Why Does Craigslist Block VPN?
Craigslist is a unified modern platform used by millions of people to list and advertise jobs, properties, accommodation, goods, and services, etc. If you are not familiar with the rules of using this platform, you might end up getting a message that your IP address is being blocked.
Craigslist can block your IP address for many reasons, but one of the most common ones is because you are using VPN to virtually change your physical location, which is known to the Craigslist and bounded to your profile. Posting from two different locations at the same time is forbidden and banned by Craigslist.
If you find yourself in a situation like this, don’t be desperate since your account is not permanently lost. There are some quick fixes you can try, and they are all listed in this article. However, bear in mind that the best fix is to abide by the rules set by Craigslist, so you don’t come in a situation where your IP is blocked.
How Can You Be Blocked by Craigslist?
Craigslist is, after all, a business just like any other, which means that they are putting efforts to block and ban any accounts that have a record of suspicious behavior. You will not get a second chance if they suspect you are doing something inappropriate – you will be immediately banned.
There are several reasons why you might end up in the situation described above, and one of the mains ones is using VPN. Craigslist is very regional, meaning that they record the IP address you have used when you made the account and tie the location up to your profile.
If you post a listing in your location, and then use VPN and post another listing in another location, this is a huge red flag for Craigslist and you will be immediately blocked. This kind of behavior is a clear sign of using a VPN, which is not allowed by Craigslist.
They do have a list of IP addresses that are known to be used by VPN users, so if you do connect to a server and get such an address, logging into Craigslist would mean an automatic ban.
Other Reasons Why Craigslist Blocks Your IP Address
Believe it or not, one of the biggest reasons why you might be blocked is because you have overused Craigslist. There are rules on how many ads you can post and how frequently. Usually what they do allow is to post one ad in one location, every 48 hours. More than this will raise concerns on their sides which will lead to your IP address blocked.
The reason behind this is very simple – they want to filter their users and to keep only those who really want to use the full potential of Craigslist. This rule is made to prevent scammers from joining Craigslist and flooding it with false and misleading listings.
Of course, promoting any kind of prohibited goods will automatically mean a ban. There is a section on the Craigslist website where it is described which goods are not allowed to be listed and advertised, so make sure to check that so you can see if the good you are trying to list is not forbidden.
Craigslist also doesn’t allow data scraping, so if you are using such software to retrieve information about listings and/or prices, then you are risking getting a ban for a certain period.
How to Fix Blocked IP Address?
There are several ways how you can fix the issue with the blocked IP address. Regardless of the reason why you are being blocked, the fastest solution might be to change your IP address.
If you are having a plan with a dynamic IP address, usually your internet service provider will assign you a new one every time you restart your router. Sometimes you might not be lucky so this doesn’t work from the first time, but after the second or third restart, it should work.
The process is rather simple – just turn off your router, wait a few minutes and switch it back on. This should work the first time, and in 99% of cases, it does. However, if this doesn’t work, using your mobile data might.
Usually, when you connect to the internet via your mobile device, you will get a new, unblocked IP address, but only if you are using your mobile data for this purpose. If you don’t mind data drainage, then you should go for it.
Using Craigslist on mobile data will speed up your data consumption, so if you have a limited plan, you should definitely monitor how much data is being used. If even this is not an option for you, there are some other solutions as well.
One of them is using a proxy service. This will help you unblock Craigslist, but it might not the brightest solution. The reason for this is that proxy services have been associated with unauthorized data collection, which they sell later on.
Also, proxy services are more prone to attacks, since they offer little or no protection when compared to VPN services. Usually, there is no data encryption at all.
A very unusual fix for Craigslist that has blocked your IP address is to use VPN. Believe it or not, if you find a good VPN provider which has a proven track of being able to solve blocked IP address due to using a VPN.
Sometimes, if you are using a non-quality VPN provider then they can make it really obvious what you are doing. This means that it is very easy for Craigslist to find out what you are doing.
The trick here is to use the VPN server that is in the same location as you. Otherwise, you will remain blocked due to the reasons that are already explained. There is no way you can be physically present in two locations at the same time.
