Foo - So... how does craigslist make money?

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Zan
03-18-09, 10:39 AM
Nothing is free.

I put a post on CL for free.

I've contacted other people on CL for free.

So... how do the people who run CL make money?

SingingSabre
03-18-09, 10:42 AM
Real estate ads.
nekohime
03-18-09, 10:46 AM
You have to pay to list jobs...I just had to do that about a month ago when listing an opening for subjects for the lab. It's $25 per posting in the job section.

iamlucky13
03-18-09, 12:34 PM
http://www.craigslist.org/about/factsheet

They charge for jobs postings (but not in the gigs section) for in 10 cities. I'm not sure if they still charge for real estate ads, but that FAQ doesn't mention it.

They also have a very purist philosophy that's part of their success. They keep things simple, lean, and easy to use, which is part of why they haven't even updated their basic look. And they only have 25 employees to pay.
aprilm
03-18-09, 12:45 PM
Well, the owner apparently doesn't do anything. My boss was on Twitter today, crabbing to a friend about how the only people that were responding to his job ad on Craigslist were crackheads (something along those lines). Craig himself saw this immediately and sent my boss an e-mail. :lol:
ehidle
03-19-09, 04:30 AM
e-Bay owns a big stake in Craigslist, too. So, I am sure some money gets funneled over that way. I think ebay had planned to force paypal on it, and still may, but who knows...
black_box
03-19-09, 07:52 AM
per that link, ebay got 25% from a former shareholder.
Jerseysbest
03-19-09, 09:25 AM
per that link, ebay got 25% from a former shareholder.

Yeah, I think I read somewhere that the CEO, (not Craig) wasn't really happy with Ebay getting their hands on those shares.
MrCrassic
03-19-09, 09:29 AM
Listing fees and eBay.
iamlucky13
03-19-09, 12:55 PM
Yeah, I think I read somewhere that the CEO, (not Craig) wasn't really happy with Ebay getting their hands on those shares.

From what I've read, Craig wasn't at all happy with Ebay getting a piece of the company, and Ebay hasn't exactly been happy with what they got out of it either. They have completely different business philosophies.
Zan
03-19-09, 06:00 PM
Okay, cool. Thanks for explainin', team!