but not because you don't like what they are selling or their prices. The only items I flag are the posts with comments about someones item. CL has a forum for that, and most are ignorant of the bike market anyway.

+1

I don't know if they sellers can't read or if they think that they could talk a potential bicycle buyer into buying their motorcycle instead.

With all respect, I completely disagree with this approach, caveat emptor applies to craigslist just like any other consumer situation.

As far as I know, the community moderation guidelines only apply to spam/overposting, miscategorized, and prohibited ads, which flagging category does one choose for "factually inaccurate" or "dangerous, says I?"

In this area, the main issue is with overposting, there are some shops and flippers who repost multiple ads 5 or 6 times per day. Those (and the miscategorized ads) are the only ones that I flag, I don't think it's my responsibility to fact check peoples' ads.