Craigslist is actually the perfect example. No need to grow 1000% a year and no external VCs to push you to do so. They handle probably a factor of thousands more requests than Meetup and I think they are still less than 50 people?

Yes, but 999 of those 1000X requests are scammers and spambots.

Craigslist has failed. They are not a good example of anything except the staying power of network effects... and how even that fades with time if you let your community turn into a cesspool.

I don't think CL has failed in the slightest. I probably buy something, sell something, and hire someone each by using CL a few times a year.

I agree with you about the scams but as of today it still seems to be almost non challenged for the housing rental market for example. I would not call that failed.

I don't know about rentals, but Facebook Marketplace has taken over the "buy and sell stuff" market. I tried listing something on both services a few weeks ago - CL gave me a dozen scams, maybe one real reply. Facebook gave me a half dozen real inquiries.

I don't even bother with craigslist anymore.

I saved $1800 (over 50%) on a niche item on craigslist last month.

The guy I bought it from is clearly making significant income selling them.

It was the first listing I tried. No BS. They’re still great, at least around here.

On the other hand, three weeks ago I bought a car polisher for a good price from a nice guy a few cities over.

That's also partly why it looks the way it looks.