Craigslist

Sure, you've heard of EBay and Craigslist, but what about V&M or Fyndes? The market has seen a proliferation of websites selling secondhand furnishings: EBay ebay.com Currently listed: One seller is offering this solid-wood Pottery Barn armoire large enough to fit a 42-inch TV. Seller says he purchased it for $2,199. Starting bid: $200. What to expect: The mother of all resale sites. Inventory is huge -- a plus for some, a minus for others. Not all sellers offer accurate descriptions.

Jet Tanner was sound asleep in his Irvine home on a March night when he was awakened by the sound of crashing glass. He ran to the front of the house just as the thieves were pulling away. They left a computer and a flat-screen television. In fact, the only thing they took was his 14-year-old daughter Millie's cyclocross team bicycle, worth more than $5,000 and custom made for her competitive racing. "She was crying. She was devastated," Tanner recalled. "She couldn't believe they took her bicycle and equipment and left everything else.

The advertisement appeared on Craigslist in early December. "Need a real aggressive man with no concern for women," read the posting on the Internet classified advertising forum. Its purported author was a Casper, Wyo., woman, whose photo also was posted. One week later, a man accepted the offer, forcing his way into the woman's home, tying her up and raping her at knifepoint. "I'll show you aggressive," he allegedly said, according to court testimony. In fact, authorities say, the woman had nothing to do with the ad. Instead, they say, a former boyfriend had posted it, soliciting her assault.

Former star center fielder Lenny Dykstra will not be allowed to post or solicit on social networking or e-commerce sites over the next three years as part of a plea deal with city prosecutors, authorities said. Dykstra pleaded no contest Wednesday to misdemeanor charges of lewd conduct and assault with a deadly weapon involving women who responded to housekeeping ads he placed on Craigslist, authorities said Wednesday. Prosecutors said he would receive nine months in jail. Under the plea deal, Dykstra also was placed on three years' probation, including provisions to prevent him from misusing the Internet, which he used to lure women who traveled long distances and were desperate for work in the bad economy.

Fresno police have arrested two suspects and are looking for a third after a series of robberies of people posting personal items for sale on Craigslist. A 16-year-old boy and a 22-year-old man were booked on suspicion of robbery after a man was robbed at gunpoint Wednesday night, police said. The arrests come after 10 people were robbed, including four at gunpoint and one at knifepoint. Investigators say all of the victims had advertised items for sale on Craigslist.

Craigslist's vast network of classified-ad websites has been a boon not just to bargain hunters but also to criminals searching for victims. The San Francisco-based company has been linked to a wide range of crimes in recent years, from petty thefts to grisly murders. The most recent was a rape in Wyoming allegedly orchestrated by the victim's ex-boyfriend, a former Marine in Twentynine Palms. The 27-year-old mechanic is accused of placing an ad on Craigslist purportedly from a woman seeking "a real aggressive man with no concern for women."

Craigslist, a leading outlet for classified advertisements online, announced this week that it had permanently closed its controversial adult services section. Worn down by pressure from state attorneys general and advocacy groups, Craigslist will no longer provide a venue for pimps and prostitutes to advertise through thinly veiled offers for "out-calls" and "in-calls. " That's a good thing for Craigslist's reputation, but it won't make much of a dent in the sex trade. Federal law protects Craigslist and other sites that publish user-generated content, even if that content promotes an illegal activity.

Continuing adventures on Craigslist

With EBay Inc. and Craigslist entrenched in a scorching legal feud last year, a Delaware judge observed that EBay's "curious" decision to partner with the San Francisco online classified ad giant back in 2004 was "an opportunity to learn the 'secret sauce' of Craigslist's success. " Now the question of whether EBay illegally used Craigslist's corporate recipe to establish an online competitor is at the center of a federal grand jury investigation into the San Jose-based auction site, puzzling some experts who wonder why the government is intervening in a civil case between quarreling Internet companies.

Craigslist offers an array of opportunities -- but hiring human smugglers isn't legally among them, federal authorities say. They've arrested a Mexican man who allegedly used the site to recruit staff for his Texas-based human-smuggling operation. José Gustavo Diaz-Velasquez , 29, was arrested last week in the border town of Rio Grande City, Texas, after a yearlong federal investigation. Immigration agents began investigating Diaz-Velasquez in August after they discovered nearly a dozen Craigslist posts recruiting drivers for the smuggling operation, U.S. Atty.

