Whether you are looking for love or a one-night fling, Craigslist dating is now canceled but used to offer many channels where you could find the person or people you are looking for. There are countless stories of people finding their soulmate on craigslist, and there are countless stories of Craigslist scams and dates gone wrong. Below are 14 tips and tricks to Craigslist dating to meet someone through craigslist.
Craigslist Dating Online Safety
Whether you’re new to the Craigslist community and the online dating scene, or regularly use the internet for other reasons, it is always a good idea to know what mistakes to avoid. It could save you A LOT of hassle, money, and unsafe situations!
1. Trust Your Instincts
2. Don’t Provide Personal Information
3. Free Email Account (Anonymous e-mails)
4. Use a Cell Phone or Anonymous Phone Services
5. Married People Sometimes Post as Singles
6. Questionable Characteristics in Their Communication
7. Ask for a Recent Photograph
8. Paid Online Dating Services are the Safest
9. Don’t Get a False Sense of Security
10. Meet in a Public Place for Your First Meeting
THE FIRST DATE:
Before you meet your Craigslist love for the 1st time AHHHH. It’s really happening! You about to meet your online match for the first time in person. But first, here are some things you will need to know to play it cool on the first big date.
BEFORE THE DATE:
Ask yourself this, do you feel comfortable meeting this person? It may surprise you how many people feel pressured into the meeting. Sometimes it’s from the person online, other times you pressure yourself to “make it work”. It is best to wait until YOU are ready to meet in person, at that point ask THEM to meet you. Unfortunately, there are many people out there who try to take advantage of good people just like you. If you have been pressured into the meeting, tell them you are not quite ready yet. When they understand and give you room, they are worth it! If not, it’s best to be safe than sorry.
Plan the date out and make it fun! Agree to meet in a public place (pub, movies, etc) where you are around other people. This is your first date with this person remember, you don’t really know them that well. Avoid drives out to the country, and picnics on a mountain top. These are great date ideas, but NOT for the first date. If you need to get out of that date, a secluded location is not good!
Make other plans. WHAT?? Ya, make some simple plans for later on that evening with friends. This may sound weird at first, but it serves TWO very important purposes. First, tell your friends about your date and think about plans that night. Your friends now know what you’re doing, where you’re going, with who, and when you should be back. If for some reason you don’t show up, there are people out there looking for you! It’s very important to be safe.
Secondly having loose plans for later on helps to ease the stress of a date. How? let your date know that you might be meeting up with friends later on for drinks… if the date goes really well, call your friends and cancel your plans. Your friends will smile and understand – or bring your date out to meet your friends! But if the date doesn’t go so well and you don’t want a relationship with this person, you now have an out! Trust me, this works and removes any stress for both people on the date.
ON THE DATE:
Be on time and be yourself! That’s it! Your date will either like you for who YOU are or not. Either way, you benefit. Nothing kills a relationship faster than having to “act” around your partner.
Remember to have fun and enjoy your time with someone who may be your soulmate!
Double-book Yourself for a Successful First Date!
At this point, you are thinking to yourself that I must be crazy! First dates are so nerve-racking, to begin with, why on earth would you want to Double-Book yourself, isn’t that your worst nightmare? It is when its not planned, and suddenly your friend calls you in the middle of your date wondering why you haven’t shown up yet. But, if you double-book yourself on purpose, your “first date” will be stress-free and safe!
Now that I have your attention, let me explain this to you a little more. You have just met some amazing person (online, at the mall, or where ever). Fact is, you probably don’t know them all too well at this point. Well yes, that is the point of a first date- to get to know them. You don’t know this person’s background, true personality, or anything else but what you quickly talked about upon first meeting. Unfortunately, we live in a time where charming strangers can be closet killers, or interesting people online can be boring losers in real life. This is where Double-booking yourself comes into play!
Set up your date as you would normally, go out for dinner or head to an amusement park (whatever you like to do) but also make plans with your friends to ‘tentatively’ head out for drinks or meet up that night. In doing so, you have done yourself two great services 1. reducing the stress of the first date and 2. adding a safety check in case things go wrong.
