Facebook has started rolling out new ways for people to buy and sell things on the platform.
As an alternative to services like Craigslist or eBay, Facebook users sometimes turn to Facebook Groups to make purchases. Previously, however, this was mostly done informally.
Facebook added a more organized interface for transactions on Tuesday, it announced in a
Facebook users can now select a "sell" button instead of "post" when writing up a listing. Individual slots can also be filled out to specify price and product descriptions, instead of the typical single body of text you're used to when writing a Facebook post. Sellers can also mark the listing as either "avaiable" or "sold" after it has been posted.
The feature is unlikely to dethrone Craigslist, but it makes user-based commerce a bit more official on the platform. However, the feature isn't available to everyone just yet.
It has rolled out to at least a few groups, including this Rio de Janeiro-based group that helps musicians buy and sell instruments, but will continue expanding over the next few months. Ultimately, it will be available on iOS, Android and the web client.
People who run so-called For Sale Groups on Facebook can nominate their group to get the new feature here.
Facebook plans to continue expanding user-to-user sales on the website.