Thursday, April 9, 2009

would valid craigslist criticism stop if craigslist would disclose their financials to the public?

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Dear dperiod:

BTW, if you think this is bad enough, consider that there are much bigger
companies reducing the quality of their customer service to cut costs to
increase their profit.

And these big companies have shareholders putting pressure on them to "meet
the numbers". That is why the "short-termism" of Wall Street is a bad thing.

Yuhong Bao

@yuhong2"non-commercial" poseurs secretly cleaning up huge profits (like craigslist appears to do) are much worse than up front for profits

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@craigscriticism FYI - link is broken on your twitter page - re: forums - i'll check it out, but I would like 2 hear what u want out of CL
@allofcraigs honesty and transparency would go a long way: stop redacting basic info re:craigslist in legal complaints, disclose profits etc@craigscriticism cant fault u 4 wanting more from CL - but it's a free service & u get what u pay 4 - i would love 2 know how much CL makes
@allofcraigs you may well get your wish:): I'd keep my eyes open on the law suits -- it's probably just a matter of time until we'll know...@craigscriticism well, my eyes & ears are wide open. I'm nosey, that's why I created my website ;-) Keep me up 2 speed on any dirt.@allofcraigs can't promise... (been quitting more times that I care to remember -I want to see the truth but wish someone else did the work)
EVEN MORE:

@craigscriticism craigslist can't police billions of posts - who's to blame? look into mirror, it's called accountability. bad apples
@allofcraigs do you really think 26 employees (that's *everyone* including Craig) is ALL the resources they should allocate to serving CL? D@craigscriticism Keep in mind that I don't think that there are many for-profit public companies that disclose their profits.@yuhong2 I'm not aware of any other for profit that has made anywhere in the range of claims craigslist has made and so greatly benefited $$@craigscriticism craigslist can't police billions of posts - who's to blame? look into mirror, it's called accountability. bad apples@allofcraigs and I got a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn:); the needs of the community are not met--hang out in the feedback&help forums & see@craigscriticism On #3, that is not the question I was asking, I am asking if *List Foundation* *legally* incorporated as a non-profit.@yuhong2 SFGate, for instance, reported on their bash celebrating the non-profit status (http://tinyurl.com/cwc7qx) -- is it real proof? no.@craigscriticism On #2, my point was I doubt people would really care that much about whether it was a for-profit or a non-profit.@yuhong2 as long as they backed up their claims... (evidence is strong that they are NOT doing that thus the need for volunteer disclosure)


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#1 would valid craigslist criticism stop if the for profit craigslist would voluntarily disclose their financial information to the public? I seriously doubt it... I believe people would be appaulled to see what's really going on...and that's why craigslist/ Craig Newmark & Jim Buckmaster go to ridiculous length to keep even basic things secret (see the heavy redaction of ebay's complaint against craigslist, for instance)

#2 the difference between for-profits and non-profits: if craigslist would be a non-profit, nobody could profit from it (making out with humongous profits for years, as it appears...): whatever amount would exceed their legitimate expenses (which include normal salaries and benefits for all employees including Craig & Jim) would *have to* be used towards advancing the mission! and they would have the legal obligation to disclose what's really going on -- their financial situation -- ; by all indication, there is no reason for the severe under staffing (26 employees for a huge number of users! -- that's ALL the craigslist community gets, after having built craigslist to where it is today...) and antiquated under development of the site... the rest of the resources available appear to be pocketed...

#3 was List Foundation a non-profit? : if it wasn't, Craig certainly made it sound like it and people believed it! from the users, to volunteers, to sponsors, to the media... (I do believe this should constitute evidence for fraud)

Delia

....
I think you do have a point. Disclosing the profit craigslist makes would have reduced the criticism
considerably. After all, there are many other possible reasons why some companies have
poor customer service.

Yuhong Bao

@yuhong2 thanks for the email, Yu! is it ok to post it on my blog like I did with Eve Batey's of sfappeal? (re: http://tiny.cc/7arxd) Delia@craigscriticism Yes. Ignore the last question I asked in my email about peopleslist because that was written before I read all the posts.
@craigscriticism: Why are you obessed with the difference between for-profits and not-for-profits? I think it is just a legal technicality.@craigscriticism: Actually I think the difference is that non-profits survive on donations. Correct me if I am wrong.

@craigscriticism: Do you have any proof List Foundation actually incorporated as a non-profit or was it just another name for craigslist? from web
@yuhong2 Yu,140 characters is very limiting. lets have this discussion on my blog, ok? I'll try to post that entry this afternoon EST ~Delia






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