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I think they`re just an investor, not wanting to overlook that segment of the online market.

Craig`s List (no relation) makes money only from people who post a "help wanted" job ad. All other ads are free, but they make a good profit from the employee search ads.

Ebay owns a 25% share.  Presumably Craig Newmark holds
controlling interest in Craigslist and he is not interested in
commercializing it except  for the job listings.

I think he would have changed that awhile ago if he intended to
make more money off it.

If you are selling stuff, Craigslist can be effective, and listings are
free.  You have to put up with a lot of dopey inquiries and flakey
people though.

 Ebay as a vending medium is a pay-to-play game and its
important to be savvy about what yours costs for doing business
are.  Many people who seem to be successful ebay vendors
are making minimum wage to list and pack stuff all day.  Its
not very glamorous as its become a buyer`s market.

When I first got started with Ebay 8 years ago it way very
different than it is today.  I would pick up old tools at yard
sales and flip them for a profit... sometimes in 1000s of %.

 More and more people got wind of a good thing however and
today Ebay has eclipsed brick-and-mortar auction houses in
the valuation of smaller antiques and collectibles. 

tangent there.  Lost track of the question. 

Because Ebay only owns 25%, they do not have a controlling interest and they are not in a position to influence management.  They simply benefit from profits (or lose in the case of losses).  I would therefore say they are competitors.  Ebay, is in a sense, hedging their failure in launching Kijiji in the US by investing in Craigslist.

I think the very act of commercializing it is what would turn people away.

eBay or not, Craig does what Craig wants to do, and that is that. He really didn`t start the whole thing to make megabucks and exploit every opportunity like eBay does.

I`ve noticed craig`s list has fallen significantly from the "everybody`s talkin` about them" they had a couple of years ago. I wouldn`t be surprised if it has to do with franchising the "Craig`s List" to so many cities outside of San Francisco. All I know is that it`s not working as well as it used to. Anybody else notice this?

It`s like I said ... it worked until it was too commercially exploited. And then it started working less.

Both in real life, but competitors by legal standards.

Microsoft and Apple are competitors, there is no doubt about that according to the DOJ. However, Microsoft made a substantial investment in Apple in 1997 and still holds that stock. At the time the $150 million investment represented 4.5% of the company, I believe that percentage remains the same. At the close of business today Apple has a valuation of 160 billion, Microsoft`s 4.5% of that represents $7.2 billion clearly a large investor. Yet nobody would say that they are anything other than competitors.