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eBay vs. Craigslist Courtroom Fisticuffs Start Today
davekleiman writes with news that former eBay chief exec Meg Whitman took the stand today to kick off the battle that has been brewing between Craigslist and eBay. The waters are further clouded by Whitman's upcoming bid for governor of California. "eBay wants to shed light on the 'coercive plan' that it has said Newmark hatched with Craigslist Chief Executive Jim Buckmaster to dilute eBay's ownership stake, ultimately stripping eBay of its seat on the Craigslist board. Craigslist has hit back that eBay used its board seat to glean information to launch its own classified site, Kijiji. Craigslist also claims that eBay used deceptive tactics to direct traffic away from its site."
It always struck me as a little weird that major competitors should have a seat on the board.
It would be like Microsoft having a board seat at Apple. Or Google at Microsoft. It just doesn't happen.
What made eBay and Craigslist different? Or think they were different?
OK, I use Ebay a lot, and Craigslist even more, and this is the first time I've ever heard of Kijiji.
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kijiji) says it's been up since 2007 in the US.
Sounds like an epic failure to me. I wonder if it carries any Zune ads?
And the worms ate into his brain.
Meg won't be governor, that bitch that drove HP into the ground has a better chance.
is like watching NASCAR: people with nothing better to do with their time or money than to go around in circles for hours over something only they care about, all the while taking money from poor people who are too dumb to not want to pay for vicarious participation.
I always thought Kijiji was owned by Microsoft.
Craigslist is big in large markets, but in small markets, no one uses it. Kijiji rules the roost in small markets.
IE in my homedown, of about 100,000 people, there are less than 200 posts right now in craigslist ForSale section.
Kijiji has over 24,000.
It is because of the classic dillema that keeps users on Craigslist (despite it being a steamping pile of crap), and keeps people on eBay (despite them charging a fortune). People searching need a critical mass of people selling, and people selling need a critical mass of people searching. It is a self-renforcing monopoloy that is a tough nut to crack.
Craigslist has always been unpopular in small markets, that is where Kijiji got its foothold.
Where I live, and what I buy/sell, Kijiji has *way* more users.
Compare:
http://edmonton.kijiji.ca/f-buy-and-sell-cameras-camcorders-W0QQCatIdZ103
http://edmonton.en.craigslist.ca/pho/
Craigslist was not selling ownership and ebay bought it from a former Craigslist Employee through a suspicious deal. After how ebay has made numerous decisions at the expense of their users it is hard to believe that they would complain when someone tries to correct something they should not have done in the first place.
You sir, have just redefined what a troll really is. Thank-you for the enlightenment; now please leave forever.
Disclaimer:IANAL
I think I have to side with eBay on this one... as they bought a 25% stake in Craigslist for $25 million, how that doesn't mean they should get a say in how the company is run I couldn't fathom.
This sounds like dirty pool all the way around.
1). Decided to Create competing site
2). Buy shares from a shareholder to gain a seat on the board
3). (possibly) use information gleaned from meetings of the board towards own good
4). (possibly) use seat on board to negatively influence decisions
As others have mentioned there is certainly a conflict of interest here and while Ebay has every right to own shares, sitting on the board is just unethical and its surprising that the other shareholders would stand for it....
WTF is a "Kijiji"?!? It looks like a name attempt at a logo by someone with an obsession with dotted letters.
"Ow, man! You kicked me right in the kijiji!"
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
"In today's news, auction house and penny saver owners brawl...story at 11."
I used to fear clowns...but I'm discovering that chimps are far, far, worse.
Of course, your hometown of Lansing, Michigan has a small and anemic Craigslist, and the Kijiji site for Lansing is also very sparse. Michigan as a whole has very high unemployment. That means there are too few buyers, and the sellers don't bother posting.
In Chinese, JiJi is more or less slang along the lines of "willy" or other children's words for such body parts.
KijijiJooJoo back together again like it was 1983.
Did anyone else realize that Craigslist separates by city whereas Kijiji separates by state for small markets? Im in a small/medium city(Lincoln, NE), and Kijiji has some listings, but barring one, they're all NOT in Lincoln. Maybe that might explain why the small markets on Kijiji look "busier" than on Craigslist - Kijiji aggregates results from a hundred miles or so around town.
.......Meg Whitman was seen out on the playground kicking Jim Buckmaster in the shins and shouting "nyah nyah nyah"!
"i lost my dignity on a slippery wiener"
....and yet its easier to get screwed on eBay!!
When I want to advertise my *local* video production services, I use Craigslist: http://sarasota.craigslist.org/muc/1498727387.html
When I need someone *local* to fix a problem in my living room laminate flooring, Craiglist.
If I want to buy or sell high-end commercial video gear, eBay.
Craigslist is local, eBay is national.
eBay is about "things," while Craiglist is more about services and events.
George W. Bush's VP -- nasty chickenhawk draft-dodger, don't remember his name right now -- talked up eBay but probably never heard of (or cared about) Craigslist.
eBay is about money and commerce, Craigslist is a community resource that happens to make a few bucks.
Pierre Omidyar has done many good things, including kicking in $400,000 when SourceForge nearly went down under one of the many inept exec teams Slashdot's constantly-renamed corporate masters have suffered from over the years. Craig Newmark has made an entirely new kind of online business possible. He is a hero to many small entrepreneurs. He's a nice guy, too.
Pierre's also a good person, but he's apparently a lot more into money than Craig.
I might invite Pierre over for supper. Craig is welcome to stay on one of our fold-out futons any old time. And he's welcome to hop on our unsecured-on-purpose wireless network (really, Craig. I mean it) if we're not home when he gets here. I'd let him borrow my Jeep, too.
Pierre probably wouldn't want to be seen in a dented, faded 1994 Cherokee. I doubt Craig would care. (It runs well.)
Meg Whitman? Um, no. A little hoity for people like us who live in a one-bedroom mobile home.
CLINCHER:
Craig & Jim (Buckmeister) aren't trying to screw up eBay. Meg and her crew are trying to screw up Craigslist.
HEY, PIERRE - could you please stop messing with Craigslist and get Meg involved with Republican politics or something else smelly, instead?
Oh- just remembered the Bush VP's name: Dickhead Cheney. Couldn't he and Meg go shoot lawyers together or something? We have at least a million surplus lawyers, enough to keep Meg too busy to screw up Craigslist for many years to come, and more than enough to keep Cheney out of politics for at least a century or two.
Thanks,
- Robin
Kijiji sucks anyways who cares
So how exactly do you pronounce JooJoo? Is it like....... JewJew or something?
ad hominem == insightful.
Even Omaha, NE shows up as under "Des Moines, IA" - Confusing.