Inspired by Craigslist ads that run -- "power tools $50 obo leave phone
number on awnser macheen if you want to sea some but dont call again if I
don't call you back stupid" -- I'd love to see Craigslist adopt a set of
conditions something along the following lines:

A for-sale ad must feature the brand name of the item and the full model
name or number, failure to provide both costs ten points unless both are
clearly visible in your photo.

If multiple items are on offer, using the phrase "Too many to list" or
"E-mail or phone to find out what I have" indicates you should have had a
garage sale instead, minus ten points.

Failure to provide an in-focus, properly-lit photo costs ten points, but
multiple photos from different angles or appropriate close-ups adds ten
points. Not having a photo and offering to e-mail one to anyone interested
costs an additional ten points. Referring in your text to a photo (or web
link, or phone number) you have failed to include, minus ten points.

Use of a manufacturer's photo while failing to mention the one you have for
sale was used to prop up the axle of an old pickup truck for ten years and
has been 10% converted to rust, minus ten points towards your next ad when
would-be purchasers report that.

Use of the phrase "skill saw" (lower case or capitalized) in reference to
any product including those made by Skilsaw Inc., minus ten points.
Compounding that by combining "skill saw" with another brand name, e.g.
"Black and Decker Skillsaw" deducts another ten points.

Placing an entirely inappropriate ad such as pool cleaning in the tools for
sale section, minus ten points.

Failure to indicate whether the original accessories and instruction manual
come with the item costs ten points. Throwing in extra items not originally
included like a spare blade or shop-vac attachment adds ten points.

Use of OBO (or best offer) if you don't really mean you'll take the best
offer you get, bad karma but otherwise hard to enforce.

Putting at least three useful pieces of info in the listing title--e.g. item
description (drill press or table saw), brand & model, location--ten bonus
points.

Offering to haul the item to a more convenient location for a possible
purchaser's viewing, plus ten points.

Including the reason for selling the product adds ten points only if it
provides useful info. "I need the money" tells us nothing. "I'm selling
this benchtop model only because I got the bigger fixed-base model from the
same company," is reassuring as to your satisfaction with the product.
Additional info like informing us you want to sell it before your ex-wife's
lawyer finds out you have it and sells it for you, while entertaining,
offers no bonus points.

Accurately describing the amount of wear on the item adds ten points.
"Still works" does not qualify.

Use of terms like "vintage," "classic," or "antique" when you really mean
worn-out, rusty and nasty costs ten points.

Failure to observe the selling price of identical items and instead asking
for an unrealistically high price and then making grudging reductions in the
price over a period of weeks when everybody knew what they go for used all
along, minus ten points.

Failure to describe any significant problem costs five hundred points
(requires reporting by purchaser once he's out of the hospital).

Thirty or more negative points and CL pulls the ad. Leftover negative
points apply to your next ad just to make sure you learned your lesson.
Positive points don't accumulate because there is no excuse for a
badly-written ad, this ain't rocket science.

In regard to garage/yard/estate sales:

If you list a strict starting time but sell all the good stuff to
early-birds anyway, I hope it starts raining, hard, immediately after I
return to my car. If you list a strict starting time and then don't open
the door until half an hour later while a dozen of us bake in the sun
watching you sip coffee through the window, I hope somebody calls in a bomb
threat. If your estate sale ad specifies "complete woodworking shop with
many tools" and you *really* mean the family grabbed all the good stuff and
left a scattering of rusty old junk that the sale agents are asking silly
amounts of money for, I hope you get audited for back taxes on the estate.
And to the goofs who ran the estate sale with big displays outside last
weekend and forgot to turn off the automatic lawn sprinklers, your tardy
opening and highball pricing earned you that.