Ebay owns a 25% share of Craigslist. Craigslist makes it money charging for its real estate postings. 
A clearer explanation of what  Ebay  sent out to seelers  can be founbd in this article:
http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/cab/abn/y08/m08/i20/s03As a buyer, Craigslist doesn't hold a candle to Ebay,  C'mon, I live in Michigan, we   try to sell $6500 Cav 51's. As a seller, unless  I am one of those with thousands of auction items  of  junk made in China, I will be  punished becasue the new search functions skew in favor of  sellers  with  large sales rates. Free shipping?  nothing is free, and while I am happy this may  slow down the people who are trying to recoup their fees by charging $15,00 for shipping, and  the item arrives in a used box, packed with newspaper , and the shipping label showing postage was $2.98  it means the sellers will  increase their   minimum proce to cover the "free shipping", and the higher  price of the item, the more Ebay/Paypal  will skim. 
Give me another  alternative, I'll  look at it. And  I don't thinkI am  alone.  I expect to see another boycott of Ebay in the next few weeks.
Sorry, I'll put the soapbox away now