Christopher Finke writes about software, woodworking, and other creative endeavors.

Shopping Made Easy

I don’t like to shop. So when I decided that I needed a bigger desk (and a new coffee table and some PC133 SDRAM – email me if you’ve got extra), I did what lazy shoppers do – I hit up CraigsList. It turns out that since I live within a half hour of a major metropolitan area, there are literally thousands of people e-begging me to buy their desks! It looked like my troubles were over.

Well, finding just the right desk is hard. I need something with lots of open space beneath for PC towers and whatnot, so desks with drawers are out. I also need lots of desktop area to rest my enormous forearms while I type, so regular puny-human sized desks are out too. It looked as if I would be browsing through the CraigsList listings forever, but when I noticed that you can subscribe to a CraigsList search via RSS feed, my task became a whole lot easier.

I subscribed to the RSS feed, and with RSS Ticker installed, new desks for sale scroll across the bottom of my screen within minutes of being posted. I imagine that this method would work with products other than desks, RAM, and coffee tables, but I can’t personally confirm it.

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Christopher Finke

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4 responses to “Shopping Made Easy”

  1. Alex Rudloff Avatar
    Alex Rudloff

    I gave up looking for the desk of my dreams. I broke down and ordered http://www.dwr.com/productdetail.cfm?id=1483 that

    A little more expensive than I would have liked, but it’s been great so far. Just a big giant glass table.

    Reply
  2. Christopher Finke Avatar
    Christopher Finke

    I’m thinking something in an L-shape for maximum space usage in my (small) office. Probably something like http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/fur/185934972.html but a little longer on each side and either smaller drawer spaces or no drawers at all. Maybe I should be looking for an L-shaped table…

    Reply
  3. Craig Avatar
    Craig

    I put together a site that searches the RSS feed for you and emails you only when a match is found. Check out http://craigslist.craig2mail.com/ to try it out.

    Craig (no not that Craig)

    Reply
  4. jason Avatar
    jason

    Try CraigSpy – it lets you search multiple keywords (including AND/NOT keyword features,) multiple locations, multiple categories, and it also searches for you while you’re away from the computer. I used it to find free and cheap stuff for my bachelor pad–also found a really nice Suzuki TS185 that was in amazing condition for only $50. The program is really fast and does a lot of work for you.

    http://www.craig-spy.com is the website :)

    Reply

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