FB expands reach with Marketplace

Google’s new phone

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 4, (Agencies): Facebook launched Monday a “Marketplace” trading platform that lets users of the vast social network buy and sell goods with each other in a mighty challenge to the likes of eBay and Craigslist. The new feature puts Facebook — with a global base of 1.7 billion users — squarely in competition with local online selling platforms led by Craigslist, and offers an alternative to marketplaces like eBay.

Facebook said the new program formalizes what some members have already been doing in Facebook Groups for years.

“Facebook is where people connect, and in recent years more people have been using Facebook to connect in another way: buying and selling with each other,” said product manager Mary Ku in a blog post. “This activity started in Facebook Groups and has grown substantially. More than 450 million people visit buy-and-sell groups each month — from families in a local neighborhood to collectors around the world.”

The new feature helps facilitate this with “a convenient destination to discover, buy and sell items with people in your community,” Ku said.

Marketplace will display photos of items for sale based on proximity, and users can adjust their location and search for specific items or categories such as clothing, household items or electronics.

Message

Buyers and sellers can message each other, make or accept bids and make arrangements to take delivery of the goods being sold.

Although Facebook is not charging users, the new selling platform could offer in the future the potential to further monetize its global user base, and keep them on the network.

The launch is Facebook’s second time around for an online marketplace after a 2007 effort that failed to gain traction.

In recent years, Facebook has been testing a “buy button” which allows its users to instantly purchase items for sale from its online partners.

In September it unveiled a new online payment system that will allow businesses to sell directly to consumers on its Messenger application.

Facebook has also been an intermediary for “virtual goods” for online games played on the social network.

The new Marketplace will be rolling out to users over 18 years old in the United States, Britain, Australia and New Zealand in the coming days on the Facebook app for iPhone and Android, with additional countries and a desktop version planned in the coming months.

Alphabet Inc’s Google is expected to unveil new smartphones at an event on Tuesday, the company’s latest effort to sell consumers on a Google-branded device and to challenge Apple Inc at the high end of the market.

Analysts predict the San Francisco product launch will also showcase other Google hardware initiatives, including a voice-controlled speaker system called Home to challenge Amazon.com Inc’s Echo device, and a virtual reality headset.

The most eagerly expected offering is a pair of smartphones released under the Pixel brand, replacing the Nexus line. While most vendors other than Apple use Google’s Android operating system, the company has for years toyed with various approaches to building its own hardware without alienating manufacturers.

Google has sold Nexus phones since 2010, but the devices have gained little traction in a market dominated by Samsung Electronics.

Analysts attribute the lackluster sales to poor distribution, as the phones typically are not available through network carriers, the channel most US consumers rely on. Google also owned the Motorola smartphone business briefly before selling it to Lenovo Group.