For a very long time, actually for almost as long as I can remember, affiliates have been trying to use Craigslist and other classified sites to their advantage to promote affiliate products.

While some things have changed over the years, this hasn’t changed much.

For a very long time, using Craigslist as a traffic source for affiliate marketing has not only been frowned upon, but also blacklisted by many affiliate networks and affiliate merchants. What does this mean? It means that most affiliate networks and merchants do not allow traffic from Craigslist. This means if you use Craigslist to drive traffic and generate leads, you will not be credited for leads and they will be reversed.

In addition to this, Craigslist has taken many steps to ensure this does not happen as well. They have complex algorithm’s to present cross posting across multiple cities and also many other algorithm’s and checks.

With all of this in place, it’s fair to say that no one seems to like this combination. Craigslist does not like it, affiliate networks do not like it and merchants do not like it. The writing is on the wall, it’s not a good idea.

Unfortunately, many people still try this and almost always they end up with upsetting results including reversed commissions, craigslist banning and even being banned from affiliate networks.

If you are considering using Craigslist for affiliate marketing, look at the big picture here – no one along the chain supports or wants this. It’s not only frowned upon but straight up not allowed. If you value your affiliate account, we strongly recommend that you don’t even consider it!