Why Craigslist is winning *

Here's a letter to the editor in the latest Fortune magazine, posted on the website Online News Squared:

Could Craigslist turn newspaper classifieds to ashes? If it does, the fault lies squarely on the shoulders of the newspapers. I'm a small-business owner in Los Angeles and The Los Angeles Times' online-listing price starts at $389. That is greedy and just plain short-sighted. The secret behind Craigslist is that users feel they are being treated fairly -- they will be happy to pay $10 for real estate listings. I don't care what type of business you run, if you try to gouge your clients they will turn to someone else.

Here's the link for Craigslist's main Los Angeles page.

* Craig himself: Craig Newmark will be in town next Tuesday, Jan. 24, at the Central Library for a conversation with Wired articles editor Thomas Goetz. It's sponsored by Aloud and fully booked, but standby reservations are being taken.