Craigslist, an online marketplace for buyers, sellers, employers and those looking for job, is huge for a reason: it works. If you live in a city with its own Craigslist page, it can help you find an employment, apartment, roommate, required services or goods.
What is the idea behind Craigslist?
The service was established in the 1990-s, when IBM programmer from San-Francisco Craig Newmark (site is named after him) decided to exchange e-mails containing advertisements with his friends. Since his friends were programmers as well they decided to build a site hosting classified ads covering every category you can think of.
Soon site became popular among San-Francisco residents and people from other cities. Eventually site had a range of categories and lots of subcategories. Hence, the site has grown up to the level we see today when literally millions of new advertisements appear on a daily basis.
Why is Craigslist so popular?
The answer is out in the open. You can easily find ads from your own state or city. For example, if you live in Key West, you simply input Craigslist Key West in the search engine and scroll through different advertisements. Also, you can list your own post in just a minute. Say, you want to find an apartment in Key West but you can’t afford the rent. Craigslist is the perfect place to look for a roommate.
What ads can you find?
Craigslist may be used for different purposes:
- For sell: Basically, the sellers list the items (any items) and the price and wait for responses.
- Community: In this category you can find different ads, such as lost+found, offers for volunteers, childcare and local activities.
- Housing: Craigslist lists houses, apartments and places for short stay. The benefit of this site is the opportunity to post a request to invite you for free, and people willing to help you may respond.
- Jobs: Site offers many ads from different businesses, especially small ones. So, it makes it easy to find a job, if you are looking for one.
- Services: Varying from beauty to legal services.
Garage sales on Craigslist
For those in strained circumstances Craigslist offers garage sale. Garage sale on Craigslist is especially beneficial for sellers. Traditional yard sale forces sellers to spend the entire day at home, even in the nasty weather.
Security is another issue, especially for lonely women whose husbands are out of town, because you may have unwanted visitors. Garage sales may be dangerous because strangers will know that you are home alone. Craigslist is here to help. Only invited people will attend your garage sale. Or you can meet them at local McDonald’s so that your private life remains private. This is a huge advantage in comparison with traditional yard sale.
Finally, Craigslist allows you to buy or sell services and goods free of charge. Online auctions are not cheap. As well as advertisements in local papers. You, however, can advertise your company or sell goods any time you want. Many people hire, buy, and sell through Craigslist every day. If your ad isn’t there, you’re missing out on every buyer or customer who looked up an offer like yours and decided to go with someone who posted an ad.