Why Are People Still Using Facebook Marketplace?

Roughly 34% of the world’s social media uses Facebook Marketplace on a day-to-day basis.

That’s 4 out of every 10 people. That’s a lot.

Here’s my problem with it:

• Unverified sales posts, completely unrelated posts sometimes

• Lower quality sellers

• Your uncle’s getting scammed for the seventh time this month

And if you think all these sound like great indicators to build an FB Marketplace competitor, hate to break it to you, but it’s going to be a difficult ride.

Here’s why Facebook Marketplace still works great, despite its various flaws:

• First-mover advantage: Marketplace came into being when very few other companies were competing in the space - eBay and Craigslist were the only ones in the market, and as of this moment, it’s still only these three with the major market share. The first-mover advantage is real.
  

• They already have the audience: With over 5 billion users, all Facebook needed to do was include a button for FB Marketplace, and they could redirect millions of users to the platform straight from day 1.
  
  Imagine going against that as a startup. It’s an uphill battle from Day 1
  

• Despite all of its flaws, it still gets the job done. There’s no immediate pressing pain.

So let’s say you’re still adamant on creating a marketplace of sorts, here’s what @shaanVP would suggest you do:

• Pick a niche, focus on building a strong marketplace for that audience

• Expand slowly and horizontally into supporting niches

• Build a full fledge marketplace for your sector

Now, go break some eggs :)