The Craigslist Middleman Review: Arbitrage Model Pros, Student Results & Alternatives |IPPEI

Updated On 2022-07-20

In The Craigslist Middleman course, you learn how to run ads on Craigslist offering services like logo and website design at high-ticket prices, to then outsource those jobs to freelancers on Fiverr. You’re shown the exact ads to use, how to close clients over the phone, and how to find the best freelancers to do the work at low-cost prices.

In my 10+ years of experience with online businesses, a Craigslist middleman as taught by The Craigslist Middleman is like Mount Vesuvius, where everything looks stable until an eruption you can’t control. Freelancers miss handoffs, quality craters without warning, and you’re left absorbing refunds and angry messages because fulfillment depends on forces outside your hands. You’ll often be competing on price, which is like the Scripps National Spelling Bee, where a crowded stage battles for one narrow win. Dozens of near-identical offers push relentless undercutting, so prices race downward and margins vanish.

This article reviews The Craigslist Middleman, explaining how the course teaches service arbitrage by posting Craigslist ads for design work, closing clients over the phone, and outsourcing fulfillment to low-cost Fiverr freelancers. It also introduces Joe, the course creator from Austin, Texas, sharing student success stories, the model’s income potential and limitations. Lastly, I’ll compare the Craigslist middleman model to more reliable, scalable business models like local lead generation.

What Are the Pros and Cons of The Craigslist Middleman?

Pros:

Low startup costs — uses free Craigslist ads and affordable Fiverr freelancers.
No technical skill needed — clients and fulfillment are both handled by others.
Teaches phone-based closing skills.
Includes templates, scripts, and ad copy.
Scalable in theory — repeatable arbitrage process.

Cons:

Quality control is inconsistent — relies on random Fiverr freelancers.
Customer revisions can eat into profit or lead to refunds.
Not passive — requires daily client handling and freelancer coordination.
Not a long-term asset — no owned traffic, ranking, or brand.
Craigslist visibility is limited, and competition increases quickly.

Price: The Craigslist Middleman does not display any costs publicly

Refund Policy: The Craigslist Middleman does not display any refund policy

Is The Craigslist Middleman Model a Scam?

The Craigslist middleman model is not a scam as it’s a real business model based on services arbitrage. You run classified ads, close clients, and outsource the work. But results vary and fulfillment is the biggest weakness in this setup.

What Do You Learn Inside The Craigslist Middleman?

The following are the 4 main steps that you learn in this course.

Step 1) Post an ad on Craigslist for Website or Logo Design

The first step is all about posting an ad in the services section of Craigslist.

The services you’re taught to post an ad for are website and logo design. To a certain extent, these are services that are the easiest to outsource because even freelancers from overseas can handle these jobs. In the course, you’re given his exact posting strategy and how to optimize your Craigslist listing.

Step 2) Creating Your Craiglist Ad Sets

The strategy of creating a Craigslist ad sets will help you attract customers who want high-ticket design services for anywhere between $500 and $3500. The strategy in this course is called ‘Get Calls Like Crazy’.

Step 3) How to close clients via Phone or Text

The third step to this business model is closing deals. You’re taught how to talk to customers and how to price the designer gigs. The goal is to close clients at thousands of dollars for high-ticket design jobs. You’re given access to the exact scripts that work to help you close the deals.

Once your potential client agrees to your fee, you collect your payment via PayPal.

Step 4) Outsourcing the jobs on Fiverr

Outsourcing makes this business model flow. You’re shown how to go to Fiverr and find freelancers from overseas to fulfill your clients’ needs.

The idea is to outsource for 10% of the cost of the job. This allows you to pay them around $50-$200 dollars per job even though you charged your clients thousands. All you do is outsource and keep +90% as profit.

Once the overseas designer completes the job, you simply send it to your client. You also learn how you can scale this business to 6-figures.

Are The Craigslist Middleman Students Successful?

James is from Austin, Texas and has had massive success with this business model after having bought this course. He is already making $10K per month from outsourcing Craigslist jobs. James says that this course will teach you everything you need to know to make this system work for you and be profitable.

Jesse is from San Clemente, California and bought this course in May 2022. He was able to reach over $6.5K per month from this side gig after only a month of implementing what he learned in this course. His number one way of reaching out to business owners is by emailing them to take on jobs that he’s generated with his Craigslist ads. Jesse believes that this course and business model are perfect for anyone who has an already busy schedule.

What Is The Craigslist Middleman Review by Kyle?

Kyle’s Background and Story

Kyle used to work in the television industry for 10 years. Halfway into his television career, he started exploring different business models to find better financial opportunities. This exploration led him to a successful venture that allowed him to work independently, finally escaping his 9 to 5. Kyle has bought many online courses since he started exploring this industry and has spent over $100,000 on different money-making programs.

