Facebook is now competing more with the Ebay trading platform in Germany. The largest social network in the world is launching its Marketplace service in Germany and in 16 other countries in Europe. This platform allows Facebook users to list things for sale and search for items that interest them.
The offers are currently only visible within the national borders. However, most users searched in their area anyway, said Facebook manager Deborah Liu.
While money for the items can be transferred in the United States via the payment service of Facebook’s short message service Messenger, Facebook does not offer its own payment methods for the Marketplace launch in Europe. The users have to work out the details among themselves.
There is no fee for the shops. Facebook did a test with ads in Marketplace in the United States. However, there are currently no plans to introduce advertising, Liu said.
Facebook does not provide any information on how many deals have been made via Marketplace so far. However, it was said that 18 million articles were posted on the platform in May alone. According to Facebook, more than 550 million people around the world are active in the network’s various buy and sell groups every month.