You Suck at Craigslist

Tag: slimy

  • YSaC, Vol. 248: It’s w4m week, bitches!

    A reminder (and plea), folks: if you think the ad you’re sending me might get flagged for removal, copy and paste the ad into your email! If you can include pictures, even better. Quite a few of the w4m ads that folks sent in disappeared between the time they were sent in and the time I got to them.

    Actually, it’s a good idea all around — when my job/life gets in the way, sometimes I don’t get to look at listings until a couple of days later, and things do disappear off of Craigslist in that time. (Yes, I have to work! Believe it or not, this ad-free site does not support me in the manner to which I desire to become accustomed. I don’t even have a lucrative book contract. I know, I know … there is no justice in this world.)

    Anyway, by the time I got to this one, the ad had been flagged; luckily, Emily had included the text in her email … but sadly, not the picture. Emily’s vivid description helps fill in the mental image, though.

    I want to hear from a romantic man.. – 30

    some words that describe me are witty, sporty, optimistic, and single.
    I am quite sweet, FEMALETRAITS2, FEMALETRAITS3, and FEMALETRAITS4.  I have an hourglass figure, a beautiful face, and a beautiful personality to match!  I am searching for a person who cares what I have to tell them.  Please be sensitive, drama-free and sure of what you are looking for in a woman. If you like what you’ve read then just contactl me and we’ll go from there.

    Emily says, “How could any man pass her up? She’s looking for romance, that’s why she’s wearing eyeliner like a 14-year-old who hasn’t figured out the difference between slutty and sexy. And, don’t forget, she possesses not only FEMALETRAITS2 and FEMALETRAITS3, she’s also surprisingly, refreshingly FEMALETRAITS4. If I were a man, I’d “contactl” her right now.”

    You know, I can never get the database merge function in Word to work either. (I always end up sending things to FIRSTNAME LASTNAME in CITY, ST.) I’d never have thought about failing to use database merge correctly to spam Craigslist with fake w4m ads. I guess that’s why I don’t earn the big bucks — I have a lack of vision on how to fail.

    Edited to add: Since I queued this one up, there have been articles on Reddit (among others) about this very topic … apparently the Database Merge Fail Scenario is exactly what has been happening! If you do a google search for craigslist +femaletrait2, you get a whole pile of results, tons of which point to deleted/flagged Craigslist posts (or those posts aggregated to other sites) from the same stupid spammer.

    I’m very, very amused.

  • YSaC, Vol. 242: Next, we take blankets away from the homeless.

    Will trade food for fruit tree or bush

    My husband and I bought 2 bags of food for the food bank and drove around looking for it for an hour, finally found it and it was closed. I figure there is somebody out there who likes soups, spongebob macaroni and cheese and various other instant foods. If you have a fruit tree that you are looking to get rid of or a blueberry bush with an established root stock then let’s swap!

    So let me get this right …. you bought food that you planned to donate, and now just because the food bank was closed, you want to trade the food that you planned to donate for a fruit tree or blueberry bush.

    In other words, you now want to get something for the food that you had initially planned to give away to the needy. That’s mighty philanthropic of you.

    And, on top of it, you’re offering to trade that needy someone some instant foods (that they will use up) in exchange for a fruiting plant/bush that will continue to produce food. That doesn’t sound like a good trade to me. If you offered me a choice between Spongebob macaroni and a blueberry bush, I know which one I would take.

    Thanks, Alyssa! That’s two in a row!

  • YSaC, Vol. 238: The extra w is for extra WTF …

    Amazing Web Designs – $299

    You can create your website with our Incredible Website Builder or simply have our design team do the work for you. The only website solutions company that lets you change the complete design of your site at the click of a mouse to keep your entire content intact or request our designers to do the work for you! (your site’s visitors can enjoy a fresh new look every time they visit your site!)
    Nine Great Reasons Why Your Website Should Be Designed By [Company Name].com

