Craigslist v the Ebay Empire

Craigslist Battles the Ebay Empire

Ebay, which has a 25% stake in Craigslist launched a lawsuit against it a few weeks ago. Ebay bought a 28% stake back in 2004 and now accuses Jim Buckmaster and Craig Newmark of attempting to dilute its stake and thereby reduce any influence Ebay may have over the board and its decision.

Ebay obtained their original 28% stake from a former Craigslist employee and last summer launched a rival to Craigslist in the U.S kjiji.com (did I spell that right ?). Buckmaster and Newmark were never particularly keen to have Ebay as a shareholder (I wonder why), there own ethos being a desire to provide services free of charge wherever possible, and to make enough money to live comfortably whilst retaining control of their lives. Buckmaster is not really looking for the money he could undoubtedly make from his site, but at the same time has not ruled out the possibility of a sale if the price was right.

(Craigslist has adopted an unconventional stance)

Craigslist, despite its unusual stance is the biggest classified site on the net, getting 30 million classified listings every month.

Craigslist consciously trades off its anti-establishment image (most listings posted on its sites are free, and it makes money from charging professional recruiters for jobs adverts in 10 cities, along with brokers handling apartment rentals in New York City).

Mr Buckmaster’s says he has been called “a communist, and a socialist anarchist”. What he exhibits, however, is more a pragmatic brand of pinko liberalism. The Craigslist chief executive confesses to living a comfortable life on his earnings and does not rule out a sale of the company in the long term.

(Take that Ebay Empire dude !)
“We’re trying to be as useful as possible to as many people as possible,” he says, when asked about its mission. “Our strength is basic human needs – housing, jobs, buying and selling stuff, romance.”

Most people like to trade with other individuals, not brokers, he says, which helps to explain the anti-business ethos. He adds: “People like ‘free’. If there’s no use in charging from the user’s point of view, we don’t see any use in it.” Hooray, me neither.

Craigslist is nevertheless a very successful business, despite being largely free. Classified Intelligence says the site should have a turnover of $81 million this year, an increase of $26 million over last year (they get their money from paid real estate and help-wanted ads in a few cities in case you were wondering).

According to Henry Blodget (him again – why do people continually quote Henry Blodget ? – search me !) Craigslist may be worth $5 billion, so it is easy to see why the Ebay Empire would want to engulf it.

Jennifer Tilly plays a mean game of poker, but unfortunately she was unavailable for comment.

For the full ridiculous story see : Can Craigslist Stay Oddball? - for more pictures of Jennifer Tilly I'm sure you know what to do.