1. Believe it or not, double-booking yourself can actually ease the stress of the first date for BOTH people involved. Upon setting up the date, tell him/her that you kinda have plans to meet up with friends for drinks later that night. This takes off the stress of being stuck on a bad date all night if you two don’t seem to click. So, if your date turns out to be a total loser, you can simply send the date by saying you have to meet your friends in a bit. Bid goodbye and file that dates under “experiences”. The same principle works for your date too. If he/she isn’t feeling the vibe, they can let your head off with your friends later on. There is no pressure to “seal the deal” and take the date late into the evening.
2. “Safety first” is always a good motto – even when attempting innocent romance. There are far too many creepy people in this world, and you might be about to head out on a date with one of them! By setting up tentative plans with friends, you have made them aware that you’re heading out on a date that night. They know when, where, and with who. If things do go horribly wrong on your date, at least you have people who will be calling you and looking for you later that night.
Now don’t get me wrong, not all people are out to kidnap you; this also applies to those random accidents on dates (car accidents, run out of gas someplace on the highway…the list continues). If for some reason you don’t call or show up, you at least have people who will be looking for you and can help you out if needed.
“Ah but wait,” you say! “What if the date goes well”. Perfect! Congrats! You can call up your friends and cancel drinks that night. These were tentative plans anyway, and I’m sure your friends will smile and understand. Or, bring your new hot date out for drinks and introduce him/her to your friends! If you plan to date, you will have to introduce them at some point anyway.
Craigslist Background Checks
Ok, you have found the person of your dreams on Craigslist (or anywhere). You’ve met, and you’re ready to start a relationship. But how much do you know about the person you bringing into your life? Do they have a shady past? A simple background check can save you heartache and from being scammed!
First and foremost, trust your intuition! You would be amazed at how accurate your mind can be at subconsciously detecting when things don’t match up. We all have had it, that funny feeling that something “just isn’t quite right” with that person. Believe it or not, your mind picks up on what is said, how it’s said, and whether or not it jives with other information from that person – without any conscious effort from you!
If the information your online lover gives seems to contradict information given earlier (when you first met and started talking) raise the red flag!
Ask questions about what they tell you. No, it’s not an insult to them, your just interested in what they do in their life. If they can’t come up with good answers, with some degree of depth and knowledge…they might be making it up on the spot to impress you, or mislead you. In any case, if it doesn’t feel right, GET OUT!
A great way to be sure about your newfound Craigslist love is to obtain a background check. First off, NO it’s not an invasion of privacy. Background checks are performed every minute of every day, searching public records. Employers, landlords, roommates, and even people getting their lawn cut all perform background searches to be sure of who they are letting into their lives. It’s not a private investigator who will spy in their windows and violate their privacy; but a safe, inexpensive, legal, and quick way to find out public knowledge on someone. No different than performing a history report of a car before you buy it – no one wants a write-off!
What’s In Name? Success or Failure in Craigslist Dating!
Flirty Online Dating Names
You browsing through the seemingly endless profiles on Craigslist, when suddenly a name jumps out at you causing you to check out the picture and dive into their profile! What’s in a name? you ask, a lot! It can mean the difference between success and failure in the online dating world. Writing a good profile is one thing, but a catchy name can say a lot about you; turn people on, or make them avoid you like the plague. Recent studies have shown (or rather confirmed) that funny, clever, and flirty online names were rated best by both men and women. Names that described your ‘fun side’ gave the average browser a glimpse into your personality, showed you have a sense of humor and were a nice person.
Also working well were names that described your appearance a little. “Blueyedcutie” works well among people because it shows a fun, flirty side of you while describing your appearance too.
What doesn’t work:
Men do not like names that describe money, how articulated you may be, and show superior intelligence. Names like “professional bookworm” do not rate highly. You want your Craigslist name to seem approachable and friendly.
Women do not like names that describe one’s wealth and power. It makes you look shallow and full of ego. However, some women do prefer names that hint at education, and refinement.
No one likes a boring name. Sorry “John1975”, but you will have to try harder than that!
A good profile picture can add to your stand-out name. Together, you can dominate the online dating world!
Be careful out there in the Craigslist dating world. There are many many great people out there looking to find love, companionship, or someone to share their hobbies; but there are some people who use it to stalk their prey. Use common sense and a little Craigslist safety and you will enjoy your experience.