    1. The only website solutions company with a stunning photo album that comes with absolutely cool zoom, pan and auto sizing features!
    2. The only website builder that lets you add your own videos (promotional, informational, sales etc.) to provide instant interactivity and adds unmatched impact to your site!
    3. The only website solutions company that lets you add your favorite MP3s and lets your site visitors enjoy them with a built in trendy mp3 player!
    4. The only website solutions company that lets you add catchy greeting cards with personalized messages to create that special bond with your site visitors!
    5. The only website solutions company that lets you change the complete design of your site at the click of a mouse to keep your entire content intact or request our designers to do the work for you! (your site’s visitors can enjoy a fresh new look every time they visit your site!)
    6. The only website solutions company that lets you add a stunning online store with up to 240 products and comes fully integrated with Paypal!
    7. The only Service that lets you receive Important Contact Enquiries from your website Instantly to your Mobile anywhere in the World !
    8. The only website solutions company that lets you Record Live Video directly from your WebCam and publish it to your website Instantly.
    9. The only website solutions company that offers Integrated Search Engine Submission Service to Top Search Engines in the World like Google, AOL, MSN Live etc! (This extra service is only $89.)

    Visit our very informative website at http://wwww.[Company Name].com

    Or Call Toll-Free xxxx-xxxx-xxxx

    And, as John (the submitter) points out, the only website company who can’t spell “www”! (In addition to having four w’s in the text, the actual link directed to “wwww.[CompanyName].com” as well, meaning that you got an error message if you clicked on the link to visit their page.)

    On top of that, the rest of the things they offer are (a) things that any decent website builder can do or (b) things that nobody should want any decent website builder to do.

    “Lets you change the complete design of your site at the click of a mouse”? Um, yeah, that’s called a style sheet or theme.

    “Your site’s visitors can enjoy a fresh new look every time they visit your site”? Let me, a non-web design professional, count the ways in which that’s a good idea. Okay, I’m done — I counted zero ways in which that’s a good idea. And just to be sure, I counted twice.

    And apparently they’ve cornered the market on adding annoying mp3s and videos to their websites. Somebody let MySpace know that they’ve got competition.

  • YSaC, Vol. CXCIV

    “ELVIS” COW ROAD SIGN – $119

    Straight from the back roads of Vermont. 30″ sq.
    Great novelty item for garage or basement!

    Pick up only.

    If interested please email.

    194

    Is this like one of those 3-D things where you have to stand the right distance away and cross your eyes before you see the hidden image of Elvis? And is it the thin, pre-war Elvis or the old, bloated Elvis? That makes a big difference.

    Man, I can never get those things right. All I see is a cow.

    Edited to add: Oh wait, I get it now!

    cowelvis

    Thanks, Candace — that made it perfectly clear!

  • YSaC, Vol. CLII

    man looking for a female friend – m4w – 32

    Hi. I am a 32 year old married man looking for some female friends. Yep, thats right, friends.. Through email or phone or in person, I’d like some females to get to know. I like a little of all kinds of movies and music. I enjoy playing basketball and soccer and to workout (with weights mostly). I am asking for female friends since I have plenty of male friends around, and I feel a little more comfortable with females.

    Well, take care and I hope I may hear from you sometime!

    If you’re married and you’d like to get to know a female, how about starting with …  I don’t know … maybe your wife? (I’m hearing Dana Carvey’s “Church Lady” voice in my head when I say that. That kind of scares me.)

    The “I feel more comfortable with females” thing doesn’t quite justify it, either. Nope, to me this reads like the start of a slippery slope to this.

    Let’s take bets. I’m betting this guy was married at 25, and this is the seven-year itch.

  • YSaC, Vol. CXL

    Brand New Samsung BL103 with Case and 1GB Sandisk – $150

    Red Samsung BL103. 10.2MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom, Face Detection, Advanced Shake Reduction, & 2.7″ LCD Display.
    Brand New with Box, never opened, never used. Comes with Sansung Case and 1GB Memory Card.

    Please email or call xxx-xxx-xxxx if interesting.

    You mean this exact camera bundle, which you can buy — with the “Sansung” case and 1GB memory card — for $79 on Walmart’s website? (Screenshot below.)

    And you’re asking $150 for it? Slimy. Very slimy.

    Submitted by Martha — Thanks!