Kijiji.ca ( ; , ''village'') is a Canadian online
classified advertising
Classified advertising is a form of advertising, particularly common in newspapers, online and other periodicals, which may be sold or distributed free of charge. Classified advertisements are much cheaper than larger display advertisements used ...
website and part of eBay Classifieds Group, which was acquired by Adevinta in 2020. It operates sections for cities and urban regions, for posting local advertisements. Kijiji was launched in February 2005 as an
eBay
eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...
subsidiary and became part of the eBay Classifieds Group in 2007. The Kijiji brand is used in more than 100 cities in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
and with ''kijiji.it'' in
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, while eBay Classifieds websites are available under different brands in other countries. Kijiji parent is Dutch company
Marktplaats BV since 2005, which is part of the same group.
Kijiji is the most popular online classifieds service in Canada and draws more traffic compared to competitor
Craigslist
Craigslist (stylized as craigslist) is an American classified advertisements website with sections devoted to jobs, housing, for sale, items wanted, services, community service, Gig worker, gigs, résumés, and discussion forums.
Craig Newmark ...
in that country. ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' referred to Kijiji's Canadian site as representing "one of the few online brands that fizzled in the United States but found success elsewhere." Kijiji was made available to selected cities in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
on June 29, 2007, however the brand was changed to eBay Classifieds in 2010.
Kijiji offers similar services and is seen as a competitor to
Craigslist
Craigslist (stylized as craigslist) is an American classified advertisements website with sections devoted to jobs, housing, for sale, items wanted, services, community service, Gig worker, gigs, résumés, and discussion forums.
Craig Newmark ...
, with the biggest differences being that Kijiji has an extensive pets section, as well as a more modern interface.
History
![EBayTorontoOffice2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/EBayTorontoOffice2.JPG)
Kijiji was launched as "a
start-up
A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship refers to all new businesses, including self-employment and businesses that never intend t ...
within eBay created by a small team of entrepreneurial employees", according to eBay's March 2005 press release announcing the new service.
Kijiji was launched in February 2005 in Quebec City and Montreal, and expanded across the rest of Canada in November 2005.
In May 2005 eBay acquired the British-based online
classifieds
Classified advertising is a form of advertising, particularly common in newspapers, online and other periodicals, which may be sold or distributed free of charge. Classified advertisements are much cheaper than larger display advertisements used ...
service
Gumtree
Gumtree.com, known as Gumtree, is a British-based online classified advertisement and community website based at Hotham House, Richmond, London. Classified ads are either free or paid for depending on the product category and the geographical m ...
,
which operates in cities in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
,
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
and
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
; as well as the Spanish company LoQUo.
One month later it acquired OpusForum.org, a website offering online classifieds in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
.
In July 2006, Klaus Gapp, the founder of OpusForum, noted that after its acquisition it had "merged with its new Kijiji classifieds business in the German speaking markets of
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, Germany and
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
."
In August 2008, Kijiji re-branded its India site to
Quikr
Quikr, is an Indian online marketplace and classified advertising company, based in Bangalore, India. It was founded by Pranay Chulet. Quikr has listings in over 1000 cities in India in categories such as mobile phones, household goods, cars ...
.
In 2009, the Kijiji Germany website changed its name to eBay Kleinanzeigen.
In February 2010, Kijiji withdrew its Personals section in the United States and Canada. In March 2010, eBay unveiled a new classifieds site, called
eBay
eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...
Classifieds, to replace Kijiji in the United States.
In November 2012, Kijiji entered into a listing partnership with Rentseeker.ca in Canada.
In April and May 2015, Kijiji Hong Kong and Kijiji Taiwan closed, with the homepages providing a list of links to other eBay-owned classifieds sites in other countries.
In June 2016, Kijiji introduced Admarkt, branded as Kijiji For Business. During this time, Kijiji put restrictions on the number of free ads users can have in certain categories. This was intended to push heavy users of the site to sign up for Admarkt.
In January 2017, Kijiji introduced eBay ads that appear in search results, which are identified by an eBay logo.
In July 2017, Kijiji made it mandatory to register with the site to post ads. Previously, registration had been optional.
In December 2017, Kijiji introduced “My Messages”, a messaging system which allows users to communicate with each other directly on the site.
By 2018, Kijiji was facing competition from social media sites such as
Facebook Marketplace
Facebook is a social-network service website launched on February 4, 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg. The following is a list of software and technology features that can be found on the Facebook website and mobile app and are available to users of ...
, and other classified ad sites such as
VarageSale
VarageSale is a virtual garage sale app that lets users buy and sell items in their communities. It currently has users across the United States and Canada, as well as in Australia, Germany, Italy, Japan and the UK. The company is based in Toron ...
and
LetGo
Letgo (stylized letgo) was a company that provided a website and app that allows users to buy from, sell to and chat with others locally. The products launched in 2015.
History
Launched in January 2015 by Alec Oxenford, former CEO of OLX, the app ...
.
In October 2018, Kijiji unveiled an updated logo, replacing the one that had been in use since the site started in 2005.
In November 2018, Kijiji launche
Kijiji Autos a new car shopping platform separate from the main site.
In July 2019, Kijiji announced the closure of the Tickets category, citing a shift from paper to digital tickets and the resulting problems with making sure the codes are authentic and functioning as the reason. Users were encouraged to buy and sell tickets on Kijiji’s partner
StubHub
StubHub is an American ticket exchange and resale company. It provides services for buyers and sellers of tickets for sports, concerts, theater, and other live entertainment events. It is the world's largest ticket marketplace. While the company ...
, which is also owned by eBay. Kijiji disabled the option to post or repost ads in the Tickets category on July 29. By September 29, 2019, all Ticket ads expired and the category was closed.
In November 2019, Kijiji introduced the ability to leave user reviews.
In June 2020, Adevinta announced their intent to buy eBay Classifieds Group. The deal was completed on June 25, 2021.
Legal conflict with Craigslist
Kijiji's owner (
eBay
eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...
) was also a minority shareholder in
Craigslist
Craigslist (stylized as craigslist) is an American classified advertisements website with sections devoted to jobs, housing, for sale, items wanted, services, community service, Gig worker, gigs, résumés, and discussion forums.
Craig Newmark ...
. In April 2008, eBay launched a lawsuit against Craigslist claiming that their executives were attempting to weaken eBay's investment, while in May of the same year, Craigslist filed a counter suit claiming Kijiji had stolen trade secrets and that eBay used misleading tactics to promote the service.
To end the lawsuit, eBay agreed to sell back its 28.4% ownership stake in Craigslist in 2015.
References
External links
*
*
*
EBay
Employment websites
Online marketplaces of Canada
Internet properties established in 2005
{{website, https://grabdear.com/, Grabdear Classifieds website