We often hear of startups aiming and claiming to be doing something that will make them the “the next Google” or “the next Facebook”.  It’s a strategy that makes some sense as these startups are usually aiming to emulate and improve upon a concept that is already working in some sense, e.g., a proven market need, a large market opportunity, a robust and defensible business/revenue/profit model, etc (hopefully all of the above).

An adherent of this strategy appears to be eBay owned Kijiji (www.kijiji.com) which could be considered the next step in the evolution of online classifieds or “the next Craigslist” as some ChubbyBrain reviewers believe.  But of course, as often happens, not everyone agrees.  Below are some of these diverging viewpoints from our reviewers that will give you some food for thought as you think about Kijiji’s prospects.  (Note: eBay has recently expessed its intention to rebrand Kijiji as eBay Classifieds but still seems to be operating under the Kijiji name)

Yes! Kijiji is a Craigslist killer (maybe)

On this side of the fence are Michael N. and Jonathan Kuo who both give Kijiji 4-stars.  In his review entitled, “Kijiji and Craigslist - The Ultimate Duo?“, Michael highlights what he believes is a market big enough for two online classified providers commenting:

Kijiji is attempting a more revenue-oriented twist of what Craigslist has done, and is proving to be more successful than I had expected. It has expanded greatly outside of the US, an area in which Craigslist hasn’t been much of a competition. By no means do I believe that Kijiji will replace today’s Craigslist, for Craigslist still has several factors in its favor; but I do believe Kijiji will continue to gain popularity and will work side-by-side with Craigslist to present users with a platform on which to sell, buy, and inquire about jobs, products, and services.

Jonathan is decidedely more bullish on Kijiji in his review of the company entitled “Kijiji - A Little Less Plain” pointing to its international footprint & coverage as one reason for optimism.  He writes:

Kijiji has pursued its strategy of expanding outside of the United States where Craigslist has been lacking, and is aggressively acquiring leading online classifieds sites of other nationalities as GumTree (UK), OpusForum.net (Germany), LoQUo (Spain) and Marktplaats (Netherlands), among others. Thus, it would be myopic to judge the success of Kijiji based solely upon metrics that only factor in domestic usage, compounded by the fact that Kijiji is a relatively recent entrant into a market with an extremely high concentration ratio from a domestic standpoint.

He also suggests the company’s financial performance is superior to that of Craiglist offering:

Moreover, a look at fundamentals suggests that Kijiji is already outperforming Craigslist as a for-profit business. As noted previously, financial disclosures by parent company eBay have put Kijiji’s 2008 Q3 revenues at $250 million, compared to Craigslist’s paltry estimated earnings of $80 million for the entire year. For an online service whose only expenses are likely to be administrative and hosting costs, Kijiji also has an advantage from the fact that eBay already has an expansive hosting platform and support group that Kijiji is able to tap into at reduced costs and thus benefit from operational efficiencies of scale – something Craigslist cannot do. Additionally, the desire for profits drive innovation, and when Craigslist isn’t trying to make money and doesn’t develop the platform, somebody else will.

And finally, Jonathan comments that eBay’s backing makes for an even more formiddable Kijiji

It would be myopic and foolhardy to write off Kijiji so early, especially given the backing behind the venture. eBay, with its deep pockets, experienced management teams no stranger to internet economics, and possible operational synergies with existing product offerings, has a lot to gain if Kijiji succeeds.

Sorry, Kijiji will be another victim of Craiglist

On the other side, we had a skeptical prognosis for Kijiji put forward by one of our consistently critical reviewers, Amy Z., who writes “Pigs and Kijiji - Neither Will Fly” and makes her feelings on Kijiji quite well-known from the beginning offering up:

Kijiji will go down as another sad and pathetic attempt by eBay to stay current and relevant. And it will ultimately fail. As Jonathan rightly points out in his review, it is a better looking site which is more ‘web2.0′ than Craigslist. But, unfortunately, eBays application of lipstick to Kijiji’s front-end doesn’t do anything to change the fact that this service is a loser.

She suggests the motivations for Kijiji are less about business than ego commenting that:

eBay’s motivation to start Kijiji appears to be more driven by ego than a desire to build a solid business. eBay owns a stake of Craigslist and despite their insistence and attempts to influence Craiglist’s direction, CL remains adamantly anti-profit/revenue maximization. And so it appears that Kijiji was an attempt by Goliath (eBay to be clear) to show David (CL) what happens when you mess with a $17B market cap (as of 12/25/08) giant. Unfortunately, eBay and Kijiji are the ones being taught a lesson.

Related to the company’s rebranding themselves as eBay Classifieds, Amy points to a TechCrunch post entitled “Kijiji Isn’t Kutting.  How about eBay Classifieds?” and suggests:

News that Kijiji is trying to rebrand itself as “eBay Classifieds” seems to be further proof of the lack of relevance of Kijiji and them taking trivial and immaterial measures to become relevant. While an association with eBay might help since people have heard of eBay and it’s much easier to spell than Kijiji. (Yes - that’s 3 i’s and 2 j’s)

What are your thoughts on the Kijiji?  Is it a Craiglist killer or not?  Join the conversation and share your viewpoint on whether or not Kijiji is poised for success. You can write your own review or offer your comments on existing reviews.

Reviewer Debates feature diverging viewpoints by ChubbyBrain reviewers on a particular startup/company or other salient topics, e.g., entrepreneurship, innovation, venture capital, angel investment, etc.