5 ms·

Classifieds. CraigsList is not the be-all end-all of buying/selling things locally online. It may be a tough nut to crack, but it won't be hard to radically im

by mojombo 18y ago

Classifieds. CraigsList is not the be-all end-all of buying/selling things locally online. It may be a tough nut to crack, but it won't be hard to radically improve upon their horrible user experience. I would love to see some competition in this space.

eli 18y ago
Posting a classified ad is only as useful as the number of interested parties who read it. Your new site would have to be pretty fickin' special for me to post my ad there instead of to a massively larger audience on craigslist Also, you can't exactly undercut them -- Craigslist is free for most categories and pretty reasonable for the others
josefresco 18y ago
Not going to happen. Craigslist is at that early Google period where everyone who uses it for the first time never looks back and is uber-loyal to the brand. A slick competitor with a great interface and new tools still has to climb that huge Ebay/Facebook-style mountain (no users no stuff, no reason)
- yellowbkpk 18y ago
  What about layering some features on top of Craigslist that are mind-numblingly idiotic to leave out? I'm thinking better meta-data for apartment listings, for example.
  - DaniFong 18y ago
    I don't know about 'they,' but if you build it I will come.
    - deleted 18y ago
      [deleted]
    - DaniFong 18y ago
      Incidentally, have you seen http://www.housingmaps.com/ http://www.housingmaps.com/ ?
- coglethorpe 18y ago
  I've used Craigslist for a car sale and wasn't impressed. I ended up paying a fee to AutoTrader and sold it fairly fast.
  - tontoa4 18y ago
    I'm working on the motorcycle equivalent at MotoListr.com.
    - khafra 18y ago
      Your interface is cleaner and more attractive, but cycletrader.com is a pretty well established competitor. Do you have a plan for beating them along any particular axis?
      - tontoa4 18y ago
        My plan is better dealer support. Direct line to my cell phone.
  - rokhayakebe 18y ago
    I think I help to sellore close to 100 cars through CL. Fast.
- whatusername 18y ago
  no no no no no no. Craigslist can't scale like google did because it's LOCAL. If I'm the only person in my country using google - I still have value. If I'm the only person in my country who uses craiglist - it's useless. My local craigslist sucks. There's pretty much nothing there but spam. Just make sure that when you launch - that you're not targeting SF/NYC. (I will admit - there is local competitors that you would have to beat in most markets - so it's still tough - but it's not always cl.)
katz 18y ago
Or different countries. There are quite a few countries in which CraigsList never really "caught on" and where there isn't really something similar.
- iuguy 18y ago
  Agreed. Gumtree.com is much bigger in the UK than Craigslist, bizarrely due to the foreign community initially - lots of south africans, antipodeans got on gumtree when it first took off.

by mojombo 18y ago

eli 18y ago

Posting a classified ad is only as useful as the number of interested parties who read it. Your new site would have to be pretty fickin' special for me to post my ad there instead of to a massively larger audience on craigslist Also, you can't exactly undercut them -- Craigslist is free for most categories and pretty reasonable for the others

josefresco 18y ago

Not going to happen. Craigslist is at that early Google period where everyone who uses it for the first time never looks back and is uber-loyal to the brand. A slick competitor with a great interface and new tools still has to climb that huge Ebay/Facebook-style mountain (no users no stuff, no reason)

yellowbkpk 18y ago
What about layering some features on top of Craigslist that are mind-numblingly idiotic to leave out? I'm thinking better meta-data for apartment listings, for example.
- DaniFong 18y ago
  I don't know about 'they,' but if you build it I will come.
  - deleted 18y ago
    [deleted]
  - DaniFong 18y ago
    Incidentally, have you seen http://www.housingmaps.com/ http://www.housingmaps.com/ ?
coglethorpe 18y ago
I've used Craigslist for a car sale and wasn't impressed. I ended up paying a fee to AutoTrader and sold it fairly fast.
- tontoa4 18y ago
  I'm working on the motorcycle equivalent at MotoListr.com.
  - khafra 18y ago
    Your interface is cleaner and more attractive, but cycletrader.com is a pretty well established competitor. Do you have a plan for beating them along any particular axis?
    - tontoa4 18y ago
      My plan is better dealer support. Direct line to my cell phone.
- rokhayakebe 18y ago
  I think I help to sellore close to 100 cars through CL. Fast.
whatusername 18y ago
no no no no no no. Craigslist can't scale like google did because it's LOCAL. If I'm the only person in my country using google - I still have value. If I'm the only person in my country who uses craiglist - it's useless. My local craigslist sucks. There's pretty much nothing there but spam. Just make sure that when you launch - that you're not targeting SF/NYC. (I will admit - there is local competitors that you would have to beat in most markets - so it's still tough - but it's not always cl.)

katz 18y ago

Or different countries. There are quite a few countries in which CraigsList never really "caught on" and where there isn't really something similar.

iuguy 18y ago
Agreed. Gumtree.com is much bigger in the UK than Craigslist, bizarrely due to the foreign community initially - lots of south africans, antipodeans got on gumtree when it first took off.