In the Beginning
Like many of you I use the Internet on a regular basis...and I often find myself using Craigslist to buy and sell various items including...yes...Christmas presents...I have bought and sold a plethora of items via this medium for several years. Several days ago I sat back and calculated just what I have bought and sold via this online clearing house…and the list was staggering to say the least!
1. A BMW convertible 325I of which this car has been an absolute blessing for Ian and I; we still drive it...and it's a "rocket ship" on 4 wheels...yet fantastic on gas!
2. A Dodge 4x4 Truck which was one of just a few vehicles actually mobile this past winter in DC – while others were stuck...we were blissfully driving by and throwing a “snatch-line” and rescuing stranded motorists all along the I-95 corridor...or transiting the BW Parkway to get to MD for ice hockey that never got can cancelled!
3. A 1996 Chevy Suburban that belonged to a fire department in "BFE" Colorado; this was the same truck that the window was shot out while I turned on Route 1 in Stafford last year - the boys named it BART...Big @ss Red Truck!
4. Various motorcycles including the boys 4 wheelers; a dirt bike; and a dual sport motorcycle used to "save money" going to work...that never happened...but still a very nice bike!
5. Hockey equipment for both boys as well as officials gear...and yes...even lacrosse gear too!
6. Text books for school (mine...not Jake's!)
7. A BMW Z-3 with no engine…but a gorgeous convertible
8. Skis and various pieces of ski gear (still looking for pants for Ian as we speak!)
9. Ski lift passes for Maryland, Utah and New Hampshire
10. A computer from a guy in dark parking lot in Alexandria
11. Computer programs from another guy in a dark parking lot
12. Computer services from a guy who said “never buy a computer from a guy in a dark parking lot”
13. A long wool jacket
14. A tuxedo to go with the long wool jacket
15. etc; etc; etc
Virtually every item listed above has also been placed for sale and subsequently sold to others via the medium....usually with 10-15 others wanting to at least take a look at it!
Craigslist is the place to go today for much of what I need in my daily life…and when I think I need something surely it can be found on CL – which is short for Craigslist for those of us, in the know!
This weekend we scored big…I mean really big…but before I go there I am not sure many of you knew the “history of CL” …so in a nutshell here it is!
Historically Speaking
Craigslist is a centralized network of online communities, featuring free online classified advertisements – with sections devoted to jobs, housing, personals, for sale, services, community, gigs, resumes, and discussion forums. Craig Newmark began the service in 1995 as an email distribution list of friends, featuring local events in the San Francisco Bay Area, before becoming a web-based service in 1996. After incorporation as a private for-profit company in 1999, Craigslist expanded into nine more U.S. cities in 2000, four in 2001 and 2002 each, and 14 in 2003.
In 2009, Craigslist operated with a staff of 28 people.[3] Its main source of revenue is paid job ads in select cities – $75 per ad for the San Francisco Bay Area; $25 per ad for New York City, Los Angeles, San Diego, Boston, Seattle, Washington D.C., Chicago, Philadelphia, Orange County (California) and Portland, Oregon – and paid broker apartment listings in New York City ($10 per ad).
The site serves over twenty billion page views per month, putting it in 33rd place overall among web sites worldwide and 7th place overall among web sites in the United States (per Alexa.com on June 28, 2010), with over 49.4 million unique monthly visitors in the United States alone (per Compete.com on January 8, 2010). With over eighty million new classified advertisements each month, Craigslist is the leading classifieds service in any medium. The site receives over two million new job listings each month, making it one of the top job boards in the world. The classified advertisements range from traditional buy/sell ads and community announcements to personal ads.
The site is notable for having undergone only minor design changes since its inception; even by 1996 standards, the design is very simple. Since 2001, the site design has remained virtually unchanged, and as of April 2010, Craigslist continues to avoid using images and uses only minimal CSS and JavaScript, a design philosophy common in the late 1990s but almost unheard of today for a major website. In December 2006, at the UBS Global Media Conference in New York, Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster told Wall Street analysts that Craigslist has little interest in maximizing profit, instead it prefers to help users find cars, apartments, jobs, and dates.
The company does not formally disclose financial or ownership information (like any good privately held organization). Analysts and commentators have reported varying figures for its annual revenue, ranging from $10 million in 2004, $20 million in 2005, and $25 million in 2006 to possibly $150 million in 2010.
So while the minions were standing in line at Wal-Mart (don’t get me going on this one) on “Black Friday” I was still looking for ski pants on CL…and found Harley…not a Harley (I have one) but Harley the chocolate lab. He needed a new home and we figured we could provide that…and more! Full blooded and full of energy...he was the "one" we had been looking for...so we scooped him up! Oh...and by the way...did I tell you that this 16 month old animal knows how to turn off the light switch on the wall?
Enjoy…and thank you CL...he is a great addition to the family!
Brian
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