4 ms·

Out of curiosity, what do you dislike or think can be done better with Craigslist? In other words, if you were going to build a Craigslist competitor what woul

by stevenj 16y ago

Out of curiosity, what do you dislike or think can be done better with Craigslist? In other words, if you were going to build a Craigslist competitor what would you focus on doing differently?

pingswept 16y ago
(I'm not pg, obviously.) I've found the scantiness of information in Craigslist posts a weakness. I have no idea how to fix that, but I rule out a large fraction of ads based on "Not enough info to know what this person is selling." For example, many ads don't have pictures, and many that do have pictures that are tiny and inscrutable.
- enjo 16y ago
  I'd argue that's a strength for Craigslist. The fact that you don't need pictures (or even content really) lowers the barrier to posting. What craigslist gets wrong is the posting procedure. It's arcane. My in-laws can't figure it out with the email responses and what-not. Better would be some way to submit posts by email (or mobile app) and have them automatically posted to the site... like posterous.
wtracy 16y ago
Craigslist got buying and selling and job hunting pretty much right. The Craigslist personal sections suck. If you want something closer to the traditional newspaper ad online ("Anyone free Friday night?") and not the experience that today's dating sites give you (create an account, personalize it, finally find someone, realize that your profile is still up and creepy guys are still hitting on you....) there's not much out there.
vaksel 16y ago
better fraud control...my sister was looking for an apartment in Manhattan, and out of ~20 people she contacted, only 4 were real people.
- ericd 16y ago
  This is a very real problem, especially in Manhattan, and especially at the lower end of the price spectrum (that's where the scammers are all fishing).
HeyLaughingBoy 16y ago
Location: I live in a rural area and while CL has a section for my county (grouped with two others!), it's still flooded with ads from large cities 40 miles away. Niche: CL for antiques, or used musical instruments, or used books or for special collectible classes of items Jobs: specialized job types. CL for nannies or other household services: housecleaning, carpet cleaning, window washing, pet sitting etc. Every time I use craigslist I'm overwhelmed by the amount of stuff I have to wade through to find the few items I care about.

by stevenj 16y ago

Out of curiosity, what do you dislike or think can be done better with Craigslist? In other words, if you were going to build a Craigslist competitor what would you focus on doing differently?

pingswept 16y ago

(I'm not pg, obviously.) I've found the scantiness of information in Craigslist posts a weakness. I have no idea how to fix that, but I rule out a large fraction of ads based on "Not enough info to know what this person is selling." For example, many ads don't have pictures, and many that do have pictures that are tiny and inscrutable.

enjo 16y ago
I'd argue that's a strength for Craigslist. The fact that you don't need pictures (or even content really) lowers the barrier to posting. What craigslist gets wrong is the posting procedure. It's arcane. My in-laws can't figure it out with the email responses and what-not. Better would be some way to submit posts by email (or mobile app) and have them automatically posted to the site... like posterous.

wtracy 16y ago

Craigslist got buying and selling and job hunting pretty much right. The Craigslist personal sections suck. If you want something closer to the traditional newspaper ad online ("Anyone free Friday night?") and not the experience that today's dating sites give you (create an account, personalize it, finally find someone, realize that your profile is still up and creepy guys are still hitting on you....) there's not much out there.

vaksel 16y ago

better fraud control...my sister was looking for an apartment in Manhattan, and out of ~20 people she contacted, only 4 were real people.

ericd 16y ago
This is a very real problem, especially in Manhattan, and especially at the lower end of the price spectrum (that's where the scammers are all fishing).

HeyLaughingBoy 16y ago

Location: I live in a rural area and while CL has a section for my county (grouped with two others!), it's still flooded with ads from large cities 40 miles away. Niche: CL for antiques, or used musical instruments, or used books or for special collectible classes of items Jobs: specialized job types. CL for nannies or other household services: housecleaning, carpet cleaning, window washing, pet sitting etc. Every time I use craigslist I'm overwhelmed by the amount of stuff I have to wade through to find the few items I care about.