Is Craigslist really worth billions?

[fustercluck]

I'm just trying to learn something. I was watching Conan and he mentioned in his monologue that the Craigslist founder(s) won't sell Craigslist even though it's worth billions. Is it really worth billions? I don't understand how it would be worth so much money. There's not even any advertisements (banners) on Craigslist. I'm not doubting it, I'm just wondering how that is.

 

[frank84]

i think he didnt want to sell it because he doesnt like to see it becoming 'commercialized'

cragslist is clean place to get connected to local people to buy/trade stuff

-frank

 

[Aquaman]

commercailized........... he sold 25% to eBay.

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[dman]

Originally posted by: Aquaman
commercailized........... he sold 25% to eBay.

Cheers,
Aquaman

If you are to believe Craig, he didn't sell, one of the initial partners sold off their share.

 

[imported_Mike]

Originally posted by: Adaman
I'm just trying to learn something. I was watching Conan and he mentioned in his monologue that the Craigslist founder(s) won't sell Craigslist even though it's worth billions. Is it really worth billions? I don't understand how it would be worth so much money. There's not even any advertisements (banners) on Craigslist. I'm not doubting it, I'm just wondering how that is.

He isn't saying that the owners are making billions now, just that with the kind of traffic CL received which would be hard affected by ads being placed would generate a lot of income.

 

[mrrman]

Originally posted by: Mike

Originally posted by: Adaman
I'm just trying to learn something. I was watching Conan and he mentioned in his monologue that the Craigslist founder(s) won't sell Craigslist even though it's worth billions. Is it really worth billions? I don't understand how it would be worth so much money. There's not even any advertisements (banners) on Craigslist. I'm not doubting it, I'm just wondering how that is.

He isn't saying that the owners are making billions now, just that with the kind of traffic CL received which would be hard affected by ads being placed would generate a lot of income.

Once it doesnt become a free site....most people will stop posting ads

 

[MX2]

Smart move on his part. The offers will only get higher as time passes. I wouldnt sell either if it was my baby.

 

[Safeway]

Originally posted by: MX2times
Smart move on his part. The offers will only get higher as time passes. I wouldnt sell either if it was my baby.

I'm not sure ... I might.

It's been his baby for, what ... 10, 15 years? Then he sells it for billions of dollars. Yea. I'd hit that.

 

[mercanucaribe]

Originally posted by: mrrman

Originally posted by: Mike

Originally posted by: Adaman
I'm just trying to learn something. I was watching Conan and he mentioned in his monologue that the Craigslist founder(s) won't sell Craigslist even though it's worth billions. Is it really worth billions? I don't understand how it would be worth so much money. There's not even any advertisements (banners) on Craigslist. I'm not doubting it, I'm just wondering how that is.

He isn't saying that the owners are making billions now, just that with the kind of traffic CL received which would be hard affected by ads being placed would generate a lot of income.

Once it doesnt become a free site....most people will stop posting ads

I'd still use it if there were ads..

 

[rgwalt]

How does he keep the site open? How does he pay for the servers and the storage space... and most importantly the bandwidth?

R

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: Adaman
I'm just trying to learn something. I was watching Conan and he mentioned in his monologue that the Craigslist founder(s) won't sell Craigslist even though it's worth billions. Is it really worth billions? I don't understand how it would be worth so much money. There's not even any advertisements (banners) on Craigslist. I'm not doubting it, I'm just wondering how that is.

it's not.

even tho there are serveral MILLION viewers (not views, but individual people) per month, they use it because it's FREE.

Once you start charging, or adding anooying stuff like banners/popups/mandatory registration, that viewership drops dramitcally.

still, it's worth at least $100M

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: rgwalt
How does he keep the site open? How does he pay for the servers and the storage space... and most importantly the bandwidth?

R

He charges $25 to place an ad

 

[krunchykrome]

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: rgwalt
How does he keep the site open? How does he pay for the servers and the storage space... and most importantly the bandwidth?

R

He charges $25 to place an ad

You are wrong. Placing an ad is free.

 

[pulse8]

Originally posted by: krunchykrome

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: rgwalt
How does he keep the site open? How does he pay for the servers and the storage space... and most importantly the bandwidth?

