Frustrated and fed up with eBay? Try Craigslist. Craigslist was founded in 1995 by Craig Newmark as a hobby.
Originally launched in San Francisco, Calif. the Web site simply consisted of an e-mail list of local events.
Today, Craigslist is a Web site where personal ads are submitted by individuals for buying, selling, and bartering. Some of the categories that appear on the website are services, community, pets, resume, forms, gigs, jobs and internships, erotic services and housing.
The popularity of the concept spurred tremendous growth in the years to come.
By 2000, Craigslist had expanded to nine more cities, and currently has 500 cities listed in 50 different countries.
One might be wondering exactly who is responsible for organizing and up keeping Craigslist now that it has become such a huge Web site.
There are just 25 employees of Craigslist, and they are paid by profits that are generated through the site charging below-market fees for job ads in 10 major cities and brokered apartment listings in New York City.
Craigslist is one of the safest and popular Web sites available today for buying and selling. It currently receives over ten billion page views per month, from more than 40 million customers.
The reason it's safer than other sites of its caliber is because all transactions are completed person to person.
Paypal is now accepted as a payment type, but otherwise if a credit card is used, it is only arranged by contacting the person who is selling.
Cash was the first and only form of payment until a few years ago, making the rate of scams extremely low.
Zac Hogan, an avid user of Craigslist, had the following to say when asked if he felt it was a safe site to shop on.
"Craigslist is definitely safe and trustworthy because of the person-to-person payment plan. In order to receive the item you must actually meet with the buyer and physically exchange the item being purchased for the money," Hogan said. "Not only that, but if you do run into an issue you can contact the Web site and make the person un-credible, meaning they will no longer be allowed to post ads. Personally, I have never had a problem with the site."
This seems to be the case of many Craigslist users. However, no Web site is totally free of scams, and Craigslist is no exception.
In fact, in the state of Minnesota, not so far down the road in Minneapolis, a woman was found guilty last year of running an underage prostitution ring via Craigslist. Thankfully, these sort of cases are quite rare.
So, is it really as easy to use as it seems? Missy Vanderlinde found the stone which is now set in her wedding band on Craigslist.
Vanderlinde was searching for a princess cut stone and found a woman in her area who had a 1.5 carrot diamond that she was looking to sell.
Missy arranged to meet the woman at a local jewelry shop and have the diamond inspected, to be sure of its authenticity.
The stone was in fact real and the woman requested a money order instead of cash, which is rare, according to Missy.
"Yes, the site is extremely easy to use and navigate. I didn't go to the jewelers alone, because it's important to always be cautious in these situations. But it ended up going very smoothly, and I love my ring," Vanderlinde said.
If someone is looking for somewhere to buy or sell, a job opportunity, or even a new puppy they could consider Craigslist.
It is a source for finding numerous events and opportunities, but remember not to be too trusting.
Talk to the potential buyer or seller before meeting them and use caution when arranging a meeting point.
When used correctly, Craigslist is a worthy internet resource, truly the new era of online classifieds.
For more information visit Craigslist.org.
Staff writer
Frustrated and fed up with eBay? Try Craigslist. Craigslist was founded in 1995 by Craig Newmark as a hobby.
Originally launched in San Francisco, Calif. the Web site simply consisted of an e-mail list of local events.
Today, Craigslist is a Web site where personal ads are submitted by individuals for buying, selling, and bartering. Some of the categories that appear on the website are services, community, pets, resume, forms, gigs, jobs and internships, erotic services and housing.
The popularity of the concept spurred tremendous growth in the years to come.
By 2000, Craigslist had expanded to nine more cities, and currently has 500 cities listed in 50 different countries.
One might be wondering exactly who is responsible for organizing and up keeping Craigslist now that it has become such a huge Web site.
There are just 25 employees of Craigslist, and they are paid by profits that are generated through the site charging below-market fees for job ads in 10 major cities and brokered apartment listings in New York City.
Craigslist is one of the safest and popular Web sites available today for buying and selling. It currently receives over ten billion page views per month, from more than 40 million customers.
The reason it's safer than other sites of its caliber is because all transactions are completed person to person.
Paypal is now accepted as a payment type, but otherwise if a credit card is used, it is only arranged by contacting the person who is selling.
Cash was the first and only form of payment until a few years ago, making the rate of scams extremely low.
Zac Hogan, an avid user of Craigslist, had the following to say when asked if he felt it was a safe site to shop on.
"Craigslist is definitely safe and trustworthy because of the person-to-person payment plan. In order to receive the item you must actually meet with the buyer and physically exchange the item being purchased for the money," Hogan said. "Not only that, but if you do run into an issue you can contact the Web site and make the person un-credible, meaning they will no longer be allowed to post ads. Personally, I have never had a problem with the site."
This seems to be the case of many Craigslist users. However, no Web site is totally free of scams, and Craigslist is no exception.
In fact, in the state of Minnesota, not so far down the road in Minneapolis, a woman was found guilty last year of running an underage prostitution ring via Craigslist. Thankfully, these sort of cases are quite rare.
So, is it really as easy to use as it seems? Missy Vanderlinde found the stone which is now set in her wedding band on Craigslist.
Vanderlinde was searching for a princess cut stone and found a woman in her area who had a 1.5 carrot diamond that she was looking to sell.
Missy arranged to meet the woman at a local jewelry shop and have the diamond inspected, to be sure of its authenticity.
The stone was in fact real and the woman requested a money order instead of cash, which is rare, according to Missy.
"Yes, the site is extremely easy to use and navigate. I didn't go to the jewelers alone, because it's important to always be cautious in these situations. But it ended up going very smoothly, and I love my ring," Vanderlinde said.
If someone is looking for somewhere to buy or sell, a job opportunity, or even a new puppy they could consider Craigslist.
It is a source for finding numerous events and opportunities, but remember not to be too trusting.
Talk to the potential buyer or seller before meeting them and use caution when arranging a meeting point.
When used correctly, Craigslist is a worthy internet resource, truly the new era of online classifieds.
For more information visit Craigslist.org.
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