p0wn.net == Ryan Luce

I frequently like to search craigslist with google instead of cl’s built in search engine.

I daydream about getting a rad old, dependable car and driving across the country. I like looking at the pictures and prices of these cars, and I typically search all of craigslist to find this(rather than be limited to one of craigslist’s subsections).

To setup a basic query you’d type this into the google search box:

site:craigslist.org inurl:cto amc eagle

What I’m doing there is I’m searching all of craigslist, if I wanted just to search new york I’d put

site:newyork.craigslist.org

instead of

site:craigslist.org

The inurl:cto is craigslists url modifier for automobiles sold by owner.

When browsing craigslist you will see these 3 letter modifiers in the browser’s address bar.

If, for instance, you wanted to search bikes, you would goto craigslist, search bikes and see something like this url:

http://newyork.craigslist.org/search/bik?query=cinelli&catAbbreviation=bik

So what you’d do is you’d modify the query to be:

site:craigslist.org inurl:bik cinelli

In the side bar on google you can choose ‘more search tools’ or similar verbage. From here you want to only limit posts that were made in the past week or two weeks, so you don’t see old craigslist posts that have most likely expired. Also you can sort by date, which helps if you run the same query several times a week.

Finally, one more advanced option is choosing only the years you want shown. If you are only into Broncos made from 1964-1974 you would set your query up as follows:
site:craigslist.org inurl:cto bronco 1964..1974

As you can see, the (year)..(year) syntax only allows for those years to be shown.

If you were looking for a bike for a shorter person, you may want to do something like this:

site:craigslist.org inurl:bik 42..47

These methods aren’t fool proof, and you may not always get the results you want, but it is a good starting point and I hope it helps someone find something great!

This entry was posted Tuesday, May 25th, 2010 at 8:20 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.