Mitch I agree. #2 is a definate. The useless, though sometimes entertaining, banter on some ads makes it tough to get to the bottom line on the status of the item.

Bob & Mag made a good point that ads get buried. I think when an item is sold the ad should be deleted. Its not like ebay it doesn't cost anything to list it. Should the deal fall through the item can be re-listed. I can't tell you how many ads I looked at and PMed the seller to find out it was sold.