# Responding to a Craigslist post

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/responding-to-a-craigslist-post/327293
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [October 21, 2005, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/responding-to-a-craigslist-post/327293 "2005-10-21T17:35:58Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2005, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/responding-to-a-craigslist-post/327293/1 "2005-10-21T17:35:58Z")

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This may seem silly, asking about Craigslist on another board. But I’m a veteran here and an utter newbie there, and I can’t seem to locate a “newbie user’s guide” on the CL page.

There’s a posting I want to respond to. Do I simply do it through my own personal email box (Yahoo!, in my case), using my real identity? Or is there some CL mechanism that allows me to respond anonymously to defend me from whackos, spammers, etc.?

Thanks all.

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### Author: ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2005, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/responding-to-a-craigslist-post/327293/2 "2005-10-21T17:46:36Z")

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> [@stuyguy](#):
>
> This may seem silly, asking about Craigslist on another board. But I’m a veteran here and an utter newbie there, and I can’t seem to locate a “newbie user’s guide” on the CL page.
> 
> There’s a posting I want to respond to. Do I simply do it through my own personal email box (Yahoo!, in my case), using my real identity? Or is there some CL mechanism that allows me to respond anonymously to defend me from whackos, spammers, etc.?
> 
> Thanks all.

I’ve always responded through my personal email box. If you’re afraid of spammers and the such, respond from an account that you reserve for spam.

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### Author: ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2005, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/responding-to-a-craigslist-post/327293/3 "2005-10-21T18:13:32Z")

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The only way is through one of your personal email boxes. Just set up a new Yahoo or Gmail account and use it for CL.

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### Author: ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2005, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/responding-to-a-craigslist-post/327293/4 "2005-10-21T18:27:17Z")

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> [@hajario](#):
>
> The only way is through one of your personal email boxes. Just set up a new Yahoo or Gmail account and use it for CL.

Good advice. Also can set one up on Hotmail.