eBay squares off with Craigslist, launches classified service
Auction giant eBay has launched an online classifieds service that will compete with market pioneer, Craigslist.
Kijiji, a site eBay has operated overseas for two years, is now available in about 220 cities across the United States, spokesman Hani Durzy, said Tuesday.
"We're targeting young people and young families looking for bargains locally," Durzy said. "For now it's a free service and our focus is on building the user experience."
Reached by phone, Craigslist founder Craig Newmark sounded less than worried about competing against a powerhouse like eBay.
"My take is that anything that helps community is a good thing," Newmark said.
At the very least, the move by eBay marks a strange turn in the relationship between eBay and Craiglist. In 2004, eBay acquired a 25-percent stake in Craigslist and controls a seat on the three-person board.
At one time, the board consisted of Newmark, Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster and eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, who was replaced by another eBay representative.
"I think Craigslist has been an incredible success but we think there is market for more players," Durzy said.
Asked about what eBay may have planned for its Craigslist stake Durzy said: "We have a minority ownership and that's not going away. We're happy with that investment, both financially and strategically."
Greg Sandoval covers media and digital entertainment for CNET News. He is a former reporter for The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. E-mail Greg, or follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sandoCNET. 
If eBay really wants to put a dent in Craigslist they're going to have to keep their service free.
Craig's List will be fine, however. People just like it better.
But I agree, why pay for something when the free is already out there?
Here's a question--how 'bout getting paid for your listings? isn't that better than just free? and better than ebay insertion fees? that's what a friend of mine is trying out on www.listasaurus.com. I personally think it's a great concept, and while it may not take down craigs or ebay (for a while, lol), hopefully there's still room for a little competition.
Hey, look at what Google did when Yahoo was already the big gun...
:-)
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- by zumthing_classifieds November 2, 2009 9:08 PM PST
- Does finding an item for sale really need to be as painful and teadious process as sites like Craig's make it? I would much rather cruise around a well-planned, though out, and easy-on-the-eyes classified website like Oodle.com, zumThing.com, or Vast any day.
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(17 Comments)It seems that the only reason Craig is doing so well is due to the popularity contest that he appears to be winning, not becuase the website is superior and offers great classified searching tools, but because people just know to look there... and eventually after hours of digging through posts and hastacks tend to find what they were looking for ( a needle perhaps).
I guess I'm not one to settle. Just my two cents...