i go in and out of phases of really wanting furniture and being obsessed with CL. When I'm REALLY wanting a specific piece of furniture I check craigslist multiple times a day. Sometimes you have to be the first person to email or call....and that's the only way to do it.

Never look at ads that don't have a photo - If it wasn't worth taking a picture of, it's not worth wasting your time on. To do this, click the box that omits pictureless ads

In the Furniture search, there's the sub-categories "All", "By Owner" and "By Dealer" Unless you want to see ads from local retailers or resellers - click "By Owner"

Use key adjectives can be used to narrow the search by style: Eames, Regency, Danish, Vintage, etc. - but since many folks don't know what they have, I find it's more effective to use key nouns by the furniture type I'm looking for: Dresser, Buffet, Server, Sideboard, China Cabinet, Sofa, Loveseat, Chair, Armoire, etc.

I scored a 5 piece Broyhill Sculptra set through CL. It's all about "due diligence." Visiting every day or so and just typing in a series of keywords that fit what you're looking for. The ones I use are:

danish modern
retro
vintage
mid-century
midcentury
eames
herman miller
60s

Of course, if you're looking for something specific, you can always put a listing in the "Wanted" page. Couldn't hurt!

I do EXACTLY like bepsf does.

As someone who changes things around a lot, I often use CL to sell and occasionally to buy. As a seller, I state in my ad "if the ad is still here, the item is still available", which cuts down on the "Is the item still available?" time-wasting questions.

As a buyer, when I score a good find, I know that others want it too. I always respond to the seller with my phone number and I say I can come right away, or this evening, etc. because most sellers (a) want a quick sale, (b) don't want tire-kickers who hum and haw.

If someone responds to my ad with a phone number, I know they're likely serious and it saves me time, so I usually call them first.

I used to search the old-fashioned way (using many of the tips).

I've downloaded this extension for firefox and it's tres cool - it makes browsing so much easier...

http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/03/24/craigslist-image-preview-firefox-extension-to-add-images-to-cra/

i limit my price (ie max = $50, or whatever i feel willing to spend) and look only in neighborhoods i'm willing to drive to, but i generally don't use keywords unless i really just want to see chair listings since i last looked. also, check the free page...

bepsf --

not necessarily. at least in the chicago area, i've discovered that a lot of mid-century/vintage/antique owners are older folks who've held onto their stuff for years and don't know their value. a lot of these owners also may not be tech-savvy and don't include pictures. i go with keywords first (1960's, vintage, teak, danish, etc) and check descriptions. if it sounds good, i email and request pics. that's how we scored our arne vodder credenza for less than $60. (happy dance)

I've heard this works good for multi city searching:

http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Search_Every_Craigslist_Site_at_Once

I'm sorry, but I'm sure I'm the only one who will say this, but these questions always make me scratch my head in the same way that I can't believe there's an "Ebay for Dummies" book. I don't understand how a) people don't know how to type in some search words, etc. and b) why others will give strangers their own tips so that now they have more competition to find the good things out there.

But that's just me.

RSS feed, all the way baby!

If you have something specific in mind, do a search with those keywords, then click the little RSS button at the bottom right corner of the page. It will let you add a little window to your custom Google homepage, where the latest three ads in that search will appear. It's refreshed constantly and automatically, so you don't miss anything.

Setting up your Google page (if you don't have) one takes literally a minute and is totally worth it. I'm looking for an apartment right now in a certain school district, so RSS is a lifesaver. But I also found my farm table and fiberglass chairs that way.

i just go on and look everyday. browse down what's posted and see if anything catches my eye. if i had only done a key word search, good things might have passed right by and i'd never have seen them. often if someone advertises something as "mid-century".. they are trying to reel in a higher price. whereas someone who just wants to sell a "dresser" out of their grandmas house, might not know to call it anything other than a dresser. and that's probably going to be a better bargain!

BlahDeBlah, you have an attitude problem. Did that really need to be said? No.

