
EBay Inc. Sells Equity Interest in Craigslist - prostoalex
http://www.ebayinc.com/node/7885
======
anant90
[http://blog.craigslist.org/2015/06/19/exit-stage-
left/](http://blog.craigslist.org/2015/06/19/exit-stage-left/)

Blog post on Craigslist's blog quoting Shakespeare.

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kethinov
I wonder if this deal is designed to make eBay an easier acquisition target
for Amazon or Alibaba?

~~~
arielm
Very likely considering they've also split out PayPal to make eBay more of a
single-focus entity (read, easy to sell off).

~~~
ma2rten
Craigslist has been in decline / shrinking for the last couple of years. I
don't think it's a strong signal either way.

EDIT: see [http://techcrunch.com/2015/04/10/as-vertical-marketplaces-
ri...](http://techcrunch.com/2015/04/10/as-vertical-marketplaces-rise-
craigslist-faces-its-demise/)

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slater
[citation needed]

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smitherfield
Well, it's definitely less popular for people looking for random sex, what
with smartphone apps and all. Not sure about other things.

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hayksaakian
I will tell you with very direct experience that their _monetized_ sections
are growing quickly (due to more monetization in more cities), and the overall
user base is growing with overall internet usage.

~~~
bottled_poe
This needs citation also.

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hayksaakian
I don't have 3rd party research but I've been personally logging the names and
locations of paid sections for the past two years.

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colinbartlett
I would really like to know what kind of return they made on their investment.

~~~
aresant
They bought the stake for $12 - 15m in 2004 when CraigsList sales were
estimated at $7m/yr (1)

Today CL's sales are estimated to be ~$335m and doubled year-over-year (2)

(1) [http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/EBay-buys-25-stake-
in...](http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/EBay-buys-25-stake-in-
Craigslist-Ex-employee-2701651.php)

(2) [http://www.wsj.com/articles/ebay-sells-craigslist-stake-
back...](http://www.wsj.com/articles/ebay-sells-craigslist-stake-back-to-
craigslist-1434730678)

~~~
smitherfield
Craigslist has no advertising on their site and doesn't charge for listings
except for a few small sections of the site in major metropolitan areas (the
funds from which they use for their business expenses). I think it speaks to
the state of the bubble we're in that one of the "blue chip" internet
companies has a business model of "be an ultra-speculative investment as long
as possible." Of course Amazon too, but I'd say Craigslist is a more extreme
example.

~~~
hayksaakian
This is coming from personal experience so take it with a grain of salt:

Craigslist is an insanely valuable source for lead generation in recruiting,
and car sales.

I run a recruiting company and craigslist is the best source of applicants by
volume and return on investment (cost ($) per applicant).

Having observed them closely, they are not ignorant to this fact.

When specific cities or sections grow more popular they begin charging fees.

Their biggest boon has been a recent change to charge car dealerships 5$ per
post. Car dealers pay because only months earlier they were paying for black
hat solutions to post for 1-2$ per post.

~~~
karterk
Interesting - what candidates do you recruit using Craigslist?

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cft
We recruted an MIT graduate for a programming position via CL.

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fourstar
Can someone please tell me why this matters?

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wpietri
For me it's the resolution to a very long piece of startup drama. As I recall
it, an early CL employee got equity as a gift, and then sold it off in a way I
thought disappointing:

[http://web.archive.org/web/20040813165340/http://www.cnewmar...](http://web.archive.org/web/20040813165340/http://www.cnewmark.com/archives/000265.html)

EBay then launched a direct competitor, presumably using knowledge gained by
being a major shareholder:

[https://en.wikiphttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kijijiedia.org...](https://en.wikiphttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kijijiedia.org/wiki/Kijiji)

That also struck me as a shitty thing to do. Then eBay sued Craigslist and
Craigslist sued eBay, causing further drama.

But now this is all over, and Craigslist can keep being Craigslist.

~~~
ableal
[http://pando.com/2015/06/19/pierre-omidyars-corporate-
spying...](http://pando.com/2015/06/19/pierre-omidyars-corporate-spying-
scandal-buried-for-good-as-ebay-sells-craigslist-stake/)

"""

Pierre Omidyar’s corporate spying scandal buried for good as eBay sells
Craigslist stake

BY MARK AMES

ON JUNE 19, 2015

It didn’t get much attention, but eBay just quietly unloaded its 28.4 percent
stake in Craigslist, putting to rest one of the most sordid episodes in
Silicon Valley, in which eBay executives — including First Look Media
publisher Pierre Omidyar and HP chief Meg Whitman — were directly implicated
in corporate spying, stealing secrets, and exploiting Craigslist’s anti-
capitalist idealism.

[...]

"""

~~~
wpietri
Wow, that is way worse than I thought. Disgusting.

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chejazi
Interesting seeing eBay separate itself from these entities. First PayPal, now
this. Are there others I'm missing?

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bsimpson
eBay Enterprise is in the process of being sold or spun off:

[http://recode.net/2015/01/21/ebay-to-cut-2400-jobs-and-
explo...](http://recode.net/2015/01/21/ebay-to-cut-2400-jobs-and-explore-sale-
or-ipo-of-enterprise-unit/)

Not many people know about eE, but it was the third pillar of eBay (alongside
Marketplaces and Payments). It gives the sort of national merchants you find
in malls the tools to compete with companies like Amazon. When Donahoe agreed
to spin off PayPal, he promoted the head of Marketplaces (Devin Wenig) to be
the CEO Elect of eBay Inc. Devin promptly announced he wanted to divest
Enterprise, essentially splitting the 3 silos of eBay Inc into three separate
companies.

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brillenfux
It would be so funny if EBay would finally be bought by Google.

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known
Is Alibaba buying EBay?

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mattbarrie
My guess is paypal is going to apple and ebay to alibaba.

