eBay Takes on Craigslist

Craigslist has long been known as the king of classifieds sites and for good reason. It is completely free of charge and utilizes a simple, no-frills design that gets the job done whether you like the look or not. Now, eBay is entering the ring with it's Craigslist rival that has finally come stateside after having operated for two years in several other countries overseas. The localized classifieds service first launched in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, China, Japan, and Taiwan in February 2005, where it has attained 17 million users.  Now, in 2007, it has expanded into Belgium, Turkey, and the United States.

eBay's new local classified ads service is know as Kijiji (pronounced like key-gee-gee), and is already available in more than 220 cities around the United States. Where did the name come from, you ask? It means “village” in Swahili, which is creative but I am not sure how easy it is to remember or even spell. Kijiji offers practically the same categories as Craigslist such as goods, cars, services, housing, jobs, and personals. You can post up to 25 different ads at any given time, and you can post the same ad in a maximum of 2 different categories (compared to just ONE category for Craigslist). Registration is optional just as it is at Craigslist.

The service is currently touted to be free, but in a CNET article, company spokesperson Hani Durzy was quoted saying that, “For now it's a free [classifieds] service and our focus is on building the user experience.” Yes… you read that right… “For now.” That may be the case right now, a few days after U.S. launch, but if you ask me, the service has to stay free (just like its competition) or the users won't even bother switching. Sure, Kijiji is visually much more attention-grabbing and elegant, but will this be enough to convert people and eventually lead them to pay? I doubt it.

The creation of Kijiji seems to be an awkward move for eBay, considering that eBay has maintained a 25-percent stake in Craigslist since 2004. The company also controls a seat on the small three-person board at Craigslist. eBay has announced that they have no plans on changing or restructuring this situation either. They are however accepting feedback and suggestions for Kijiji.

For now, there are only a few listing that have already been posted, and only in select cities. Since this is a local classifieds service, you may only post ads in one city - the closest one to you. In my city, Dallas, there were no listing as of the time of this article. The ads may start pouring in for eBay, but they shouldn't get too excited if they plan on charging in the future. People will just run right back to the free Craigslist that we know will never charge.

Which would you pick? Would you pay for Kijiji? Voice your opinion and be heard.