I, too, use an RSS feed that dumps into my Google reader. I also make sure it picks up on "creative" spellings as well.

The image preview software link above is very helpful.
It means you can scan the page much faster and eliminate the 90% of things that dont fit your criteria immediately.

I use the Image Preview Extension for casual browsing and use the RSS feeds into my Google Reader. It's so easy to set up and then you never miss any postings!

Amber, mine was a sincere quandry ... I seriously don't get these questions. Is it laziness (not wanting to put in the effort to search) or a lack of common sense that one can't work craigslist? it's gotta be the simplest to use site out there. And considering the amount of people who complain on house tours, etc. that everyone else gets all the good ebay or craiglists finds, I'm sincerely shocked that so many people will list here their exact processes for finding stuff.

But like I said, it was just my 2$¢ ... nobody said you had to have the same opinion.

2¢

Listings move within minuets. One must put in the miles. Where I live, I see every item in the furniture section, which means you have to be on CL, like all the time.

Entenza, my point exactly. Put in the effort and have a lot of patience and you'll find all kinds of stuff you want. Same goes for ebay, as I rarely trust their daily search agents (people don't always list what you want under the most obvious section, etc.)

Anyway ... more time than I planned on spending on this thread.

Is that RSS feature new? I love it! Thanks for the tip.

Love CL.

however, i've never been able to find demijohn.anyone?

For Mac Users: I use RSS as described above. But I bookmark my search (the RSS link at the bottom of the results page) on Safari's bookmark bar. Safari checks RSS links every 30 minutes and shows the number of new postings every 30 minutes -- this is helpful if you want to get something almost as soon as it was posted.

But I like to use Craigslist in "catalog mode" :) I installed this firefox extension Linky, which lets me open almost all the links of a search results page in new tabs. Then I just move between tabs closing the ones I'm not interested in (Command W).

have fun :)

By the way: Thanks for the Image preview thingy -- loved it! Yeay!

is there a way to do the image search thing for non-mac users. yes, sue me i don't have one. buyers remorse, *sigh*

Yeah, image preview is a must-have, one wonders why CL doesn't just scale up and offer it.

Just a heads up: CL has instituted an effort to block IP's using the image preview system. They are still working out the kinks, but it is possible to find yourself blocked from Craigslist (all cities, not just your local site) at least temporarily if you perform too many searches using the image preview.

My rudimentary understanding is that this is a bandwidth issue: craigslist is a free site and they can't afford the extra bandwidth associated with downloading every picture for every search. Probably not a problem if you run one or two searches a day or if your searches don't produce many pictures. Probably more of a problem if you run a multitude of searches that produce a lot of pictures.

It seems crazy that craigslist would resist image preview, but they seem to have a crunchy wheatgrass culture over there that fears messing with a winning formula. They would rather be free and slow to use than polished and charge money.

They will be dragged toward innovation eventually, but for now they seem to be fighting the future.

I own more than a half dozen pieces of furniture I picked up from Craigslist plus a few decorative touches I've found listed.

I usually browse CL for a specific piece of furniture, rather than a style of furniture. That's not to say I haven't browsed for "vintage" or "mid-century", but usually I'll type in "chair" or "desk". This gives you a wider range of styles (which is great if your style is eclectic) and I love some items that I never would have considered until I saw the photo. Which is another important point--I ALWAYS click on the "has image" option for browsing. It's a fast, easy way to cut out a lot of cruft. I'm sad to hear it maybe causing some problems with their bandwidth.

I know I'm posting this eons after the last comment but I couldn't help but correct a previous commenter. Just because it doesn't have a picture doesn't mean it isn't worth while! In fact, often times people think it's junk and assume everyone will so don't feel like it's really worth the time. I drove 4 hours round trip with a toddler to pick up a 1970s plastic hand chair I had not seen a picture of. So worth it!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/juni_b_goode/4446089939/