Do you want to learn how to find free stuff on Craigslist? You can find plenty of free stuff on Craigslist using a few simple steps. It turns out that Craigslist users are not all out to make a buck. Many would be thrilled if someone would be willing to pick up some of their (no longer needed) possessions and give them a good home. Just follow the steps below and you may score the best deal possible on stuff you can use – free.

Having started in 1995 as a humble newsletter-type email sent out by Craig Newmark to some friends and associates about activities happening in the San Francisco area, Craigslist has grown tremendously and has become the seventh highest traffic English-language website in the world.http://www.craigslist.org/about/factsheet With local sites covering over 700 cities and regions world-wide, chances are there’s a local Craigslist site covering your region.http://www.craigslist.org/about/factsheet Major metro areas may have hundreds of active ads for free stuff, with almost a hundred added daily.http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/zip/ All you need to do is scan the ad titles, or use the search tool as explained below.

Craigslist is intended to be a community-service type of site, as symbolized by its retention of the “.org” URL suffix.http://www.craigslist.org/about/factsheet In fact, most types of ads on Craigslist are free both to the poster and to the user responding to it. This includes such ads as used cars ads, new car ads, real estate ads, housing rental ads (with the exception of brokered apartment ads in New York City), etc. With a bit of advice you can even learn how to make money on Craigslist e.g. by selling used computers or other items you already own, or by buying stuff at garage sales, thrift stores, etc. and reselling them. All you need is a bit of advice and some practice in writing compelling ads that will get noticed among competing ads.

Craigslist posts its terms of use which state that the site does not take responsibility for ad contents or for how users interact with each other.http://www.craigslist.org/about/terms.of.use Craigslist provides tips for its users on how to avoid scams.http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams Violent crime between Craigslist users is very rare, but has been known to occur, so be sure to follow prudent cautions when meeting other users.

When you enter craigslist.com in your web browser it will take you to the nearest regional Craigslist site (based on your computer’s IP address). There, under the “for sale” section, read the category titles until you reach the one saying “free”. Click on that link.

Enter into the search bar in the page you reach at the end of Step 1 the search term defining what you’re looking for. If, for example, you are looking for LSAT preparation books, you could put in “LSAT”. You should be aware that if you search for “LSAT prep” you will not find ads that have instead “LSAT preparation” so either carry out both searches in parallel, or leave out the term “prep” completely. In those cases where you’re looking for more than one item, open multiple windows and search for each one separately, as the Craigslist search tool does not provide the option for an “OR” operation.

The Craigslist search tool is quite literal-minded. The same term in the singular or in the plural will only match the exact same character string. Thus, for example, the term “bed” will not return an ad which offers free “beds”, while one which offers a free “desk” will not be found if the search term used is “desks”. One advantage to the Craigslist search tool is that you can put in the search string a minus sign in front of any search term to veto ads including that term (again, you must veto both the singular and plural). Note however that you must have at least one positive search term before having any number of veto terms. Keep in mind also that when vetoing, you will exclude any ads that have the vetoed string, even if this is not relevant for your search. Thus, if you’re looking for a credenza and want to veto the term “desk” you will lose any ad that offers a free credenza and a free desk. Thus it is suggested not to use the veto tool when searching for free stuff.

On a typical day, there will be nearly a hundred ads for free stuff available for the taking on a major metro area Craigslist site. When looking through several days’ worth of ads you will find hundreds of active ones.http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/zip/ If your search in Step 2 has failed to identify the items you’re looking for, and/or if you have the time and inclination, simply scroll through and read all the ad titles until you reach one that piques your interest. Click on that ad’s link and see the details. Repeat this step until you have found what you want, have run out of time, or have run out of patience with this pastime. Who knows, you might find something you didn’t think you’d find, or you might find an ad where someone described the very item you’re interested in only using different terms than you expected.

Individuals posting their items for free on Craigslist can be contacted by either using the information posted within the ad, or by using the email address provided by Craigslist for contact between potential buyers and sellers. If a phone number is posted, individuals can call to inquire about the items listed. Be mindful of common courtesies when placing the call, and contact the poster during appropriate hours. If an email address is provided, click directly onto the "Reply to" link or copy and paste it into an email. Be sure to reference the ad within your email, letting the poster know that you are interested and when you would be available to pick it up. You can include contact information and your email so that the seller has a way of contacting you to arrange the details of the exchange.