will he sell? (and what would happen if he did?)

Mark,

Sorry about the delay... (was away for the day). I disagree (re: deceit and a good PR game are often synonymous): there may be a fine line, but there is always a line.

If you are really interested in this, I suggest you take a look at his prior claims on the issue: he has repeatedly said for a long long time that he is not going to sell. He has asked for and accepted the community's help: people have helped *because* of that -- he is still getting free work based on that claim to this day.

I'm not familiar with the details in the case of Amazon but if they would have made anywhere in the range of claims Craig/craigslist has made, I think we would have heard about it. As far as I'm aware, Craigslist is a very special case as far as its history, claims and benefits derived from those claims. If Craig ends-up selling, I believe there would be enough evidence of fraud, for instance.

Delia

P.S. re: competitors; the way I see it, the centralized model for classifieds is breaking down (this model is what made craigslist a success): the new winners will be those who make best use of technology and *really* help their customers (craigslist does neither, it spends as little as it can get away with on customer service and improvements and appears to have no intention to change).

P.P. S. As to my blog, it's simply a chance put put down what I'm seeing and, no, I'm not affiliated with any groups. D.