eBay and Craigslist are swapping lawsuits like spit. eBay owns about a quarter of Craigslist. eBay created Kijiji (a Craigslist-clone classifieds system but covering both urban and rural areas) while being in bed with Craigslist.

Sound a little slutty to you?

It did to Craigslist. So they started to sneak around behind eBay’s back in revenge. When eBay found out it went into hysterics. The only known cure for hysteria, as everyone knows, is a lawyer.

eBay sues Craigslist. Which begets more hysteria. Craigslist sues eBay.

eBay’s codename for Kijiji is “Craigslist Killer.” How arrogant of them. Staring down their monied noses at ethical little Craigslist. I’m wearing my TEAM CRAIGSLIST T-shirt right now. Well I would be if I ever wore T-shirts. My favouritism might only be because I found my French snow-shovelling saviour on Craigslist and yesterday I got sniped while trying to buy some Edwardian shoes on eBay. Do you know how hard it is to find size-11 shoes from 1905?

The criticism consistently leveled at sweet, volunteer-driven Craigslist is that it is urban-elitist: It only services major cities. If you are from Elderslie or Nelson and you want to sell your marble chess set asap for money to buy a Bluefly prom dress, you’re screwed. eBay’s genius was not in thinking up a service that fills that gap but in buying itself into bed with competition. Was Craigslist really so naive?

The worst thing would be a hostile takeover of Craigslist. It would be devastating. There is a history and social network there that would truly be missed. Like losing the Five Cent to a Dollar store in Tara when I was 12. The Best of Craigslist is the home of some of my favorite rants of all time. Craigslist needs to build on and develop these most valuable assets to bail itself out of trouble. eBay has the money and power to be a serious threat. What would become of an eBay-owned Craigslist? Would it continue mostly unhampered like a Yahoo-owned Flickr? I think that the volunteer-powered Craigslist is integral to its success and utility so I’m pessimistic.

eBay, while enjoying its’ fair share of stunts, has no such vibrant culture. And Kijiji is a well-timed and -funded transmutation of print classifieds into a rural-friendly, no artsy-crap, Craigslist. Its strength certainly comes from small towns. My cousin from Kemble swears by to put snow-tires on his various cars.

And me?

I go to Kijiji when I want to sell a horrible faux-oak ceiling fan for $20 (true story).

I go to Craigslist when I want a tenant who is sparkling and won’t pee on my carpets (again, true).

I go to eBay to buy my Edwardian chemises. (I am planning my ’09 fashion season.)

Despite the apparent uniqueness of these services, a sea-change is coming in the online classifieds game. Neither my dalliances with fashion nor the hysteria of small and giant corporations can stop it. The itinerant capitalism machine will come out ahead, no matter what.

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Posted on Wednesday, May 14th, 2008 at 2:26 pm. Follow comments through the RSS 2.0 feed. Comment or trackback.