Experience with Craigslist Middleman

Kyle sees Craigslist middleman as a valid business strategy, but points out that the business is high-maintenance because you need to constantly interact with customers and clients. It is not a passive business because you’re always in search of freelancers where you can outsource jobs to.

Lessons Kyle Learned From Craigslist Middleman

Understanding the Service: Interested students of the Craigslist Middleman should have a good understanding of the different freelancing services offered online to manage the tasks well and communicate better with clients.
Customer Interaction: The Craigslist Middleman business model requires active engagement with clients. You need to address inquiries while ensuring expectations are met. Overall, it is a high-maintenance biz.

What’s not mentioned in the video: Craigslist does not support advanced filtering and sorting, which leads to lower visibility of listings. It also does not have a built-in payment system, so customers are forced to pay either in cash or through third-party payment facilities.

How Much Can You Make With the Craigslist Middleman Model?

You can make $5K to $10K a month with The Craigslist Middleman model, but profits depend entirely on volume and quality of fulfillment. Expect $300to $500 per client if you close $3K+ deals and fulfill at 10% to 20% cost.

Who Is The Craigslist Middleman’s Course Creator?

Craigslist Middleman’s course creator is Joe from Austin, Texas. There’s not much said about him online. He only appeared a few times on some of Craigslist Middleman’s YouTube ads. Judging from his looks on YouTube, he’s probably in his mid-20s. Joe said he attended university and had a 9-to-5 job when he started Craigslist Middleman. He made $10K that year and now makes $125 annually through this side hustle.

What Is Craigslist?

Craigslist is an online marketplace that provides a variety of services and was founded by Craig Newmark in 1995. It is one of the most well-known sites for classified ads on the internet. People can look for work, buyers for items on sale, a property owner can find rental properties or connect with a potential buyer, and more. Companies and service providers can also list jobs on Craigslist or even a gig.

Although there are over 70 countries that use Craigslist, and the site comes in 14 different languages, they receive most of their traffic from the United States (190 million visitors).

What Are Some Alternatives to The Craigslist Middleman?

Thomas Im’s The Mogul : A mentorship teaching the “Upwork Middleman Strategy” where you act as the intermediary between clients and freelancers.
Dylan Sigley’s Drop Servicing Blueprint : A training program guiding you to build a drop-servicing business model which is selling services then outsourcing fulfillment and profiting from the markup.
Nick David’s The Art of Closing: A coaching programme that equips you to become a digital middle-man closing high-ticket deals for multi-million-dollar online businesses.

Final Verdict: Can You Build a Long-Term Business With the Craigslist Middleman Model?

You can’t build a long-term business with The Craigslist Middleman model because it lacks the structure and scalability to grow into a reliable long-term business. Because you’re dependent on Fiverr freelancers for delivery and Craigslist for traffic, you don’t own any real assets or control any part of the process. While you can land high-ticket clients using clever ads and sales scripts, fulfillment is inconsistent and time-consuming.

What Makes Local Lead Generation More Reliable Than the Craigslist Middleman Model?

Local lead generation is more reliable than the Craigslist middleman model because you build digital real estate that brings in consistent leads every month without fulfillment headaches, refund requests, and no reliance on third-party platforms

Comparing Craigslist middleman to local lead generation is like Mardi Gras versus Arches National Park. Mardi Gras demands constant coordination of floats, routes, crews, last-minute fixes. One missed handoff ruins the show, which mirrors middleman fulfillment risk and razor-thin markups under relentless price-cutting. Arches National Park stays steady once trailheads and signs are set. Local lead generation works the same way after setup, sending a predictable flow of leads with little daily effort, no ongoing marketing, and low fees.

Why Is Local Lead Generation the Most Sustainable Business Model in 2025?

Local lead generation is the most sustainable business model in 2025 because it gives you ownership over your traffic, your rankings, and your income. You build simple websites that rank in Google for local service keywords, then rent out those leads to small business owners who happily pay you $500 to $3,000 a month. It’s low-maintenance, high-margin, and doesn’t collapse if a freelancer ghosts or a platform changes its rules. You’re not just flipping tasks but building digital assets that cash flow for years.

local lead generation

A client of mine is Orange County Elite Commercial Roofing, 16410 Pacific Coast Hwy Huntington Beach, CA 92649, 714-912-9395, https://ocelitecommercialroofing.com/. In the month that 3 of my commercial leads closed for $80K, I earned $4K from 5% commissions.

Build an income stream that doesn’t vanish with a missed Fiverr deadline and start your local lead generation empire today.