Craigslist Revenues: $100 Million — or $300 Million?

Craigslist is on track to make $100 million in revenues this year, according to a private study by the AIM Group/Classified Intelligence group. That's about 14 times the $7 million they pulled in since the company began tracking the service in 2003.

Craigslist is not a public company, so their actual financials are not a matter of public knowledge. But there is evidence — on their own site — that the service's annual revenues are actually a good deal more than $300 million.

Craigslist declined to comment on the AIM report or our own stab at an estimate, below. "As a closely held private company we never comment on rumors with regards to our revenue or back-of-the napkin guesstimates," a spokesperson wrote in reply to an e-mailed query about the AIM study.

Craigslist has drawn the ire of many in the newspaper business for siphoning classified ads away from local print media and, in the view of these critics, making it impossible to compete by undercutting the market. On paper, it's easy to see that point of view: the service hosts 40 million new ads a month and doesn't charge a dime for them. They do charge employers for job adverts: $75 in their San Francisco home base and $25 "in most cities," and it is presumed that this is what generates the bulk of the company's revenues (They also charge $10 for brokered apartment rentals in New York City, and $10 for listings in adult and theraputic sections.)

And thereby hangs a tale. The craigslist factsheet itself provides evidence the company generates at least $300 million — three times the AIM estimate.

Do the math:

Q: How many job listings does craigslist receive?
A: More than 1 million new job listings each month

Q: How much are job ads?
A: $25 in most cities, $75 in SF.

So, a conservative top line number would seem to be $300,000,000 (1 million x 12 months x $25). This assumes no ads in San Francisco at all, which is impossible.

A breakdown of the cities that craigslist charges anythinglists 19 big markets where they collect $25, and one (San Francisco) where they get $75. That leaves hundreds of places where they get $0, and that may account for what seems like an enormous disparity that craigslist won't comment about at all. "... We have never discussed our revenue at any time, so the plethora of numbers that have been reported over the years are merely guesses of which we've had no part — this most recent study included."

And ours.