Facebook has announced a new feature that allows users to buy and sell things directly on Facebook Group, which is an official acknowledgment by Facebook of a common user activity that has been going on in the social network for quite some time.
The new Sell feature, which will roll out "in the coming months" to Facebook for iOS, Android, and the web, allows users to use Facebook Groups just like they would use Craigslist or eBay. For the millions of users who already belong to the numerous For Sale groups on Facebook, which comprise the social network's most popular groups, they already post pictures of items they would like to sell. However, there are many limitations that come with simply posting pictures of the item on a group.
With the arrival of the Sell feature, Facebook hopes to eliminate such limitations. Instead of creating the standard posts, users can use the Sell feature to create listings for things they would like to sell. This will include fields for adding a description of the item, price, and delivery and pick-up information. Users can also mark an item as "Available" or "Sold" and quickly view a catalog of items they previously put up for sale.
Group admins are currently tasked with the tedious responsibility of having to remind users to include pertinent information about the items they are selling. Also, using the Sell feature instead of the regular post button will get rid of the need for interested buyers to ask for information through commenting, which annoyingly places the post at the top of the group feed even if the post was made several months ago, or sending the seller a private message, which is oftentimes fruitless since messages from people outside of one's friends list are relegated to the Other folder.
Despite the minor annoyances that come with selling on Facebook Groups, Ann Chen, an admin for a 1,000-member San Francisco-based local parenting group, says people prefer handling business transactions on Facebook over Craigslist because of the security offered by knowing the real name of the person they are transacting with.
"It's attached to your name and it feels like these are real people," Chen said. "These are people in your community. It's not just about selling things. You can ask about kids' classes or for a good handy man."
Facebook has experimented with various ways to allow users to sell on its platform, such as including a Buy button in advertisements and buying and selling physical goods in the Facebook Marketplace, but none of these methods have so far taken off.
The new Sell feature, however, capitalizes on an existing trend that is already prevalent on the social network, which means a little help from Facebook could possibly push the budding Facebook marketplace off the ground.
