Over the summer, Instagram took a page from Snapchat's playbook when it launched Instagram Stories. Now, Instagram's parent company, Facebook, is taking a cue from another powerhouse: Craigslist. Today, Facebook is launching Marketplace, a new vertical on the app where you can buy from and sell to people in your specified area.
If this sounds familiar, that's because Facebook has played with the concept before. In 2007, the desktop version of the social network introduced a classifieds marketplace where you could list items. But this is the first time that something like it will be available on the app.
In a blog post about the new feature, Facebook explains that Marketplace is a natural step, given that people are already using the app for similar purposes. Over 450 million people are buying and selling products within Facebook Groups, so it makes sense for all of those activities to be consolidated into one area.
Marketplace will start rolling out today to people in the U.S., U.K., Australia, and New Zealand. The one somewhat odd caveat is that it's only available to people over 18 years old. What about high schoolers who want to buy used textbooks for college? (At least they can still go to Craigslist.)
Click through to see what Marketplace looks like and how to use it.
Now, the Marketplace icon appears along the app's bottom toolbar, in place of the Messenger icon (which is now to the left of the search bar). The general menu will show you items for sale in your area. You can change your location and filter items by price and category (for example, furniture versus clothing).
One very noticeable, missing tool: the ability to filter from lowest price to highest (or vice versa). You can choose to see all items under $500, for example, but you might have to scroll awhile to find the results that are the lowest price and in the best condition. It's annoying but will hopefully be addressed in updates to the app.
Photo: Courtesy Facebook.
When you want to create a new posting, you just name your item, upload a picture from your camera roll, and enter a brief description. The main Marketplace page has a Sell button in the upper toolbar and a search-bar-like area ("What are you selling?") where you can create a listing — kind of redundant, but you'll never have trouble figuring out how to sell something.
Photo: Courtesy Facebook.
When you see a product you like, you can make an offer or message the seller for more information.
Photo: Courtesy Facebook.
You'll also see a map of where the item is for sale (very similar to Craigslist) and can get additional information about the seller, including any mutual friends you might have. The latter can be useful in making sure the seller isn't a sketchy scam artist or thief.
Photo: Courtesy Facebook.
When you make an offer, you can either go with what the seller has specified as the sale price or try to negotiate a lower cost. From there, you can message back and forth with the seller to determine where and when you'll pick the item up.
Facebook doesn't facilitate payment, but you can always use the peer-to-peer feature in Facebook Messenger to send money and simplify the process.
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