

Show HN: Craigsforms for better craigslist ads - vishaldpatel
http://www.craigsforms.com

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kirpekar
The template output lacks any eye-candy.

This is what I use for my website ( <http://autolicio.us> ):

<http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/ctd/2114911822.html>

I did a bunch of testing and this page had the highest conversion rate by a
far stretch.

There are a lot of other services that do this. Postlets is the big one. Most
of them go beyond the copy/paste model. They will actually post for you, track
your ads, repost when expired, track conversion, etc.

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storborg
That ad doesn't look like it actually has a car for sale. Doesn't craigslist
consider that spam?

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lovitt
Great idea. Would be nice to have a link to a sample ad at the top of the
page, so that I know what I'll get in return for filling out this long form.

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vishaldpatel
Three people just said this. This is a good idea, thanks. Rendered example
coming soon.

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jbenz
Neat, but... holy yellow. Maybe you could tone that yellow down to a softer
color? Perhaps #ecca0e?

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vishaldpatel
It is a good suggestion. In my defense, it was raining here in the Bay Area
and all I could think of was, "I need a yellow umbrella..".

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middlegeek
Many people have complained it is too long and complicated the user doesn't
have to fill everything out. I think it is great but just make it obvious that
they fill out what they need and ignore as much or as little as they like.

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vishaldpatel
Ah good point. I'll mention it in the intro text for the form. Thanks! =)

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schmod
Very nice. Like postlets, but not for real estate. One gripe: Can we see an
example of the finished product?

There should be something similar for other categories. (And when you're done,
move onto eBay auctions!)

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gyardley
Craigslist is usually hostile to startups or projects that offer tools to its
users.

I'd at least expect them to come after you for the name if you get any
traction - best to have a backup one ready.

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vishaldpatel
Alright, thanks for all the comments everyone. I added an example of a
rendered ad, instructed the users to fill the form out as best as possible
(implying that the whole thing is optional... I hope), and and stuck with the
yellow - until it stops raining. Cheers!

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smysore
I don't meant to be critical in any way (I just want to offer a genuine
perspective) -- I really didn't like it. Not sure if it was because of the
bright yellow color or because I just took a long survey before checking out
the site (which was another long form).

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ams6110
I'll take what seems to be a contrarian opinion: it's too complicated.
Meaning, there are too many textareas, checkboxes, and radio buttons. The
genius of Craigslist is its simplicity. Title, ad text, submit, done.

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duck
I'm not sure if craigslist is going to like _craigs_ forms.

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shawnee_
Very smart. CL has needed something like this for awhile. Is there a reason,
aside from your small "need a coder" link, that it's being offered for free?

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vishaldpatel
Yes - craigslist is free for the most part. I'd like to figure out a way to
keep this as free as possible.

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prawn
Maybe offer an eBook for sale (or plug one from an affiliate program)
detailing ways to create effective ads with easy tips, wording suggestions,
other research, etc.

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decasoft
Funny, looks like there's already some competition out there...
<http://www.kijijiforms.com>

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natgordon
This is cool. I recommend letting the user auto-post it to CL like airbnb.com
does. Then the user doesn't have to look at the html.

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davidjhall
Very nice -- are you building other ones (this one just does cars)

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mkramlich
neat idea. one way to monetize is to try selling it to CL directly. i don't
imagine they'd offer a ton but money is money.

