I know many people claim that it would be the death of Craigslist if they started charging for listing, but in my opinion, they could have a few premium listings under each category which are bid on for top position. This would really help those who are trying to place an ad and find that their ads quickly get buried under a million of spamming ads by others. It would also help eliminate all the spam.

Opinions?

True, it would eliminate the spam but Craigslist was meant to be free for everyone.

If they charge for some listings, like premium listing, sort of how MMG charges for sticky threads, they could still offer listings for free while also raking in some cash to pay for more moderators to clean junk up.

Not a bad idea at all. But you have to remember there will always be spammers whether they are premium listings or not.

Hi,
ChiefDreamer here! Just literally joined MMG, so I'm brand new to the community. I just wanted to drop in to say hi and introduce myself. I have yet to use Craiglist so I don't have much to say about it! It's an interesting topic and it definitely affects everyone who has the use of it. Spam...don't you hate it?
Cheers,
ChiefDreamer

craigslist charges 25 dollars per Job listing
they do in the LA page at least i dont know about any other cities.

Hi All,

Craigslist is in the top 10 most active sites in the world so it still makes sense to use it often, in my opinion!

I always use a 2 step technique and I always place it in the biz-opp section or you will be violating their TOS.

I simply put an ad out there with a good headline and ask them to "get back to me if you want more info", then when they contact you, you send them your pre-written offer, and at the same time you will be developing a prospect list that you can put into a database for further contact.

As an example, I used Craigslist last year when there was that Hanna Montana concert craze going on with the 2 step method. Within 5-6 weeks, I sold over 3K worth of concert tickets through Stub-Hub and now have a list of over 600 people who are interested in Hanna Montana!!
(LOL)

Good luck with Craigslist!

Yeah, its impossible to search forsomething without running in to like 5 spam posts.. I think they should enforce spamming much better.

I agree craigslist was definetly meant to be free for everyone now they charging up the you know what fo everything.

Edit: Spam. Link removed

Craiglist could go by way of Plenty of Fish and remain 100% free but offer premium listing for a nominal fee or charge to allow you the ability to post to multiple craigslist sites which currently you cannot do.

This would be a great idea. I agree it should remain free but alot of serious IMs would pay for premium listings.

Steve.

In the years I've used Craigslist I've learned how to ignore spam. If they should start charging, they are going to tick off a LOT of people around the world. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing.

It's just that once people rely on a thing (e.g. craigslist) being free, they really balk at having to pay, and they rebel with vengeance.

You have to admire the ethics put forth by Craigslist.org. Life is so much more than just money. Here is a quote by Newmark that pretty much puts it into perspective.
“Who needs the money? We don’t really care,” Craig Newmark said in an interview at the Picnic ‘06 Cross Media Week conference here. “If you’re living comfortably, what’s the point of having more?” Newmark said.

Charging for listings won't eliminate spam, it will just make it cost more. Besides, spam is like camping and bug bites. If you go out into the cyber world your gonna get some.

Honestly I think this is a great move on Craigslist's part. It both helps the renter and the honest brokers. I was a broker in NYC 2 years ago and used Craigslist to post my listings. I recently used Ning to setup a craigslist-like site: www.newmalawi.com.

Regards,

I admire that view. I can't claim to have quite the same opinion, though I sort of wish I did.

Living comfortably is probably the most important, and those of us that have more than merely that can maybe afford to say things like this. However, still, I remain in the camp of wanting more than I have...

some areas for craigslist charge money
but alot of places dont charge either
very good for marketing your business

I heard that craigslist was a great place to post your business . Well I quess I did something wrong because I received a warning right off the first post. I really couldn't figure out how to use it so I just dropped it.
Any suggestions?

That would suck if they charged!! It's a great place to sell items find jobs find people to work for you, get free stuff, get rid of unwanted junk you name it. If they charged they would make a killing and than it wouldn't be craigslist. It does seem to be getting worse with scammers they could rune it for all of us!!

Yea you do have a point their. It would cut down on a lot of spam. Have anyone had some good result from posting on craigslist?