Meet iList. Launching today out of their über-secret ‘stealth mode,’ this new online classifieds service hopes to give Craigslist a much needed run for their money. The whole angle that 25 year old CEO Chris Abad hopes to monopolize on is the ability to integrate listings with popular social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, FriendFeed, Pownce and even on rival Craigslist. Upon first signing up on the site you’re asked to verify your phone number in exchange for ‘Karma Points.’ These Karma Points are part of a rewards system that will eventually be linked to redeemable prizes. Every time that you post an item or help promote someone else’s you are rewarded these points. How you help promote offers is by linking up your arsenal of social-networking sites to your iList account and then ‘pushing’ the listing through your own network. This is done through their integrated applications available on each of the networks.
Another selling point for iList is the promise of less fraudulent activity. Craigslist is notorious for being a den of scammers and spammers. Hoping that regular Craiglist users would be open to shedding their view of anonymity, an iList account is linked to your social identity. So if someone scams you, they probably have either fake profiles or you’ll be able to track them down.
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