According to Craigslist's fact sheet the site receives more than 100 million classified ads each month (including reposts and renewals). The site also receives visits from 60 million US users every month, making it one of the most popular sites online. Even though the company has received some negative press due to some criminal activities, the platform is still used by a large number of people, mainly because the service is free. However, starting December 3, 2013 Craigslist is going charge car dealers $5 per vehicle for a 30 day listing across the US.

The new price structure has a set of rules for car/truck dealers when they place an ad on Craigslist. The rate applies for each vehicle no matter how many cars a dealer has and the company is not offering any volume discount.

The new ads cannot have hyperlinks, templates or external images and all relevant information must be in the ad for the specific vehicle that is being sold. Just like all other Craigslist ads, the new paid ads are subject to flagging and can be removed once it has been reviewed. Term of Use violations will not be refunded. The ad can also be removed if dealers post vehicles stating "by owner.” In this case they will be subject to ad removal, account closure and other remedial actions. Once an ad has been posted and it is live, it can be edited and reposting will cost the same amount.

Many dealers have already voiced their complaint about the new pricing structure, but at five dollars a month it has got to be one of the best rates anywhere for a site that enjoys at least 60 million visitors every month. Print ads are much more expensive and it is generally for one edition in a medium that is quickly losing favor by consumers. Newspapers and magazines are abandoning their hard copy edition for online versions as smartphones and tablets continue to make mobile computing accessible anytime and anywhere. So in the long run the option Craigslist provides looks very reasonable and better suited to address current consumer trends.