At any rate, I begrudgingly have to side with “Darren” on this one. Despite the fact that “Darren” is obviously somewhat involved with backpage (I’m sure his employers probably wouldn’t condone such asinine, self-promoting posts), he’s right. backpage.com is kind of the sleeper hit of the online classified world (if there is such a world). Sure, it sort of has a commercial stench about it, but it’s easily overlooked and it certainly doesn’t even come close to the sterile, corporate feel of Kajujijajajangleyjoo’s UI. And, quite frankly, I’d rather it be laid out on the table rather than very meticulously hidden like CL does. — And, yes…there’s far less garbage to sift through on backpage.

My only beef with BP is how flagrantly they throw their adult content around. Kachacha doesn’t have any adult stuff and CL hides theirs pretty well (meaning that, if you want it, you have to sort of be deliberately looking for it). However, BP is pretty over the top with it. It’s sort of hard not to trip over porn on that site. But, I guess if my only complaint it “too much porn”, it can’t be that bad, right?

P.S. Note to Kajibberjaljdhfslk: It’s going to be hard to beat CL when you have like 17 ads on your site.

I wonder how true this assumption is, what those “more” mean? And safety? How is Kijiji (I personaly like the name,its fun to say! well at least the way I think its supposed to be said) safer than Craigslist? Is Super Kijiji going to protect me from the psycho who is coming to my apt. to pick up the dinning room table I am supposed to sell him/her or even it?!!

Backpage.com is owned and operated by New Times / Village Voice Media. Our offices are located in the historic New Times building in Downtown Phoenix, Arizona.

You have always been able to insert a text URL which visitors can copy and paste, but now for $4.00 you can insert a Hyper Link to a relevant page. Of course you can use PayPal (another eBay company) to pay for the surcharge. They also doubled the cost of premium services such as featuring your ad to the Top Ads section (paid ad area) from $5.00 to $9.99 for 3 days to 19.99 for 7 days.

So now you can get a completely ‘Free Ad’ for $23.99 at the top of the page with a link to your web site. If it works out in Canada, just a matter of time in the US. Kijiji (eBay) is in the business of making money, not Free Classifieds

Over time, Kijiji could become a powerful and unique one-word brand like Google or Yahoo but, until then, Craigslist will remain the superior “everything to everyone” brand.

And this whole debate is somewhat silly since Ebay wins no matter what happens.

K.I.S.S…..if CL makes any changes I hope they are minor.

CL has been around now for some time has loads of traffic and is doing well. If it ain’t broke why fix it?

I’ve actually tried Listasaurus.com, and I LOVE the fact that it offers video classifieds. It’s so much easier to see what the item looks like, in all angles, and whether it actually works! Video allows for creativity and increased sales—and it’s fun, too! Plus, paying users to list is an awesome idea, I don’t know of anyone else out there doing that.

Best of luck and much success, Listasaurus.com!!

Kijiji has the advantage of testing the site in other countries, and also having been able to tap into how CL operates. They have an advantage there, and an advantage with the money behind them.

But competition can be a good thing! And yes, CL has the traffic, but there are still a lot of people who don’t know about the site, or don’t like the site, and I think there’s room for new ideas and new technology.

I actually was inspired to start a site because I was frustrated with a lot of the way CL works…the navigation is sloppy, it’s boring, sometimes confusing…and slammed with spam. While it has worked for me sometimes, sometimes it doesn’t…and I just find it very limiting.

So I launched http://www.Listasaurus.com, and tried to add a bit more functionality, including VIDEO classifieds, which is the next logical step for online classifieds. We also have a Business Directory (can put video there too) where you don’t have to keep reposting your ads to stay on top like CL (one of the things that drives me nuts!).

We’re just a little guy starting out right now–and it’s coming along nicely–but hey, everyone has to start somewhere. Would love to hear feedback from anyone who has any!

Oh…and we also pay users simply for listing with us…something a little bit different too!

Great chat everyone!

Until now many companies have been afraid to enter the US, thinking that no one can overcome Craigslist in terms of traffic….Well, with the right marekjeting strategy you can build your traffic very quickly. The bad news for Craigslist is that not having had any real competitors until now, they aren’t really prepared for what’s coming. If you are successful at driving traffic, content will come, which will bring more traffic etc…. A couple of years from now I am not so sure Craigslist will be such a dominant player..

As far as everyone dissing the “w4m” listings … sure what ever.. but it also means that you won’t have to worry about stupid corporate lawyers worrying about the brand name being tarnished.

As far as the “no scalping rule” … hey every community has its set of rules and uniquenesses. There is also a high desire on craigslist to do community self-policing. Considering E-bay’s indifference to fraudulent auctions, I see that as a good thing. And scalping is arguable ‘fraudulent’. Certainly, I get pissed off when a concert is sold out fast because half the tickets have been siphoned off by scalpers.