Facebook has announced a new program called “Marketplace” that will allow community members to trade with each other, modeled after printed classifieds. With this new program, Facebook will directly compete with local online shopping platforms like Craigslist and will also offer an alternative to online “flea markets” like eBay, notes AFP. Facebook states that their new program merely formalizes something that their members have been doing in Facebook groups for years.
– Facebook is a place for connecting people, and in recent years, more and more people have used it for a new form of connection – for buying and selling, highlighted product manager Mary Ku in a blog note.
– These activities began in Facebook groups and have significantly intensified. Every month, buying and selling groups are visited by more than 450 million people – from families in the neighborhood to collectors from around the world, she adds.
The new feature will serve as a “convenient destination for discovering, buying, and selling items to people in the community,” explained Ku.
“Marketplace” will display photos of items offered for sale based on geographical proximity, and users will be able to adjust their location and search for specific items or categories of items, such as clothing, household goods, or electronics.
The new program will become available in the coming days through Facebook’s apps for iPhone and Android for users over 18 years old in the U.S., U.K., Australia, and New Zealand, with Facebook announcing plans to expand the list of countries and a desktop version in the coming months.
