Facebook has launched a new feature putting it in direct competition with online sellers such as eBay, Craigslist and Gumtree, reports the BBC.
Facebook Marketplace, which allows users to buy and sell items locally, will go head-to-head with eBay, whose shares fell two per cent after Mark Zuckerberg's firm announced the launch.
The feature will debut in the US, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Facebook will not be involved in the payment process and will not charge for putting items up for sale, at least not at this stage.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Latest Videos FromThe Week
Users can already buy and sell through various Facebook groups, which are visited by more than 450 million people each month.
"In recent years, more people have been using Facebook to connect in another way: buying and selling with each other," said Mary Ku, director of product management.
Although the move is seen as a modest one, The Guardian says Facebook could be trying to use its "gargantuan audience of 1.71 billion monthly users to upend the local sales market completely".
However, adds the paper, it is "notoriously hard" to assess the scale of this "established and already-crowded marketplace".
This is Facebook's second attempt at an online marketplace – its 2007 effort failed to take off.
Shares in the company rose 0.1 per cent to $128.39 in New York yesterday.
