Sites such as craigslist.org and ebay, while extremely popular according to the Los Angeles Times, and a great source of bargains, are sometimes difficult to navigate. According to Answers.com, craigslist is located in 200 cities worldwide. It takes time to navigate through 200 cities worth of categories trying to find something you want at the price you prefer. Once you do find something you want, it’s frequently an inconvenient distance away from where you live which tends to make the experience less attractive.
My most recent craigslist horror story involved an elliptical stepper that was posted in the free section. I’m always on the lookout for new equipment for my home gym so after contacting the person who posted the ad and getting their address, I drove 33 miles one way, in the rain only to find that they lived in a gated apartment community and were not home. No amount of persuasion would convince the apartment manager to let me in to go get the elliptical and conveniently enough they didn’t have a contact number for the person in question to allow them to confirm that my errand was legitimate. So I turned around and sulked all 33 miles back home.
That was an annoying episode but I would have been even more annoyed if it had been further away. I prevented that because I used a site called Searchtempest.com.com. According to the site, “Searchtempest.com.com provides a service that allows you to access data from Craigslist.org and/or other online classifieds sites. This data is sent directly to you from the respective classifieds sites, either in frames viewed within Searchtempest.com.com pages, or in separate pages accessed by clicking links”. The best part is Searchtempest.com.com not only searches only within the distance parameters you choose but also filters out unwanted results for you by price and keywords. Originally known as craigshelper, Searchtempest.com.com’s developers moved away from that name to avoid infringing on craigslist’s name and to reflect the non exclusive nature of their search engine.
Although I use Search Tempest strictly for craigslist, it can simultaneously search craigslist.org, ebay and car and truck search with more sites to be added in the near future. Searchtempest.com.com provides a service that allows you to access data from Craigslist.org and/or other online classifieds sites. This data is sent directly to you from the respective classifieds sites, either in frames viewed within Searchtempest.com.com pages, or in separate pages accessed by clicking links.
The site also features a forum where you can post your help questions, get suggestions on how to write your own for sale by owner internet ads and a FAQ.
Search Tempest.com cautions that it doesn’t directly “crawl” craigslist as other sites have done in the past; it merely automates your parameters as you type them and then submits it to craigslist on your behalf. You then click on the results you want to view just as you would normally. That ensures that it will avoid being blocked for putting additional strain on the craigslist server.
The links feature on Search Tempest is composed of sites similar to Search Tempest such as Hank’s Tempest which is geared towards automobile purchases, UShip.com which is a bid site to help with shipping costs for online purchases and an eBook guide to craigslist.
Search Tempest.com is an invaluable resource for those who regularly browse the internet for bargains. Search Tempest’s mission statement is “to strive to improve your search experience without compromising craigslist’s spirit of local community. I’d say they succeed pretty well at that and instead of resting on their laurels appear to be in a state of near constant improvement. I encourage you to give Search Tempest.com a try the next time you’re looking for a bargain.
Sources:
http://www.Searchtempest.com.com/
http://www.craigslist.org/about/press/phenomenon
http://www.answers.com/topic/craigslist
