Why Craigslist still looks the same after 25 years • Hacker News Board

Re: Why Craigslist still looks the same after 25 years

#241

Post by Melatonic » Sat, Sep 17, 2022, 12:10 AM UTC

defterGoose wrote: post #25

NikolaNovak wrote: post #3

* I far, far, far prefer Craigslist interface to anything else in that space. It's clear and focused Its search engine too - I get things I search for in the area I search for. For me, Kijiji and Facebook marketplace are awful UI, awful distractions, and give me 10,000 "suggested" or "fuzzy searched" things in random order, suppressing things I'm actually looking for. And I've completely given up on eBay over last de…

CL is still alive and well here in LA. It's possible it's just in the markets I'm looking in (tools, machinery, cars, etc), but I've always preferred it over things like FB, OfferUp etc. I feel like the people I meet from CL are generally much more knowledgeable about what they have and its value. Other platforms often feel like a relative selling grandpa's stuff and have done the bare minimum of research to find a p…

Yea I still use CL mainly in LA as well. Then again I am not comparing it directly to FB marketplace. That being said CL was never good for some stuff

Re: Why Craigslist still looks the same after 25 years

#242

Post by NikolaNovak » Sat, Sep 17, 2022, 12:15 AM UTC

AussieWog93 wrote: post #221

NikolaNovak wrote: post #3

* I far, far, far prefer Craigslist interface to anything else in that space. It's clear and focused Its search engine too - I get things I search for in the area I search for. For me, Kijiji and Facebook marketplace are awful UI, awful distractions, and give me 10,000 "suggested" or "fuzzy searched" things in random order, suppressing things I'm actually looking for. And I've completely given up on eBay over last de…

I really, really like Facebook Marketplace's fuzzy searching. Random people listing stuff on local classified sites don't always use the correct keywords, and it's in everyone's best interest for these listings to actually get a good amount of views. I suspect this "fuzzier" algorithm accounts for the far lower amount of spam too. A search for "heat pump dryer" on Gumtree will return 25 listings in a row from the sam…

I think it depends how specific your buying is.

If I'm searching for Scooter, it may be good that it returns also mopeds and motorcycles.

But if I'm searching for Nikon d850, and get first 10 entries for Nikon d750, Nikon d610, canon 5dMkii, Sony rx100, and then finally a d850, then its really really annoying; and that's 80 percent of my experience.

For the other 20 percent, When I do want to search for something generic like bicycle or synthesizer, I frequently want to see new entries since the last time I searched - I don't want to see same synthesizer (or heat pump dryer:) day after day after day. Instead, Facebook's fuzzy algorithm fill cheerfully show me what it thinks is the best answer day after day and week after week, even though its a crappy casio that shouldn't even be listed as a synthesizer and it's been there for 7 weeks and is actually sold; it will refuse to show me chronological list so I can see what's new and added. It will then cheerfully ignore geographic distance and get me excited about something 4 hrs away.

So for me at least it's a lose lose scenario - our experiences clearly differ radically, and it may be simply down to how specific of a thing we want to. I typically want something specific, and if I want generic, then I'd like a category please, something which Facebook also sucks at as others have pointed out :).

(and I lied in my example to give FB a chance... In reality shen I search for "scooter" , I get motor scooters, electric scooters, the Segway wannabes, and six other types of things I don't want, so even then fuzzy search fails me :)

Re: Why Craigslist still looks the same after 25 years

#243

Post by pkamb » Sat, Sep 17, 2022, 12:15 AM UTC

AussieWog93 wrote: post #221

NikolaNovak wrote: post #3

* I far, far, far prefer Craigslist interface to anything else in that space. It's clear and focused Its search engine too - I get things I search for in the area I search for. For me, Kijiji and Facebook marketplace are awful UI, awful distractions, and give me 10,000 "suggested" or "fuzzy searched" things in random order, suppressing things I'm actually looking for. And I've completely given up on eBay over last de…

I really, really like Facebook Marketplace's fuzzy searching. Random people listing stuff on local classified sites don't always use the correct keywords, and it's in everyone's best interest for these listings to actually get a good amount of views. I suspect this "fuzzier" algorithm accounts for the far lower amount of spam too. A search for "heat pump dryer" on Gumtree will return 25 listings in a row from the sam…

That's how it should work. In reality, 50% of the items FBM shows for a search are non-local "ships to you" items that you'll never buy. But that juices someone's OKR somewhere.

Re: Why Craigslist still looks the same after 25 years

#244

Post by pkamb » Sat, Sep 17, 2022, 12:17 AM UTC

legitster wrote: post #219

inanutshellus wrote: post #106

I hate FB Marketplace. It's actively hostile to buyers. Like, try to find a "kinda nice" bicycle. You can't find the bicycle category (though it does exist as a sub-group of Sporting Goods), you can't just say "show me bikes" unless you hack the URL, you can search for the word "bicycle" but for some reason people selling a "Specialized Rockhopper" think you know it's a bicycle so don't use that word. Oh, and when se…

It's been so frustrating to use FB Marketplace. It was surprisingly awesome for the first year. But they just couldn't help themselves.

I'll never buy a shipped item on Facebook Marketplace. Shop showing me them!

