Tennessean Launches Haggle Spot to Compete with Craigslist

The Tennessean has launched a Web site meant to go head-to-head with Craigslist and Ebay. The newspaper, along with the entire industry, has lost half the revenue from classified ads since the year 2000.

Thehagglespot.com incorporates parts of both online giants. The listings are local like Craigslist, but there’s also an auction alternative like Ebay.

Tennessean vice president of marketing Bob Faricy says previous attempts don’t seem to compete.

“Haven’t had a good solution for merchandise, which is individuals selling furniture, etc. And by that, I mean we’ve been online as a number of people have been in terms of online classifieds, but this is a new product for that category of business.”

Listing items over $100 on the site does cost the seller. And Peter Zollman, founder of Classified Intelligence, says that makes competing with Craigslist nearly impossible. However, he says there is a trust factor in having a locally-operated site.

But Zollman says the challenge facing newspapers is larger than classified ad buyers migrating online. There just aren’t as many buyers as there used to be.

“There aren’t as many real estate agent and they aren’t advertising nearly as much. There aren’t as many auto dealers and they aren’t advertising as much. And there aren’t as many recruiters and they aren’t advertising as much. That, unfortunately, is a very potent combination.”

Other newspapers have attempted online classified sites with mixed success. The Tennessean’s Bob Faricy says the company hopes it will be part of its growing portfolio of revenue generating Web sites.

Earlier: W.O. Smith Students Headed to Washington
Later: Tennessee Unemployment Flattens