If nothing comes up, move on to 'Furniture' and 'Business'. In those three categories in the San Francisco Bay Area, I got 600 results for "office furniture," so I decided to pare down the search results by checking the 'has image' tag; I figured that if the seller couldn't be bothered to post an image, I probably wouldn't want the item anyway. I also set the minimum price to $2 because I didn't want to see ads from furniture dealers submit their listings with a tagged price of $1 but don't actually list any prices in the ad. Generally speaking, furniture dealers charge higher prices than furniture owners do--you can check them out for yourself in the 'Furniture by Owner' and 'Furniture by Dealer' categories.

If your needs are more specific--a set of filing (or "file") cabinets, for example, or a receptionist's desk--the search process is substantially easier. Start by narrowing the search results with your price range (and desired location, if applicable) and then scroll through the search results. As the "filing cabinet"/"file cabinet" example suggests, it's a good idea to conduct separate searches for alternative terms for the same item if both names are common. A search for "filing cabinet" produced 15 results, while a search for "file cabinet" generated 31 matches, with only four entries repeated from the "filing cabinet" list. (A search for "file filing cabinet" returned only those four overlapping entries.) Craigslist allows you to specify a search as the source for an RSS feed (more on that ), so just click the big yellow RSS button and add it to your reader of choice to stay current without actively prowling Craigslist every 10 minutes.

On the other hand, services like and offer alternative Craigslist search functions that cater to power users, like slightly more refined search options (search terms to exclude, for example) and the option to search other nearby Craigslist portals. If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area and are willing to drive 250 miles, for example, Search Tempest will include Craigslist search results for the region stretching from Stockton to Sacramento.

If you can't find what you're looking for, try posting your own ad. Though the 'Items Wanted' section of Craigslist gets far less love than the 'For Sale' category does (or 'Missed Connections', for that matter), it can't hurt to post a list of the items you're looking for so that your furniture search is visible to would-be sellers, especially if you're thinking of continuing the search process for a week or so. You needn't be too specific here--just list the items that you're looking for. If possible, post a phone number in your listing, too; sellers generally prefer the immediacy of a phone call. Also, check out our other Craigslist tips stories ("" and "") for more help in finding what you need.