[wes-exp]

Be careful about making the flawed assumption that economics is a zero-sum game. That if craigslist earned money, it must somehow be stealing it.

Actually, the opposite is true. I think craigslist is so focused on being barebones and profit-free that it actually is doing a disservice to the economy. It took a lot of pressure for Craigslist to add a basic feature, maps integration, and it only did so recently. If craigslist wanted to really contribute to society, it should try earning a bit more money and using it to hire people to make the service better for end-users. Everyone wins.

Middle-men are not necessarily evil just because they earn a profit. A genuinely useful middle-man can benefit both himself as well as the other parties in the transaction. Again, don't fall into the trap of zero-sum thinking.

[awakeasleep]

Craigslist is an enormous benefit to people in general. The economy is only valuable in its benefits to people.

If any other business can figure out a way to provide a better value service, they're free to start at any time.

Man, saying craigslist does a disservice to the economy sure rankles. I feel like a similar argument might be that peace does a disservice to the economy, too. And imagine what a lack of disease would do to the healthcare economy.

[wes-exp]

Sorry if I was being unclear. I wasn't trying to say craigslist does a disservice to the economy in general; it's clearly beneficial and I don't want to diminish that. Rather, I think that its attitude of being barebones and avoiding profit is doing a disservice, by holding it back from becoming a better, more useful service.

[jiggy2011]

If that was the case , one would expect a for profit craigslist to have dominated by now.

[Natsu]

Two-sided marketplaces are notoriously difficult to get going. Craigslist benefits extensively from network effects, and they're good.

You can't beat them by being just a little bit better.

[jonnathanson]

Small nitpick, but to be clear: Craigslist is a for-profit company, and has been registered as such since 1999. The job listings cost money to post. That's where the site is believed to make most of its revenue.

The .org domain, and the fact that a lot of users haven't experienced posting a job, create the popular misperception that CL is a nonprofit. To be fair, it's a strange kind of company, and I'm not sure if profit is its overriding goal, per se. But it's a for-profit enterprise. It may be the most laid-back for-profit I've ever seen, though. :)

[temphn]

They have, just on a category-by-category basis. Many of the sharing economy companies are included.

http://cdixon.org/2012/11/23/some-problems-are-so-hard-they-...