people are into craigslist.

if you follow this blog long time you know i am one of those people.

if you knew how many emails a week i get from folks wanting in on the secrets of the craig..

or how many people say..my craigslist sucks, all i ever find are giant vinyl recliners and duncan phyfe musty grandpa balls.

while some craigs are better than others i truly believe it's because you aren't searching with the right terms.

behold...the terms:

let's break it down..

the 1st column is all about the countries.

i mean even the dumbest people can read a label stuck to the bottom of a sofa or a cabinet.

so yes, search countries.

another tip is to search the country itself. for example: morocco rather than moroccan.

france rather than french..etc..

the 2nd column is all about the descriptions.

if you're looking for bamboo search for bamboo.

but remember one person's bamboo is another person's rattan is another person's wicker.

the 3rd column refers to the style of something.

i mean yes, if a person is selling something mid century or art deco chances are they know the value if there is any.

but not always.

so don't be afraid to start here.

but if you want the good deals you will have to more than likely search for "cabinet" instead of danish rosewood mint condition.

the bottom line is people are getting smarter about these things.

or they know someone who knows someone who knows some things about furniture.

you will also see shabby chic on the list.

don't scoff.

many people just refer to all furniture that has potential as shabby chic.

i've found quite a few spectacular pieces of furniture under that search term.

column #4 is pretty specific.

i know.

and chances are these items will be priced the highest.

but it's not always the case.

drexel/lane/american of martinsville...all quality pieces of furniture that a lot of people inherit from their super groovy parents and grandparents.

that doesn't always mean they are jacking up the price.

the 5th column is my favorite!

this is where the magic happens.

not all of the terms...but you'd be surprised at the finds that have come up just from using the term "unique".

another that's not on there but should be is "fabulous".

and trust me...strange is another person's fabulous is another person's giant burl and brass etagere.

just go there with your imagination.

the 6th invisible column (just forgot to add it):

west elm

restoration hardware

cb2

crate and barrel.

people sell items from here on the reg in larger cities.

not to mention a person could have a mid century piece that reminds them of something they saw in the west elm catalog. so they just put west elm as a tag.

the nitpicky shit:

obviously a lot of listers can't spell worth a damn so try off spellings.

a good example is 'chester drawer' instead of 'chest of drawers'.

also sometimes people think a "drawer" is a "draw".

maybe that's just here in the south but there you go.

the search categories:

mainly i do furniture for sale by owner.

never by dealer bc you'll just get a bunch of shit you don't want to see like flashing signs for truck beds when you are looking for tufted leather.

but if i am looking for something specific i cross search into antiques by owner.

i wish there was a way to search multiple categories at once, but to my knowledge there isn't.

i'd love to know if there is...so if you're reading and you know..please help a sister out.

if i am looking for something i know there won't be a lot of..i.e. gold threaded tapestry (which i am not but let's face it that's pretty darn specific) i would do the search in "all for sale".

because i know no matter what i am not going to get a million entries for 'gold threaded tapestry'.

so all for sale is a good one to use if you know there isn't going to be a lot of offerings on one particular search term.

searching for multiple things:

plain and simple- don't do this.

you can clog up the craig arteries this way.

some people will do this:

brass | glass | asian | blah blah blah forever and on and on with shit.

i suspect they get a zillion things pop up.

if you want to sit in front of your computer for 7 hours go ahead...but looking for the same thing by searching this way-

'brass and glass and asian' will get you what you are looking for.

but then i suspect only 1 or 2 things might pop up.

but that doesn't mean something brass and glass and asian isn't on your craig...

it just means you'd be better off searching for 'asian'.

speaking of asian..

i now see i didn't add that to the master list.

it should be on there.

and don't forget..

one person's asian is another person's chinese is another person's japanese is another person's oriental.

some people do the "quotes" thing. and sometimes...sometimes i do this but i find i am more than likely missing a good deal of possibilities by using quotes.

for example..if i am searching for "small credenza" as opposed to small credenza then i might miss a small credenza that's just listed as credenza.

catch my drift?

the obvious:

always always always do 'pic view'.

the word "vintage":

if you want to narrow down your cabinet search it can't hurt to put the word vintage in front of it.

"retro" works too.

so it would look like this:

vintage cabinet

retro cabinet.

here are just a few recent finds using some of those terms: