Craigslist by Amanda Luckow

Craigslist is the new way to bring goods and services to those who need them, while avoiding the costs and effort associated with classified ads. Because it is more wide spread it makes it easier to match people’s needs. It has many more advantages than the common classified advertisement, and in some respects has simplified the process of exchanging goods, which EBay sought out to do. You can search the site under any of the fifty states and even narrow it down by county. Not only can you buy and sell stuff on Craigslist but you can also look for jobs, housing, activities, talk in discussion forums and find different services you may need. It even has a section for personals. Not many people are familiar with it yet but it is becoming more wide spread because of its easy access. When trying to buy something, you can see a description, the price, and pictures; similar to EBay. But that difference is that you meet up with the person selling the good instead of having it shipped. You know exactly what your getting and if your not satisfied you don’t need to worry about dealing with exchanging or returning something over the internet. There is no charge to post the listing which is also a good advantage; unless it is a job posting there is a small fee. A disadvantage of Craigslist is that you don’t always know the person who you are buying something from and if it is even legitimate. Anyone can post about an item or job. Most of the jobs are real but I have seen many that could have easily been typed by a seven year old the way that it was written. You should never go to someone’s house; you should meet them in a popular place to make sure you are safe. I think that Craigslist is a four because of how useful it is. Maybe one day people won’t need to have garage sales because they can so easily list it on the internet that it saves so much unnecessary time and effort. The only reason I believe it is not a five is because of safety but there is yet to be a case where it has played a negative role.