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eBay vs. Craigslist Courtroom Fisticuffs Start Today

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the grab-the-popcorn dept.

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."

23 of 129 comments (clear)

  1. Cross Ownership by Akido37 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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?

    1. Re:Cross Ownership by MightyMartian · · Score: 5, Funny

      What made eBay and Craigslist different? Or think they were different?

      It's easier to find prostitutes on Craigslist.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    2. Re:Cross Ownership by Trepidity · · Score: 5, Informative

      It does happen in some industries, and the law on it is pretty complex and murky (and varies by country). When it's below a certain threshold, so the minority stake doesn't exercise control over the company, and has representation basically only to ensure its rights as a minority shareholder are respected, it's considered a "passive investment" and not subject to the usual antitrust scrutiny that would ensue if, say, eBay actually tried to buy Craigslist (or buy a stake considered controlling). A lot of economists are a bit skeptical of just how passive such passive investments are, though. The keywords +"passive investment" +competitors bring up a whole pile of writing on the subject...

      --
      10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
    3. Re:Cross Ownership by FooAtWFU · · Score: 4, Informative

      They have a competitor on the board since the competitor elected itself to the board with all the shares which they bought. No one but this competitor is happy with this setup.

      --
      The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
    4. Re:Cross Ownership by BeardedChimp · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Or even weirder, say having MPs on the board of private companies whose modus operandi directly conflicts with protecting the public... oh wait that does happen. Patricia Hewitt et al.

    5. Re:Cross Ownership by bberens · · Score: 4, Interesting

      They have a competitor on the board since the competitor elected itself to the board with all the shares which they bought. No one but this competitor is happy with this setup.

      Clarification... No one but a significant owner (who just happens to be a competitor) is happy with this setup. It sounds like a diet form of hostile takeover.

      --
      Check out my lame java blog at www.javachopshop.com
  2. Kijiji? by FrankSchwab · · Score: 5, Funny

    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.
    1. Re:Kijiji? by ArhcAngel · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Spoken like a true eBay shareholder.

      --
      "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
    2. Re:Kijiji? by FrankSchwab · · Score: 3, Informative

      I live in Phoenix.

      Doing a quick and unscientific test, the Phoenix Kijiji site has 37 for-sale listings posted for Saturday, Sunday, and Today.

      The Phoenix Craigslist site has 1200 for-sale listings in the last 45 MINUTES.

      At least for my location, I think Kijiji qualifies as an "Epic failure".

      --
      And the worms ate into his brain.
    3. Re:Kijiji? by lytfyre · · Score: 3, Informative

      Kijiji is actually quite big in most of Ontario. As far as I've seen, Toronto is about the only place where Craigslist is bigger than Kijiji.
      This is really irritating, as Kijiji is stuffed with adertising, tries to upsell you for higher placement, etc. etc.
      not sure why it happened in the first place, but it's the state of things.

  3. In Smaller Markets, Kijiji Dominates by brunes69 · · Score: 4, Informative

    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.

    1. Re:In Smaller Markets, Kijiji Dominates by Wyatt+Earp · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Here in Anchorage Alaska there is nothing up on Kijiji (14 sales). Same went for where I used to live, a small market (Skagit county Washington).

      For all of South Dakota there are 29 things for sale on Kijiji and hundreds of sales on Craigslist for today alone.

      So I'm not sold on Kijiji "ruling the roost" in small markets.

    2. Re:In Smaller Markets, Kijiji Dominates by SoTerrified · · Score: 3, Informative

      Wonder if it's a Canada thing? I live in a Canadian city that has pretty similar stats to Edmonton. And likewise, Kijiji > Craigslist.

    3. Re:In Smaller Markets, Kijiji Dominates by KraftDinner · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I think Kijiji is bigger in Canada, but I have no stats to back up my claim. Just speaking with friends and family. Even my non-technical family have heard of Kijiji and not Craigslist.

    4. Re:In Smaller Markets, Kijiji Dominates by TubeSteak · · Score: 4, Funny

      So Kijiji is eBay's Canadian girlfriend?
      That explains why no one here knows her, but eBay still talks about her all the time.

      --
      [Fuck Beta]
      o0t!
    5. Re:In Smaller Markets, Kijiji Dominates by PitaBred · · Score: 3, Funny

      Take off you hoser

      --
      My blog. Good stuff (when I remember to update it). Read it.
  4. ebay is now just evil by Dan667 · · Score: 4, Informative

    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.

    1. Re:ebay is now just evil by Duhfus · · Score: 4, Informative

      More specifically, a former executive at Craigslist (suspected to be Philip Knowlton), who owned a significant chunk of Craigslist stock, decided to sell his share and shopped around. This was how ebay got ownership: http://www.craigslist.org/about/press/ebay.stake/

  5. Dirty Pool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    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....

  6. Re:Seems like a small pond, but eBay is right by FooAtWFU · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Antitrust concerns.

    --
    The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
  7. Just one question by Locke2005 · · Score: 5, Funny

    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.
  8. Re:watching rich people fight by Sponge+Bath · · Score: 3, Funny

    NASCAR would be cooler if half the cars went one direction, half in the opposite direction. Geeks would love it because it resembles the LHC. Oooh! Look at those particles!

  9. Re: It's easier to find prostitutes on Craigslist. by Bob_Who · · Score: 5, Funny

    ....and yet its easier to get screwed on eBay!!