How does craigslist make money?
I have had a number of people ask me this one.
They dont advertise.
They dont sell you anything
The dont screw you like a sneaky ass weasel in the way ebay does (always has "sales" on the posting fees - which are almost nothing, but few people pay attention to the final value fee or the paypal fee - also owned by ebay - which ends up being 7-10%)
They have huge costs due to the massive traffic they generate (though not due to payments to web designers..)
So where the hell does all the money come from?
One source, and one source alone: job listings. It costs about $20 to list a job on craigslist, depending on the city/state/country you are posting in. This alone is where craigslist derives its income, to the best of my knowledge. And long may it stay that way. In cities such as Boston where I live, craigslist has become deeply ingrained into the way of life, as the default method for finding/offering jobs, furniture, and apartments, but also just as a way of cyclical community recycling which keeps a college and young-person's town such as this alive, vibrant, and cheap(er).
Plus its just awesome sometimes.
They dont advertise.
They dont sell you anything
The dont screw you like a sneaky ass weasel in the way ebay does (always has "sales" on the posting fees - which are almost nothing, but few people pay attention to the final value fee or the paypal fee - also owned by ebay - which ends up being 7-10%)
They have huge costs due to the massive traffic they generate (though not due to payments to web designers..)
So where the hell does all the money come from?
One source, and one source alone: job listings. It costs about $20 to list a job on craigslist, depending on the city/state/country you are posting in. This alone is where craigslist derives its income, to the best of my knowledge. And long may it stay that way. In cities such as Boston where I live, craigslist has become deeply ingrained into the way of life, as the default method for finding/offering jobs, furniture, and apartments, but also just as a way of cyclical community recycling which keeps a college and young-person's town such as this alive, vibrant, and cheap(er).
Plus its just awesome sometimes.
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