eBay Sues Craigslist, As Craig And Jim Dilute eBay's Share
from the call-in-customer-service dept
You may recall that eBay was able to buy approximately one quarter of Craigslist back in 2004. The details of what happened were never made entirely clear (and there are some conflicting stories about those details), but it appeared that the two companies co-existed somewhat peacefully for a while, despite eBay's decision to basically create a Craigslist competitor in Kijiji. However, now things are getting more interesting. Apparently, back in January, Craigslist did something to dilute eBay's share, which eBay now feels was illegal. The company has now sued Craigslist over the matter, though most of the details are hidden, as the lawsuit was filed under seal. Given that Kijiji finally expanded into the US last year (just as Craigslist continued to expand internationally), it's no surprise that Craigslist would seek to decrease eBay's stake in the company. Either way, the perhaps already awkward linkage between Craigslist and eBay seems to be getting even more uncomfortable.
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Didn't everyone think it was a dumbass idea at the time? by Tech Trader on Apr 22nd, 2008 @ 3:53pm
Well, not everyone as eBay clearly drank some Rev Moonshine. But, seriously, didn't the explanations of why sound like a Cirque du Soleil contortionist trying to get dressed in the morning?
Never made sense. Another example of a Dotcom 1.0 deal.
Well at least Craig and Bucky made their $$$$!
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by Fruity on Apr 22nd, 2008 @ 4:08pm
Well Ebay seems fine snatching up good companies, so they can prevent ebay sellers from selling their stuff there. Ebay forces CRAIGSLIST to YANK any CL ad that references an ebay listing. Crap, huh? That's because they are diluting everybody
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EBay is very monopolistic and it shall be stopped by Yogi on Apr 22nd, 2008 @ 4:22pm
Regulators need to curb EBay's ambitious monopolistic tactics. So EBay does not like local people should selling on Craigslist 'caz EBay does not make money in that? These are different kinds of markets, Craigslist is local, free and very direct. EBay is global, and through mediator, and you pay a hefty price for it. So why the fight? If EBay wants to stop their sellers to advertise elsewhere, it should first ban its own paying Ebayers from EBay who advertise on Craigslist and elsewhere.
Whats next sue Google ad-sense ... ?
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Re: Didn't everyone think it was a dumbass idea at the time? by Matt on Apr 22nd, 2008 @ 4:51pm
What did you drink to come up with this nonsensical post?
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Re: Ebay "forces" Craigslist? by whobody on Apr 22nd, 2008 @ 5:42pm
Fruity, where are you getting your information that "Ebay forces CRAIGSLIST to YANK any CL ad that references an ebay listing. Crap, huh?"
You have it entirely backwards- CL removes all ads that reference Ebay, because they don't want it to become inundated with links to Ebay ads...if you think that Ebay would demand that FREE ads pointing to Ebay and driving more traffic to them be removed, you are high...
and anyway, how exactly does another company with a minority stake in CL "force" them to do anything?
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Re: Didn't everyone think it was a dumbass idea at the time? by Anonymous Coward on Apr 22nd, 2008 @ 6:27pm
Neither Craig or the CEO made any money of the eBay deal. What happened was that, early on, Craig gave someone equity in CL. This person apparently left and sought to sell his stake and Craig did not have any money to buy him out. That's when eBay showed up and bought out this guy's stake.
Craig was really, really bummed about it when it happened and described it to me as 'a bad business decision'. He also said that there were other, worse options that he managed to avoid and the eBay was the best outcome.
I don't think that Craig has made huge amounts of money on CL, he just gets paid what would be considered a reasonable salary for an exec in his position and not much more. Sure, technically he's worth a lot, but that assumes that CL would have some sort of liquidity event. Know Craig, that's more the highly unlikely while he's still on this planet...
Fundamentally, CL works well because Craig doesn't give two shits about money.
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by Anonymous Coward on Apr 22nd, 2008 @ 6:32pm
ebay certainly has pissed off a lot of their customers.
Do they really think their position is that solid ?
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screw ebay by Derek on Apr 22nd, 2008 @ 7:32pm
Screw Ebay, Craigslist FTW.
Im sorry, but ebay is not what it used to be. Craigslist is free to post, and the stuff you get is mostly local, so you know what you are getting into. Sure you may not have the selection you do on ebay. But you also don't have to wait 7 days for the bidding to end. Did i mention it is free to post. I sold a bunch of computer parts on Craigslist for the prices I asked in 3 days.
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by Anonymous Coward on Apr 22nd, 2008 @ 7:48pm
This is enough to make me want to stop using ebay.
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Lame by Mark on Apr 22nd, 2008 @ 11:55pm
This is so lame. Ebay is pathetic.
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ebay - yeach: CL - yeach :P by Mr.C. on Apr 23rd, 2008 @ 2:29pm
ebay has not worked to well for me, and CL has not worked at all. ebay is easy to use but it is also easy to get hosed as a seller (sniping, having a listing yanked because some twit didn't like the way you phrase something, outlandish fees, selling your email to lists, etc.) And I've found CL hard and restrictive to use. I'd like to see something come along in the middle and put them both to shame. Maybe there is something and I just don't know about it.
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