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Pencils For Sale!

By David Topping

facebookmarketplace.jpg
Facebook just added a new feature called Marketplace. Functioning a lot like Craigslist with more accountability, Marketplace lets you buy and sell, but also lets you see who, exactly, is doing the buying and selling (clicking a name takes you to their profile, if they’ve chosen to make it public, where you can all the usual things like see what friends you have in common). One of the best things about Marketplace is that it is network-specific: you can deal with only, for instance, the University of Toronto network, or your high school’s network, or that huge-ass 500,000-strong city of Toronto network…or—and this is the real killer feature—you can narrow down your search by only looking at what your friends have for sale.
Though it’s only been in existence for a few hours, Marketplace seems to be catching on fast: students at the University of Toronto are already trying to get rid of this past year’s textbooks. Great—now there’s one more reason to stay addicted to Facebook.
Thanks to Lifehacker for the heads-up. And don’t forget, there’s a Torontoist Group on Facebook.

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  • Matt Katz

    Facebook is soon going to be the only site everyone ever needs for anything. It’s kind of scary.

  • Chris

    I tried to go and read some more about Marketplace from the Facebook site itself, but I needed to login in order to see the description. I don’t have a Facebook account, so I’ll have to go from other sources.
    Quoting from
    mashable.com/2007/05/11/facebook-marketplace-2/
    (because I think they have a valid point):
    “many other sites have established themselves as solid choices for college students looking to buy, sell, and trade stuff.”
    What’s the advantage of Marketplace, especially given the fact that there are a multitude of other options already out there for people to buy/sell/trade outside of their own networks. Wouldn’t it actually be more advantageous to sell to the widest possible market? I can’t recall the last time I wanted only certain people to buy something from me.
    [/0.02]

  • David Topping

    Chris, the Facebook blog just published an entry about Marketplace that should be viewable to everyone, whether they’ve got an account on Facebook or not.
    I should say, though, that, at least in Toronto, Facebook is pretty much the “widest possible market.” While you’re right on one count — why would I necessarily care if I sold a TV to someone who attends U of T or not? — I’d much rather buy from or sell to a friend or acquaintance or whatever you call the people on your friends list.

  • lauralyn

    I can’t even browse items for sale or post anything unless I join a network. Just because you join a network doesn’t mean you’re local; and it certainly doesn’t confer credibility either. There are lots of people in the networks that I’m sure you shouldn’t trust with your money. You can’t buy or sell from people listed as ‘friends’.
    At least from what I can see.