101 Unusual Uses of Craigslist

 

I’ve been reading up on the fascinating world of craigslist for a while now.

It’s the world’s largest classified ad site. I’ve watched the people who work there grow from little kids to big companies and from businesses of all kinds to nonprofits. I have met some of the people who work there and I think I know why they are all so cool.

Craigslist is a very interesting place.

People all over the world advertise everything from cars to houses to furniture. They have thousands of different advertisements. The biggest one is called “The World”. All the people who work there are all just people. They have no power, they have no authority, and they have no goals. And they have no jobs. But they do have a lot of interesting stuff.

Craigslist's mission statement reads:

"We exist to connect people of all backgrounds." They also have a mission statement that says things like, "we believe in a fair and reciprocal exchange of services." That mission statement is a little more vague, but I think it's pretty easy to understand why they're so cool. To people, they're a part of a larger community. And to nonprofits, they are a part of a larger community.

Craigslists mission statement is pretty straight forward.

It says they’re a community of people who like to help each other. But that’s it. The real mission statement is, we don’t believe in a fair and reciprocal exchange of services.

Its a pretty common misconception that craigslist is a "free" service. And when you say "free" you obviously mean "not paying for the listing", but craigslist does pay for the listing if you use your own time and your own discretion to find something you want. The real definition of "free" that craigslist offers is that they don't charge for the listing as long as you use their service.

The only reason that craigslist would offer a free listing to someone is if it were really free.

So the real question would be, why wouldn't craigslist pay for the listing if it weren't actually free to anyone? Because the real answer is that there is no way craigslist would actually pay for the listing if it weren't free to the person. They would have to pay for the listing, and that would take away the most valuable aspect of craigslist, its ability to make money.

It’s amazing how people seem to forget that there are two sides to every story.

In the case of craigslist, its free to you to list your house or apartment for sale or rent. But it will charge you if you list it on craigslist. That’s not free labor, that’s not free advertising. It’s costing craigslist money, and that is why craigslist won’t pay you to list your house or apartment.

In other words, craigslist is going to be losing money off of people using its services. If they start charging people to list their houses, then craigslist will still be losing money because of the people who will still be using its services. And for that reason, craigslist will not be promoting the site with any of the ads.

If you’re not willing to pay for posting your own ads, you’re pretty much stuck with the alternative - posting it on craigslist. The truth is that craigslist’s been charging people money to post their ads for a long time. Since 2005, when Craigslist started charging for ads, ads on craigslist have been posting way more than they are today. But for the most part, they are posting ads for people to list their houses or apartments.

Craigslist has been doing this, especially since it was founded and started posting ads in 2005. Over time, they have gotten more and more clever with how they advertise on craigslist. The most recent version of their interface lets you post a description of what you are looking for, and even a price range.