Duluth Holdings (DLTH)

[inversor86]

Craigslist is one of the few sites I truly love. It must drive eBay crazy. They have lifted an incredible amount of business from them and deservingly so. I always wanted to short eBay but I knew that wasn't smart.

It's not that eBay is terrible it just used to be much better. I used it for years as a kid when it was becoming a popular platform in the late 90's. Around 11 years old I started to buy these specific fishing lures that were sold locally to me in stores but not available in several parts of the U.S. They were $6.95 and would sell for $11-16 on ebay. I created an account in my dads name and bought and resold them for quite a while, years. I got away from it only to eventually try to sell something over a decade later and I felt like they ruined the market place by letting sellers list bulk junk with targeted search words so it will show in endless irrelevant searches, much higher fees, no more clear direct member contact allowed, hidden bidders, investigating your messages to buyers and sellers if they had key words they didn't like. The arm bending to use paypal on every transaction.

If I were ebay I would open a side marketplace, similar to craigslist, meant for local face to face transactions but marketed as a safe secure way to have those transactions. Maybe even create eBay managed "safe zones" where you can meet a buyer seller securely. Play off the stigma craigslist has for attracting shady and flaky people.