Don't know if it has been mentioned yet or not, but if you had a previous free account that you had listed things with, your can go back to your deactivated ads and reactivate them still with a free account. You can also edit the entire ad, so you may have been selling a shotgun and you can edit it to sell Glocks, ammo, AK's or whatever you wish. I've done it like that several times now, just keep recycling the same ad. Also, paid members can still email me and I can reply with my free account.
I'm not interested in finding ways around the system. Same as paypal and such. I won't lie to use them, and I don't want to deal with liars who use them. Armslist changed their business model, and while I will not participate in it, it's still a good reference for local pricing and availability, so I will use it as a free resource for that as long as they allow it. Same as Gunbroker, I will avail myself of the free features, as long as they remain free.
When any site requires payment to actively participate, I will make a judgement call as to whether the cost is worth the benefit. For Armslist, and for me, it's absolutely not a pay-for-value service.