When I first heard about sites like eBay and craigslist, I thought
> they would suffer from much the same problem. If anyone can sell
> their junk, these sites will presumably be filled mostly with junk.
> I don't use these sites myself, so I still wonder how they've been so
> successful despite this.
They're very well organized. Google is filled with junk, too, but we don't care because we type in some search terms and we get a snapshot of just what we wanted. Ebay is set up the same way, with a nicely integrated subject tree and search system that lets you zero in on the stuff of interest quickly. If you don't find it, with another click or two you can tell it to rerun the search every day and send you mail if something turns up. (obTelecom coming up) I buy all sorts of exotic communication cards quite cheaply because I have a standing search for them and I'm usually the only bidder.
To return to someone else's restaurant analogy, my ideal restaurant only has one thing on the menu, but it's exactly what I want.
R's,
John