Buying and selling on Internet classified sites such as Craigslist can be a great way to find a deal and make extra cash. But it can also expose you to a host of scams. Here are some tips to help keep you from being ripped off: •Meet the other party in person. By following this single rule, according to Craigslist, you will avoid 99% of attempted scams on the site. Any time the other party is unable or unwilling to meet face to face, it should be a huge red flag. •Never wire money to the other party.

Craigslist offers an array of opportunities -- but hiring human smugglers isn't legally among them, federal authorities say. They've arrested a Mexican man who allegedly used the site to recruit staff for his Texas-based human-smuggling operation. José Gustavo Diaz-Velasquez , 29, was arrested last week in the border town of Rio Grande City, Texas, after a yearlong federal investigation. Immigration agents began investigating Diaz-Velasquez in August after they discovered nearly a dozen Craigslist posts recruiting drivers for the smuggling operation, U.S. Atty.

Want to sell stuff on Craigslist, but the idea of a blind meet-up gives you the heebie jeebies? Los Angeles-based HipSwap has the solution. The Silicon Beach start-up announced at South by Southwest this week the seven-city launch of its website and mobile app, a Craigslist- and eBay-like marketplace that connects local buyers and sellers -- with a twist. The company offers delivery service and, in true L.A. fashion, gives people a peek into the wardrobes and homes of celebrities.

Nirav Tolia was still in his 20s when he co-founded high-flying start-up Epinions, which let users ask questions and post opinions about items including books, banks and baby strollers. It became one of the bright lights of the dot-com era — raking in millions of venture capital dollars, going public in spectacular fashion and eventually getting bought by EBay Inc. for $600 million. Along the way, Tolia helped lay the groundwork for Web 2.0 by blazing the user-generated content trail now followed by companies such as Yelp and Quora.

With EBay Inc. and Craigslist entrenched in a scorching legal feud last year, a Delaware judge observed that EBay's "curious" decision to partner with the San Francisco online classified ad giant back in 2004 was "an opportunity to learn the 'secret sauce' of Craigslist's success. " Now the question of whether EBay illegally used Craigslist's corporate recipe to establish an online competitor is at the center of a federal grand jury investigation into the San Jose-based auction site, puzzling some experts who wonder why the government is intervening in a civil case between quarreling Internet companies.

I figured the odds might be against us this week, as we headed north to San Francisco to find a place for my daughter to live. I knew that what she needed — a safe neighborhood, not too far from work and school, with nice roommates and a six-month lease — might not come cheap. But I didn't realize that a decent room for a college student in a city crammed with professional tenants might be harder to find in four days than a cool spot on a 110-degree day in Northridge. We spent hours navigating tricky streets in pouring rain, traipsing through stove-less kitchens and windowless bedrooms, chummying up to would-be roommates whose "thumbs up" might be a ticket to an empty bedroom and shared bathroom in an already overcrowded apartment.

Craigslist is not liable for discriminatory housing ads posted on its website, a federal appeals court has ruled. The decision is a victory for the Internet bulletin board, on which more than 30 million people a month post offers to buy, sell or rent goods and services, including housing, free of charge. A group of Chicago lawyers sued the site in 2006 because some of its housing notices illegally discriminate on the basis of race, gender, religion and ethnicity. Various ads say "no minorities" or "no children."

The novelist Jonathan Ames was rereading works by the pulp writer David Goodis several years ago when he first got the inspiration for "Bored to Death," the latest quirky comedy to join HBO's lineup. Intrigued by the character of the hard-boiled detective, he briefly considered posting an ad on Craigslist advertising his services as an investigator. "I just wanted adventures," he said. Instead, Ames penned a dark short story about a writer named Jonathan Ames who poses as a detective on Craigslist.

? Speaker John Boehner said Thursday that former Rep. Christopher Lee, who resigned Wednesday after photos of his bare torso were posted on a website, made "his own decision" to resign and was not forced out. The scandal surrounding Lee, a married second-term Republican congressman from western New York who allegedly used the personals site Craigslist to send photos of himself to at least one woman, unfolded as rapidly as any in congressional history....

Rep. Christopher Lee, a second-term Republican lawmaker representing western New York, abruptly resigned Wednesday after flirtatious e-mails, including a photo of him shirtless, were posted online by a gossip website. In a brief statement, Lee referred only obliquely to "this distraction," apologizing "deeply and sincerely" for harm he caused his family, staff and constituents. Just hours earlier, the Gawker website posted e-mails Lee exchanged with an unnamed, single 34-year-old woman in response to her personal ad on Craigslist.