Dude tries to sell sofa on Craigslist, ends up with a wife.

All I wanted to do was sell my sofa. But there I was, down one of the steamier back alleys of Craigslist.com, browsing a section entitled "Los Angeles Casual Encounters." What I hadn't realized, however, was that Craigslist--and other social networking Web sites--had introduced that same kind of liquidity to our sex lives. Online, people are trading each other like baseball cards.

Along with the sofa I put up for sale half of the contents of my apartment, including a floor lamp, an outdoor grill and a folding chair. I was astonished by how quickly they sold. I was also astonished by the kind of people who turned up to buy them: girls, mainly. Attractive girls. Girls who had just moved to L.A. and didn't want to pay retail for what could end up being temporary furniture. I began to wonder if I should ask one of these Craigslist girls out on a date. I was newly single, after all. What could I possibly have to lose? If you could trade furniture and lewd acts on Craigslist--why not dates? Continue reading the full article at Forbes.com

17-year-old girl runs escort service on Cragslist

A teenager once arrested alongside her mother in a prostitution case has been accused of running an escort service out of her suburban Chicago home using the popular Web site Craigslist.

Kimberly Petersen, 17, was arrested after detectives doing a routine search of the site’s classified boards found one that included an offer to “enjoy a beautiful blonde” for $250 an hour and pictures of a smiling woman in lingerie.

An undercover detective who called the number in the ad and arrived at Peterson’s home was quoted a $300 rate for a 27-year-old woman to perform a sex act, Hillside Police Chief Joseph Lukaszek said.

Petersen was released on bond late last week after being arrested and charged with a misdemeanor, police said. Heidi Mudge, 27, was charged with prostitution. Read the full article here.