Facebook adds a new feature for selling items in groups, it was announced by the social media giant through a press release. By doing this, Facebook will take on Craigslist, one of the most popular classified advertisements websites in the United States.
Facebook is going to capitalize on the ever-growing popularity of the trade/buy/sell groups that exist on Facebook and will add the ability to sell items and mark them as sold, once people buy them.
Facebook adds a new feature for selling items and it has been slowing rolled out since Tuesday and will most likely be a hit with Facebook users. The feature can only be added to Facebook groups and includes a method of cataloguing the items that are up for sale and those the user has previously sold. It allows the ability to mark an item as sold, which will certainly improve the process of selling and buying for Facebook users.
The groups consist of users who want to sell their items in a more intimate setting, whereas eBay or Craigslist is as public as it gets. People offer items for sale by posting details about it and a photo and as soon as a person comments of the item, they are connected offline with the item’s owner. The groups are similar to forums and are not formal; they often focus on particular neighborhoods, brands or items.
For example, one such group owner says they prefer the new Facebook feature to Craigslist, because it offers people a sense of security, because individuals need to log on with their real Facebook accounts, their real names, which spells out that there are real people and not just usernames.
With the help of this new feature, Facebook is capitalizing on the group trend that has gained massive popularity in recent months. Facebook has tried selling and shipping items in the past, even adding buy buttons to ads, but nothing caught on. This time, it is expected that the new Facebook feature of selling items in groups to be popular thanks to the community sense that groups offer people.
Image Source: Facebook
