Craigslist Begins Charging for Advertising

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - The Website Craigslist has taken the country by storm, and one of the most appealing aspects of this online classified giant has been the cost, there was none.

But things have changed at Craigslist and a price structure has been added to the mix. As of November 1st, a $25 fee is charged for job postings in Chicago, Sacramento, Portland, Oregon and Orange County, California.

Craigslist says the company adopted the fee because Website users wanted to enrich the quality of the online job board. Their local classifieds and forums reach 450 cities worldwide. They place more than 1.5 million new job listings each month.

As the site goes through the motions of bad publicity from a recent homicide related to a Craigslist ad, it has decided employers will have to pay up to post help wanted ads on their site. It seems fair of course, many who use Craigslist question where and how the money from the site is derived. Now we see a revenue stream that could probably make a solid difference to the company's earning potential.

It is hard to say how much of an impact this new fee aspect of Craigslist will make. It seems logical that charging for advertising would possibly bring the bar up a little, and they say that is the intent.

It is anticipated that the decision to begin charging users will have an additional cost, that will come in terms of popularity. Many smaller employers say they rely on this free service to attract employees, and in a challenging economy the fee will certainly be felt.

Still, many employers say they consider $25 a fair amount if they have to pay, it can go way up from there if advertisers consider daily papers.

Craigslist, which Ebay owns 25% of, did state that the price won't be changing any time soon.

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Paul Simmons May 21, 2008 4:55 pm (Pacific time)

Did this guy fail repeatedly 3rd grade or what? "Eric Wakkure November 17, 2007 3:22 pm (Pacific time) ebay charges a fee for the add, the more you ask for the item, the higher the fee, then has a list of extra's you can add for a fee, then they take a percentage of the selling price. If the buyer pay's with pay pal, they then take a perccentage from the seller. They can't keep there fingers out of the cookie jar."

Eric Wakkure November 17, 2007 3:22 pm (Pacific time)

ebay charges a fee for the add, the more you ask for the item, the higher the fee, then has a list of extra's you can add for a fee, then they take a percentage of the selling price. If the buyer pay's with pay pal, they then take a perccentage from the seller. They can't keep there fingers out of the cookie jar.

Neal Feldman November 7, 2007 8:50 am (Pacific time)

I just got burned by Paypal recently. Someone was to pay me $25 for a service. So I said they could do through paypal as I never had this issue before... it comes through and I'm informed paypal has sucked around $1.50 or so, give or take a quarter, from the payment. I am flabbergasted. I knew the payer might have a fee but the payee? Ridiculous! So from now on folks can send me a check. Then at least I get what I'm owed. I won't take pmt through paypal again without adding 10% to cover their BS fees. Ah well...

TruthSeeker November 7, 2007 12:57 am (Pacific time)

Ebay (fee-bay) gets majority in it and it will turn into a nickel-dime-dollar fee for all just like fee-bay already is. I used to sell on ebay, but cannot afford to anymore due to their greed. After them and paypal im left with 75% of the sale price. Too much. If you sell a lot, it is far cheaper and more effecient to have your own stand-alone website. I dont blame someone for making a buck, heck, I want someone to make money when I buy something, but too much is too much. Greed has become the norm. Craigslist is a rare exception, and I hope they don't change much. They make some money, while still doing a genuinely good thing for society. I greatly appreciate the website, and it has helped me clear out my closets free of charge several times. And once it was justr in time to keep me from being evicted. Yes, craigslist helped me get some much needed income I found myself short on at months end, and I would have been homeless. Thank you for that Craig! Keep up the good work!

Anne November 6, 2007 6:58 am (Pacific time)

This isn't entirely new, Craigslist has charged $75 for job postings in the SanFran Bay area for ages, and $25 in a few other cities, as well as a $10 fee for brokered apartments in NYC. These 4 additions just add to the list.

rjerryc November 6, 2007 6:38 am (Pacific time)

Craigslist has grown and grown. Like all free internet sites, once growth reaches a certain level and they have induced thousands (hundreds of thousands?) of folks to become users, the charges begin. Of course, the big internet business moguls want a piece of the pie once it has been baked up for them. E-Bay owning 25% is a sign that they know there are untold millions waiting to be had. Although the report says the fees won't be going up in the near future, E-Bay will soon "pay the man" for a much larger interest and then gain control. When that happens, expect the costs to rise just as they did with E-Bay itself. E-Bay sees the revenue they are missing out on their site because of the freebies like Craigslist. That is bad for business for E-Bay.

Skipper Osborne November 6, 2007 5:10 am (Pacific time)

Why do most people want something for "free?" Craig is offering a good product, which he and whomever, spent their time to cultivate; pay the man!

TruthSeeker November 5, 2007 8:43 pm (Pacific time)

Wow, I didn't know Fee-bay owned part of Craigslist, and frankly I'm surprised. One that the fees aren't higher and on everything on the site, (with the greed mongers at fee-bay involved) and secondly that Craig sold to fee-bay in the first place. Its gonna go downhill. Good things don't last I guess....Maybe I'm just being negative lol. Maybe someone could fill me in on how this happened....

Lee Mason November 5, 2007 6:31 pm (Pacific time)

I figured that would happen as soon as Ebay got into the act. It is a fair price for now, but like Ebay fees, it will escalate. Yahoo had a much better auction site than Ebay for free, but for some unknown reason to me, they gave it up. If I were 30 years younger I would go into competition with Ebay Leebm29 at yahoo dot

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