Facebook is rolling out new features that bring more order to Facebook groups where people commonly buy and sell items.
Members of “for sale” groups — which can be frequented or even overseen by real estate agents — can now choose a “sell” feature that lets users add a description of an item, include a price, and set a pickup or delivery location. The new features also let sellers mark items as available or sold and see a catalogue of items previously sold.
People posting things for sale in most “for sale” groups today have to jam all information on a listing into a description and manually comment beneath a post to indicate when an item has sold. The latest features appear designed to remove some of this difficulty.
Many real estate agents are active participants in Facebook groups, which they can use to establish themselves as neighborhood experts, get the scoop on unlisted housing inventory or market their own listings among other things. Facebook has also proved to be a useful tool for marketing “pocket listings” outside of multiple listing services.
Promotional image of new “for sale” group features.
Real estate agents who monitor “for sale” groups can use them to discover potential leads, such as members who are offloading lots of furniture or appliances.
Facebook is gradually introducing the new “for sale” group features, so they currently aren’t available in most “for sale” groups. Facebook group administrators can sign up for early integration of the features here.
Facebook said it plans to introduce new features that will continue to make it easier for people in “for sale” groups to connect, browse and search.
