Craigs is simple enough that most of its users can feel like they understand everything about it. Despite its being huge in users and content, this makes it feel small.
If a user feels like they understands a site, they don't mind spending time on it finding things. It is the opaque, confusing sites that have people run away after a few searches. The challenge for any competitor is finding a way to expand functionality while allowing the user to still feel like they understand exactly how everything works.
I would love to create a craigslist competitor. An improvement on craigslist would be a site which allowed the user to search for item, price, location, and time together - "yoga classes on Wednesdays in Berkeley for under $100" or "garage sales Saturday with car parts" etc. What, where, when, and how-much could be specified separately and orthogonally.
Remember, getting calendaring, location, price and category to work together is a tough problem. Also, making sure postings remain fresh is tough if you do anything other than craigslist's system of making everyone repost their content every two weeks. And you would have to be willing not to monetize any more than craigslist, 'cause the users can tell.
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Craigs is simple enough that most of its users can feel like they understand everything about it. Despite its being huge in users and content, this makes it feel small.
If a user feels like they understands a site, they don't mind spending time on it finding things. It is the opaque, confusing sites that have people run away after a few searches. The challenge for any competitor is finding a way to expand functionality while allowing the user to still feel like they understand exactly how everything works.
I would love to create a craigslist competitor. An improvement on craigslist would be a site which allowed the user to search for item, price, location, and time together - "yoga classes on Wednesdays in Berkeley for under $100" or "garage sales Saturday with car parts" etc. What, where, when, and how-much could be specified separately and orthogonally.
Remember, getting calendaring, location, price and category to work together is a tough problem. Also, making sure postings remain fresh is tough if you do anything other than craigslist's system of making everyone repost their content every two weeks. And you would have to be willing not to monetize any more than craigslist, 'cause the users can tell.
"Craigs is simple enough that most of its users can feel like they understand everything about it."
This is actually a very interesting point; I suppose it falls in line with 37Signals' strategy of "doing less".
I agree. It's a classifieds site, not a search engine or a directory. It looks like a classifieds site and it works like a classifieds site.