The dirt on Craig’s List.
by julie on May 24, 2007
Preparing for (and partially financing) the new furniture that will arrive soon, I took the plunge and listed several furniture and home accessory pieces on Craig’s List. I’ve known about Craig’s List forever, but never actually checked it out due to the simple fact that I had no reason to check it out before.
But before I continue…
I have this thing about eBay. I don’t like eBay. Why is it that I don’t like eBay? I’m not really sure how it all started. Probably the first time I tried to navigate their klunky ad infested site while still being on a dial-up account living in Europe. Since then I have never been back and now it’s turned into something like the phrase ‘it’s the principle of the matter…” Kind of silly, really, but there it is.
So, I check out Craig’s List and immediately I’m engaged. Okay, the site looks like it was designed by some 13 year old PHP wizard in his garage, but within 3 clicks I was filling out a very simple form and uploading photos and not a 3rd party advertisement to be seen, anywhere.
One week and $4500 richer I mentioned, in a rather braggish sort of way, how “Craig’s List rules!” in my family email and quickly I get this reply from my sister Susan…
“Did you know that we (meaning eBay, the company for which she works) own Craig’s List?”
No!!!
I felt like I had been slapped in the face. Of course, I couldn’t believe it and demanded an explanation from her. (Like it’s her fault.) I can’t quite put my head around that business model. From what Sue tells me (and she really knows very little about it) it’s for the exposure and traffic it drives to their site.
I didn’t see that one coming.
I need to read the headlines a little slower. There’s no excuse for me NOT to have known that.
Their spin on what happened.
A little Q & A on the deal.
An interesting take on a broader topic.