Facebook launches new platform for buying and selling

Facebook has launched a new feature which enables people to buy and sell items with friends and strangers.

The new free trading platform builds on Facebook’s buy and sell groups which attract 450 million people every month.

Marketplace lets Facebook’s 1.71 billion users list or search for items in their neighbourhood, providing competition for established sites like Craiglist, Gumtree and eBay.

To search for a specific item on the new platform, people simply search at the top and filter their results by location, category and price.

The listed items will show the name and photo of the seller, general location and product description.

Facebook has designed the new platform to enable buyers and sellers to message each other, make or accept bids and arrange delivery arrangements.

Marketplace will be launching over the next few days to users aged over 18 years in Australia, New Zealand, Britain and the US.