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If Craigslist cost $1

sethgodin.typepad.com

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Re: If Craigslist cost $1

#11

Post by jgrahamc »

Edinburger wrote: post #10
jgrahamc wrote: post #2

The number of scam artists using the site would go down, because it's more difficult to be anonymous when money changes hands. Only slightly more difficult. The reality is that stolen credit card numbers are easily available to anyone who really wants to find and buy them (in bulk) and so using "ability to pay money" as a criteria for detecting non-scammers is weak. That's precisely because what scammers are good at…

I think the point is it would become much less worthwhile to spam the site, at least with 'simple' spam. Stolen credit card numbers are easily available but using them just to spam Craigslist is probably a poor return on investment. Ironically, more complex scams could become more worthwhile if users start to show a higher level of trust in ads because they've been paid for.

You are probably right that increased trust because of payments could make the scams work better, but bear in mind that a typical stolen credit card can be bought for a few cents. They are almost free.

Re: If Craigslist cost $1

#14

Post by cemerick »

calambrac wrote: post #12

Gosh, all that sounds amazing. Let me blow your minds, though: what if CL cost two dollars? This is unbelievably weak. Godin's not exactly on a hot streak right now, is he?

Even worse is that the slant about being able to use that money to do good in the world (e.g. fund journalism, etc) is almost certainly a swipe from Spolsky's recent craigslist rant on stackoverflow. I guess they might have had the same idea at roughly the same time, but I'm disinclined to think that given Godin's shoddy writing/work lately.

Re: If Craigslist cost $1

#15

Post by microcentury »

cemerick wrote: post #14
calambrac wrote: post #12

Gosh, all that sounds amazing. Let me blow your minds, though: what if CL cost two dollars? This is unbelievably weak. Godin's not exactly on a hot streak right now, is he?

Even worse is that the slant about being able to use that money to do good in the world (e.g. fund journalism, etc) is almost certainly a swipe from Spolsky's recent craigslist rant on stackoverflow. I guess they might have had the same idea at roughly the same time, but I'm disinclined to think that given Godin's shoddy writing/work lately.

Yup, incredibly weak. And it's written like no-one at Craigslist could _possibly_ have thought about this.

Re: If Craigslist cost $1

#16

Post by mattmanser »

calambrac wrote: post #12

Gosh, all that sounds amazing. Let me blow your minds, though: what if CL cost two dollars? This is unbelievably weak. Godin's not exactly on a hot streak right now, is he?

They're established, they can start charging and as far as I know they already are for some categories. They've not got a chicken and egg problem. So I'm not sure what's so 'unbelievably weak'.

On a side note, Joel Spolsky was arguing the same point a couple of weeks back on one of the SO podcasts. He obviously said a lot more, being Joel. I'm paraphrasing poorly but one of his better points was that there's a certain amount of potential money in CL that at the moment is being spent on the very small social good of totally free listings. But he lamented the fact that it used to be spent on the much greater social good of journalism, which is a waste as people don't really need free listings, but they need good journalism for a healthy democracy:

http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2009/09/podcast-67/

They went on to conclude charging on all categories in CL was inevitable to stop the spammers and perhaps they could use the extra revenue to start funding digital journalism.

Re: If Craigslist cost $1

#17

Post by d4nt »

DanielStraight wrote: post #13

He's completely ignoring the fact that some people (a lot of people actually) won't pay any price. Changing the price from free to $1 would probably have more effect than a site changing its price from $1 to $10.

Isn't that exactly the point he's making

Re: If Craigslist cost $1

#18

Post by zaidf »

d4nt wrote: post #17
DanielStraight wrote: post #13

He's completely ignoring the fact that some people (a lot of people actually) won't pay any price. Changing the price from free to $1 would probably have more effect than a site changing its price from $1 to $10.

Isn't that exactly the point he's making

He's saying making it a buck will make CL a lot of money.

OP is saying that may not happen. People might move to another classifieds website in mass. CL might end up making a lot less money because less traffic = less price for paid sections of their site(ie. job sections in certain cities).

Re: If Craigslist cost $1

#19

Post by d4nt »

dualogy wrote: post #9
nazgulnarsil wrote: post #3

this reminds me of the "if email cost a penny" arguments. I think i agree, but I haven't thought about it enough to see the likely ramifications.

The only thing that would likely happen in both cases, craigslist and email, is people would set up free alternatives instantly. Everything needed for that is out there for free already, ready to run.

I agree the free alternatives would be set up, but in the case of Craigslist I think it probably has enough critical mass to keep its dominant position.

A free email provider would still let you send and receive messages from anyone. A free classified listings site doesn't give you access to traffic on the paid classified listings site.

Re: If Craigslist cost $1

#20

Post by d4nt »

zaidf wrote: post #18
d4nt wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't that exactly the point he's making

He's saying making it a buck will make CL a lot of money. OP is saying that may not happen. People might move to another classifieds website in mass. CL might end up making a lot less money because less traffic = less price for paid sections of their site(ie. job sections in certain cities).

I think seth is saying a lot less ads will be placed, which will make the site nicer to use.

Combine that added usability with the critical mass it already has and CL stay dominant and will make more money than it does currently.

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