Occam's Razor blog details his experience with using Craigslist to find a handyman. He notes how Craigslist has morphed into a powerful economic force of the 21st century. As Occam was searching for DIY tips, Google suggested to have someone else do it and this was how the ad was posted on Craigslist.
Within ten minutes of posting the ad, someone was bidding on it. Over the course of several days, close to three dozen people expressed an interest in the work. Not knowing how much something like this would cost, Occam guessed at least $50 and invited bids from contractors. Some were insulted and wouldn’t do it for less than $200. Finally, he was able to zero in on a guy (Shawn) who had done a lot of handyman work and even had a web site, who bid $85.
"Shawn may have been one of three dozen bidders for my little project, but he earns most of his money from Craigslist. “I used to put out flyers to get business,” he told me, “but Craigslist works much better.” Craigslist pretty much is his market these days. He’s a guy with an aging van who lives in an apartment in Maryland and keeps most of his gear in a public storage locker. Anonymous people on Craigslist pay him money to do odd jobs like this. From the looks of him, he probably doesn’t have any health insurance, but he manages to scrape together a living of sorts from Craigslist."
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