Facebook Takes On Craigslist With New ‘Sell’ Feature For Groups

Maybe today is the day to finally snap some photos of that old sofa and get it listed online. Facebook announced some new tools applicable to “For Sale” groups today that will spiff up your listings. The move takes Facebook’s For Sale groups out of the bush leagues and pits them against the likes of Craigslist. 

The changes aren’t dramatic, which is probably a good thing. Much of Craigslist’s appeal is its simplicity and Facebook seems to feel similarly about its For Sale groups. Where once you wrote your listing in a typical post, you can now create a Sell post that lets you specify pickup or delivery locations and the sell price. Of course, there’s still a spot for you add a description of the item. The new structure makes for consistent layouts among listings and should appeal to buyers as they browse for items.

Facebook also added a Mark as Sold button, which makes it easy to remove a listing. And you view a list of your sold items at any time, which could save you some digging. There are more features to come, Facebook says. Upcoming tools will be geared towards For Sale group search functionality and helping group users connect.


If you run a For Sale group, you can nominate your group to be among the first to receive the new tools, which will be rolling out to mobile platforms and the Web soon.