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If Craigslist cost $1

sethgodin.typepad.com

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Re: If Craigslist cost $1

#71

Post by stcredzero »

derefr wrote: post #51
wizard_2 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's really a great point but Joel's board is not exactly the same as Craig's list. Joel's point was that Craig removed the revenue from classified ads, when the money was being used for the public good. He acknowledged that the classified ads market was fair game, but he disagrees with Craig's view that he's doing the most good keeping it free. I think there's a notable difference to Craig's list being free vs Joe…

And there always will be a place to go for free ads, now that it's been noticed as a good idea for a website; whether it's Craig's implementation that survives or not makes no difference. The cat's out of the bag: classifieds can be free.

Yes, but sometimes free really sucks.

In general, the free things that are good still require some sort of commitment. Money is just one of the most fungible sorts of commitment.

Re: If Craigslist cost $1

#72

Post by stcredzero »

leftnode wrote: post #8

From what I've read around the Internet, Craigslist is perfectly happy being one of the worlds largest websites run by 32 people. I don't think they want to grow to a huge marketplace, or want to make billions. They sound like a company that's perfectly happy with their place on the 'Net and thats that. From their Wikipedia article, "Other factors he [Craig Newmark] cites are consistency of down-to-earth values, cust…

"Other factors he [Craig Newmark] cites are consistency of down-to-earth values, customer service and simplicity." To me, those go away if they start charging for posts.

I'd like you to explain that one. Lots of companies charge money and have exactly those qualities.

Re: If Craigslist cost $1

#73

Post by stcredzero »

zaidf wrote: post #68
yesimahuman wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think he's wrong about it though. Honestly, craigslist hasn't failed me much. I rarely get spam or ads. When I need to sell something, it has always worked out. Part of the wonder of craigslist is that everyone has access to it. If they charged to post, some people wouldn't pay, and the community would suffer

Yeah I saw his post more as a HUGE hypothetical fantasy. The premise of it is based on making money. While that is usually the end pursued by most commercial ventures, Craig Newmark has made it abundantly clear that optimizing money is never the goal at Craigslist.

The premise of it is based on making money

That's not what I read it as. I think the key paragraph is:

Money creates a sort of friction. In the digital economy, magical things can happen when there is no friction. You can scale to infinity. On the other hand, sometimes you want friction.

Especially the last line. By charging a small amount, you remove the ability to scale to infinity. I would charge far less than a dollar per ad, though.

Re: If Craigslist cost $1

#75

Post by dennisgorelik »

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?

I have a better idea: what if it costs 1 cent? That would generate no revenue, but harass posters enough so CraigsList would quickly go out of business.

Re: If Craigslist cost $1

#76

Post by dennisgorelik »

azgolfer wrote: post #67
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…

If this was true, the credit card companies would all be out of business.

You are almost right: Merchants that readily deliver goods to wherever carders (credit card scammers) ask them to -- go out of business. Ultimately it's merchant's responsibility to make sure credit card is legitimate.

Re: If Craigslist cost $1

#77

Post by MaysonL »

wizard_2 wrote: post #33
TheElder wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That was a great podcast and it had me thinking. But what had me thinking more is when I found out that Joel is also subverting journalism with his million dollar plus in yearly revenue job board: http://jobs.joelonsoftware.com . Revenue for the job board was found here: http://www.inc.com/magazine/20090101/how-hard-could-it-be-th...

That's really a great point but Joel's board is not exactly the same as Craig's list. Joel's point was that Craig removed the revenue from classified ads, when the money was being used for the public good. He acknowledged that the classified ads market was fair game, but he disagrees with Craig's view that he's doing the most good keeping it free. I think there's a notable difference to Craig's list being free vs Joe…

A lot of people are making money off of classified ads: it's just that they are individual small-time arbitrage entrepreneurs and small retailers, as well as people getting rid of extra stuff, not newspaper monopolists.
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