R

He charges $25 to place an ad

You are wrong. Placing an ad is free.

You're both right. Placing some ads cost money and others don't.

 

[olds]

I would sell that site so effing fast it would make your head spin.
Then I would retire to a top floor hotel suite, overlooking the water in the Caribbean.

 

[T9D]

Well he can't keep it running for free forever. That kind of server cost and bandwidth cost can't be cheap. He has a plan I'm sure. He's just not cashing in on it yet. It's either going to have to go subscription or be plastered with ads some day to make money.
There would have to be so many adds half the page would be filled and popups galore. Probably cause half the traffic to stop going there.

And with a subscription cost probably 70 percent of the people would stop going there. Craigslist has the cheapest poorest people on the planet going there. And the way it's laid out and coded it's just not worth paying for. The search function and layout and order needs a LOT of work. You put an ad on and it's buried a half hour later. If you dont get someone interested the first half day chances are you have to relist again again and again. And the site is FILLED with millions of crap that should be thrown away and not sold. Makes it not worth the time trying to find anything worth buying.

All I'm saying is when it does get sold out or go profit it's going to have to and will look and function very differently. And i'd imagine if it's going to cost you then you might as well hit up ebay. I'm also betting that it wont be long before they sell everyone of your millions and millions of email addresses to spammers. That's probably craigslists first move for money.

 

[necine]

When people post ads for jobs, they have to pay.

 

[forfor]

Originally posted by: mrrman

Originally posted by: Mike

Originally posted by: Adaman
I'm just trying to learn something. I was watching Conan and he mentioned in his monologue that the Craigslist founder(s) won't sell Craigslist even though it's worth billions. Is it really worth billions? I don't understand how it would be worth so much money. There's not even any advertisements (banners) on Craigslist. I'm not doubting it, I'm just wondering how that is.

He isn't saying that the owners are making billions now, just that with the kind of traffic CL received which would be hard affected by ads being placed would generate a lot of income.

Once it doesnt become a free site....most people will stop posting ads

No they wouldn't. Would you be bothered if they had text ads (google adsense) at the bottom of the page on each post? I wouldn't. As long as its free to the end user and doesn't annoy them, it won't matter.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: krunchykrome

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: rgwalt
How does he keep the site open? How does he pay for the servers and the storage space... and most importantly the bandwidth?

R

He charges $25 to place an ad

You are wrong. Placing an ad is free.

Both of you are wrong.

There is a fee for SOME ads, I think mostly apartment/house sells. The rest for the most part are free.

 

[yobarman]

I doubt its worth billions, more along the lines of a few hundred million to a billion. its ranked 33# on alexa for traffic, and while myspace is #5, craiglists doesnt really have the all of that juicy information about their users like a multi-billion dollar site like myspace has. That demographic information is what makes myspace worth so much. Craigslist on the other hand is simply a huge hub of traffic passing through.

 

[Alex]

Originally posted by: MX2times
Smart move on his part. The offers will only get higher as time passes. I wouldnt sell either if it was my baby.

are you kidding me????????/

he was reportedly offered 15 billion... how much more money can you possibly need?
i'd settle for a millions... 1 billion is huge but 15???? thats just insanity
i would have sold it and bought that island from the other thead!

 

[ddwbi0]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: krunchykrome

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: rgwalt
How does he keep the site open? How does he pay for the servers and the storage space... and most importantly the bandwidth?

R

He charges $25 to place an ad

You are wrong. Placing an ad is free.

Both of you are wrong.

There is a fee for SOME ads, I think mostly apartment/house sells. The rest for the most part are free.

It just depends on what city you are in. LA and New York for example cost 25 to place a job ad, but in Houston and Austin it's free.

 

[Crucial]

Q: How does craigslist support its operations?
A: By charging businesses below-market rates for help wanted ads in SF, NYC and LA, and for broker apartment listings in NYC.

Q: Why doesn't craigslist focus more on generating revenue?
A: We rely on local communities to suggest ways to make money without compromising craigslist.

Q: Is there a connection between craigslist and eBay?
A: eBay acquired 25% of the equity in craigslist from a former shareholder in august of 2004.