Frequently asked questions about classified ads on SF Gate:

Q: How can I place a classified ad?
A: Please see our page on Advertising.

Q: How do I place an obituary?
A: Please see our page on Advertising.

Q: Are all ads in the Chronicle also on SF Gate?
A: No. The advertiser must pay an additional fee to have his ad appear on SF Gate, and some advertisers do not elect this option. There are some ads that only appear on SF Gate and not in the Chronicle. These are web-only ads (WebAds) and ads from our other online partners.

Q: What's the difference between Vehicle Power Search and the regular Vehicle Browse/Search interface?
A: Vehicle Power Search only contains vehicles from our auto dealer partners. The private party ads we receive are not in the correct format to be included in Power Search. We hope to include them in the future. The regular Browse/Search interface contains private party ads, as well as some auto dealer ads from selected partners. When viewing results in the Browse/Search interface, you can filter out auto dealer ads by clicking the "Chronicle Ads Only" link at the top of the results page.

Q: I don't see an email address in the ad. Can I email classifieds@sfgate.com?.
A: No. We have no information on ads other than what is printed. Please do not send ad specific queries to us. If there is no contact information of any kind in the ad, please let us know and we can research the problem. However, we cannot forward any information to the advertiser.

Q: There's something wrong with my ad.
A: If you placed an ad in the newspaper and it has incorrect information, please contact your newspaper ad rep. If you don't have his or her contact information, please call the main classifieds number at 415-777-7777. If there's incorrect information in a WebAd (web-only ad) or Top Jobs ad, please email classifieds@sfgate.com or call 415-777-6333.

Q: What are the deadlines for placing a classified ad in the newspaper?
A: Please see the information on this page.

Q: I placed an ad, but don't see it on SF Gate.
A: If you placed an ad and don't see it on SF Gate, you can send email to classifieds@sfgate.com or call 415-777-6333. Please give us the text of the ad and the date that it was supposed to start and we will research it. Also, please let us know if it was a newspaper ad with online placement, online only or Top Jobs.

Email Alerts:
Q: My email alerts have stopped.
A: By default, email alerts expire after 90 days. You can re-set the days remaining at any time by logging into to the administration area. Click the "My Email Alerts" link above.

Q: I would like to cancel my email alert(s).
A: Log in to the administration area using the "My Email Alerts" link at the top of the page.
You can then suspend or delete your alerts by checking the appropriate box and clicking the update link.

Q: I forgot my User ID and/or Password.
A: Please email your name and the email address to which the alerts are being sent to classifieds@sfgate.com. We will send you your user ID. We don't know your password, so we will set a default for you, which you can then change.

Q: Something is wrong with the display of my email alerts.
A: Please forward the alert to classifieds@sfgate.com and note the error you are seeing (missing text, bad formatting, etc.). We'll take a look.

Q: I'm getting the same results on consecutive days.
A: Please forward the alert to classifieds@sfgate.com and we'll take a look. Let us know which item has repeated.

Q: I'm not getting the results I expected in my email alerts.
A: You may need to change your search terms to get a more specific result. Run a new search and see if the results you are getting are better. Then save that search and delete the old one.

Search Tips

Following are some search tips to assist you:

To narrow your search, you can choose "Boolean" as a criteria, and use the following operators:
AND
OR
NOT

For example:
Honda AND Prelude
Toyota NOT Corolla
Toyota OR Honda
Toyota AND Honda NOT Accord NOT Celica

You can also use quotation marks.
For example: "Alfa Romeo" is the same as searching for the exact phrase alfa romeo.