It looks like eBay may find a competitor in Facebook which appears to be testing a feature which will let its users buy and sell goods through groups. This news doesn’t come as a total surprise since the social network was caught showing a ‘Sell Something’ option next to the ‘Write Post’ button in some groups, back in December 2014.
Facebook has been tuning up the system since then and its latest addition is an ‘All Sales Groups’ option for allowing users to see the entire list of items up for grabs in all of the groups they’re part of, in a unified view. Also new to the service is a search box for enabling people to look for goods in groups that are public.
What’s more, users can check for products they may be particularly interested in purchasing by filtering the results based on categories such as books, furniture, event tickets, video games, clothing, antiques and collections, appliances and much more. TheNextWeb reports that the search engine is not fully functional at present, though the facility is being readied for launch worldwide within the next few weeks.
When someone lists an item for sale, they can mention the price and tell potential customers whether the amount is negotiable or not. They may also include a description of the product along with photos and pick up or delivery options. A group admin is required to fill out and submit the For Sale Facebook Groups Interest Form if they wish to establish such a page. Facebook doesn’t interfere in the process at all.
So vendors won’t be paying any kind of commission to Facebook and in return, there are higher chances of users remaining on the social network for longer periods of time. There’s no eBay-like rating system yet for permitting buyers to rate sellers. But who’s to say the company won’t have added such a feature by launch time?