Facebook Makes its ‘Marketplace’ Widely Available in Europe

The social media giant, Facebook Inc., said that it is expanding its platform called “Marketplace,” that people can use to buy and sell things, and it will be available across European markets.

Launched in the U.S. in October last year, Marketplace has since become one of the biggest rivals to e-commerce sites like Craiglist and eBay, and was introduced in six countries, including Australia, Canada, the UK, New Zealand, Chile, and Mexico.

Now, Facebook is rolling out the tab in 17 European countries, namely Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

About Marketplace Platform

Marketplace, which goes alongside Facebook’s mainstay news feed, photo video, messaging, and other services, signifies new competition for community-based e-commerce pioneers, such as Craiglist and eBay’s classified business.

In May, Facebook said that about 18 million items were posted on Marketplace in the U.S. alone and it continues to rise. About 550 million people visit formal “buy-and-sell” Facebook Groups every month, which suggests that the chance for Marketplace is significant.

Marketplace doesn’t charge any fees to buyers or sellers, and wants to make it convenient for users to trade mostly second-hand goods, with the ability to post items for sale through smartphone or computer in less than 15 seconds.

Potential buyers can select a radius for how far they want to travel to gather purchases, but most transactions are local. Marketplace limits search within national boundaries, mainly to prevent language confusion, Deborah Liu said, Vice President of Facebook Marketplace.

Facebook links buyers and sellers through Messenger chat, which also supports payments along with other tools, such as the ability to share one’s location or send a voice or video clip, increasing convenience.

To ensure user safety and avoid the sale of unlawful or unpleasant items, Facebook artificial intelligence tools scan every post that is shared in Marketplace. Facebook has concentrated on refining search and safety, and expanding product categories in the tab since its launch. The most popular items on the tab tend to be household items, clothing, furniture, and children’s products, said Liu. Marketplace recently added standalone categories, such as tickets and jobs, meant to help small businesses find employees.

“We want to make it easier to buy and sell, but we also want to make it community based,” Liu said. “We want to connect people who might otherwise not meet. That’s what we invest a lot in – how do we drive more connections between people.”

Marketplace Financial Impact

Facebook’s Marketplace has yet to build any significant financial impact. The company posted a 45% increase in revenue to $9.3 billion in the past quarter, nearly 98% of which came from advertising on its free services.

Meanwhile, eBay, which operates in more than 30 countries, recorded 171 million users, who completed at least one transaction in the past quarter. On one hand, Craigslist had about 55 million visitors in February and generated more than $690 million in revenue, according to a forecast by a research firm.

Conclusion

“People come to Marketplace to find all sorts of things – it might be tickets or it might be jobs,” said Liu, adding that Facebook plans to continue adding categories and refining product suggestions over time. “There is a lot of activity.”

The inspiration for Marketplace stemmed from a noticeably significant number of people, who naturally using Facebook to buy and sell products in Groups, based on the their geography or interests, said Facebook.

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