Re: Why Craigslist still looks the same after 25 years

#245

Post by graupel » Sat, Sep 17, 2022, 12:17 AM UTC

xahrepap wrote: post #5

NikolaNovak wrote: post #3

* I far, far, far prefer Craigslist interface to anything else in that space. It's clear and focused Its search engine too - I get things I search for in the area I search for. For me, Kijiji and Facebook marketplace are awful UI, awful distractions, and give me 10,000 "suggested" or "fuzzy searched" things in random order, suppressing things I'm actually looking for. And I've completely given up on eBay over last de…

A local media company runs a "classifieds" on their online site. It dominates locally. Craigslist has been worthless for ages here because of it. However, Facebook Marketplace seems to be slowly gaining traction. Which I hate for all the reasons you mention. I dread the day it takes over :(

Found the Utahn in the room! :)

Re: Why Craigslist still looks the same after 25 years

#246

Post by AussieWog93 » Sat, Sep 17, 2022, 12:18 AM UTC

pkamb wrote: post #243

AussieWog93 wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really, really like Facebook Marketplace's fuzzy searching. Random people listing stuff on local classified sites don't always use the correct keywords, and it's in everyone's best interest for these listings to actually get a good amount of views. I suspect this "fuzzier" algorithm accounts for the far lower amount of spam too. A search for "heat pump dryer" on Gumtree will return 25 listings in a row from the sam…

That's how it should work. In reality, 50% of the items FBM shows for a search are non-local "ships to you" items that you'll never buy. But that juices someone's OKR somewhere.

That might be a regional thing. Here in Australia, FB marketplace is (if not enforced, then de-facto) local-only.

Re: Why Craigslist still looks the same after 25 years

#247

Post by dieselgate » Sat, Sep 17, 2022, 12:19 AM UTC

NikolaNovak wrote: post #3

* I far, far, far prefer Craigslist interface to anything else in that space. It's clear and focused Its search engine too - I get things I search for in the area I search for. For me, Kijiji and Facebook marketplace are awful UI, awful distractions, and give me 10,000 "suggested" or "fuzzy searched" things in random order, suppressing things I'm actually looking for. And I've completely given up on eBay over last de…

It’s a great option in the states. The only other country I’ve heard of it being used is Mexico and people say it’s mostly used by non-Mexicans.

Re: Why Craigslist still looks the same after 25 years

#248

Post by baby » Sat, Sep 17, 2022, 12:19 AM UTC

NikolaNovak wrote: post #3

* I far, far, far prefer Craigslist interface to anything else in that space. It's clear and focused Its search engine too - I get things I search for in the area I search for. For me, Kijiji and Facebook marketplace are awful UI, awful distractions, and give me 10,000 "suggested" or "fuzzy searched" things in random order, suppressing things I'm actually looking for. And I've completely given up on eBay over last de…

I still use craigslist for finding a place to rent, works really well (at least in SF). For the other stuff, I moved to facebook marketplace, although the UI is really awful (as a seller also), especially on mobile.

I think kijiji was never a thing outside of Canada from my experience.

Re: Why Craigslist still looks the same after 25 years

#249

Post by AussieWog93 » Sat, Sep 17, 2022, 12:24 AM UTC

NikolaNovak wrote: post #242

AussieWog93 wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really, really like Facebook Marketplace's fuzzy searching. Random people listing stuff on local classified sites don't always use the correct keywords, and it's in everyone's best interest for these listings to actually get a good amount of views. I suspect this "fuzzier" algorithm accounts for the far lower amount of spam too. A search for "heat pump dryer" on Gumtree will return 25 listings in a row from the sam…

I think it depends how specific your buying is. If I'm searching for Scooter, it may be good that it returns also mopeds and motorcycles. But if I'm searching for Nikon d850, and get first 10 entries for Nikon d750, Nikon d610, canon 5dMkii, Sony rx100, and then finally a d850, then its really really annoying; and that's 80 percent of my experience. For the other 20 percent, When I do want to search for something gen…

Maybe that's a personal difference. I tend not to get my heart set on a specific product, and will generally go with whatever happens to be well-priced on the market at the time. Especially so on Marketplace.

If I search for Nikon D850, and some of the search results are (for example), Nikon D750s at a significantly lower price[1], then at least for me personally I'm happy to be shown that result.

This isn't a hypothetical - I bought a Canon 1000D after searching for 1200Ds and 1300Ds and finding it for a crazy-low price locally.

I understand not everyone is like this, though, and they should at least properly support the option for less fuzzy or no-fuzzy searches.

[1] I don't know cameras well, but I've assumed the 750 is the previous year's or slightly lower specced model of the 850.

Re: Why Craigslist still looks the same after 25 years

#250

Post by novaleaf » Sat, Sep 17, 2022, 12:25 AM UTC

NikolaNovak wrote: post #3

* I far, far, far prefer Craigslist interface to anything else in that space. It's clear and focused Its search engine too - I get things I search for in the area I search for. For me, Kijiji and Facebook marketplace are awful UI, awful distractions, and give me 10,000 "suggested" or "fuzzy searched" things in random order, suppressing things I'm actually looking for. And I've completely given up on eBay over last de…

I was starting to move to OfferUp, but got a rude awakening when I tried to give away some old Garage Sale signs. They block posting anything that might encourage "outside sales". No thank you. Craigslist 4 life.