How Long Until I Can Do Another Ad on Craigslist?

Craigslist has strict rules about how often you can submit the same posting. You may post your ad to one city, in one category, once every 48 hours. If you attempt to submit a similar ad within that time span, either to the same market or another of Craigslist’s city sites, the post will be blocked until the appropriate time has expired. It is true that people often post to multiple markets by changing the wording of their posts, but Craigslist and its community will flag those listings for removal when they are noticed.

After the 48-hour cooldown period has expired, you are free to renew your posting. For free ads, log into your Craigslist account and click the “Repost” link on the home page. From there you will be able to browse a list of all of your listings. Click the “Renew” button to move your post back to the top of the listings in that category. You are free to do this every 48 hours, but renewing does not extend the lifespan of a post beyond the normal 30 days.

The renewal process for paid ads is nearly identical to that of free ads, with a couple of extra steps near the end. You’ll still access your posts via the “Repost” link on the home page and click the “Renew” post next to the ad you want to refresh, but renewed paid postings do see their lives extended by another 30 days. You will also need to re-enter your payment information and pay for the fresh listing.

Renewing a post moves it to the top of its category and is an option for any active post. After a post has crossed the 30-day threshold and expired, it will instead need to be reposted. Look up the post in the “Repost” section of your Craigslist account and click the “Repost” button next to the expired post. This creates a new, editable copy of the original post and moves it to the top of your posts list. Once reposted, the copied ad will have a 30-day lifespan.