Craigslist.org 2008 revenue to reach $81 million

I read the same article last night. I am not surprised.

Craiglist, as crappy as it is (in looks and usability) is a unique blend. It has the mix of being a first mover, and by starting locally and very focused on one place, they were able to exploit the word of mouth to the max at the beginning. Then the fact that they don't seem money oriented and keep it free in most of their markets and categories also helps, and a lot. In times of corporate greed, their approach seems like fresh air. Their history of years as a free, homemade site also adds to this equation. You can say that patience paid in their case (they stay like 7 or 9 years totally free without even advertising).

Now, about their traffic, we also have to add that like Etsy or Flickr they have become a space where people go 'just to look' and more and more bloggers go there to find unusual postings that they reproduce in their sites, giving it even more traffic. So, at this point, is a wheel that turns without too much effort.

Since then thousands of "craiglist type" have appeared but they just wanted to copy the actual one and by trying to be everywhere at the same time their presence ended up being weak. If to that you add that no one will be a first mover anymore and that the new ones do not have any of the "hippie" (in a good sense) spirit of Craigslist (they do have advertising -tons of it- or they are set to make the money from the beginning or they are part of a corporation) it will be very very difficult to have another craigslist.

First mover; hippie/unique positioning; small and focused start gave them something not easy to duplicate.

For me, is great that they have all that but still they could improve their site, not only in look and feel but in usability.... I love their stand in advertising and money but I just can't visit a site that treats my eyes and fingers so bad. I feel mistreated. I have to look into something ugly and I have to do too much work to find something just because they are too lazy or stubborn? Not my type.

I do admire their work and history and their patience and their convictions and I am glad to see that those are paying out. But I admire more Etsy, as they that have done something similar (within a niche) with similar convictions but the site is pretty, easy to use and friendly beyond their site (with widgets and other stuff).

My 2 cents :)

***ES*** very insightful San and even eloquent, thanks!

The new Craigslist blog

Want a sample? Here's a gem about the monster.com ad truck that was sent to park in front of the craigslist office for a photo. The Craiglist response?

Is it possible that Monster is "green" with envy, now that our job boards alone receive more employment-related traffic than all of monster.com?

this one is a craig podcast
Craig: When I started, I had nothing in mind more than telling people about arts and technology events in San Francisco. Pretty much everything on the site is based on user feedback. Frankly, I have no vision whatsoever.
[laughter]
and don't miss the charlie rose interview

from the craigslist blog:

Especially touching have been the messages of support from Ebay employees, one of which I’ll share here:

As an engineer at ebay, all I could think when I saw the news was, “Surely, there’s another place to work.” Frankly, I doubt that CL is always right about everything, but for eBay to sue CL is off the charts stupid. eBay had no business grabbing that 25% in the first place. It’s a shame, because my co-workers are really nice, sweet people. But it’s as if I am working for ********* or something. I feel dirty. I’ll be updating my resume this weekend.

and from an msnbc aritcle mentioned in the post about hiring MBAs:

Last month, I interviewed Jim Buckmaster, the CEO of Craigslist, for a story I wrote on how MBAs were not the be all and end all when it came to becoming successful in the business world.

The guy was quite refreshing. To him, it wasn’t all about money.

When I asked him why he didn’t want to hire MBAs he said, “Generally speaking, the discipline taught to MBA students is useful in getting ahead in the business world. As a company we are not trying to get ahead in the business world, and we’re not looking for individuals trying to get ahead in the business world.”

From the NYT

Craigslist becomes shorthand for the threat that online advertising outlets are seen as posing to newspapers.

Mr. Buckmaster responds, saying that Craigslist has no sales force and has not sought to win over newspaper advertisers, in contrast to companies like the job-listing site Monster. “That to me is a direct attack on newspapers,” he said. “We put a service out there.”

and I quote:

Nimble start-ups like Kijiji and Oodle are challenging Craigslist's long-standing reign as the undisputed leader in web classified ads.

But, click on this compete.com icon to see a graph of website traffic at free classifieds sites olx.com, kijiji.com,  oodle.com, and craigslist.org -- that's a lot of traffic Craig!