What is the Future of ebay? (Facebook launches new 'marketplace' for buying, selling)

[thecatspajamas]

There seems to be a lot more support for buying on Facebook than for selling. Not having tried it, out sounds a lot like setting up or shopping at a digital swap meet. Tons of individual groups, and the stuff offered varies from group to group, but no way to do a general search across all groups to find which one the item you are looking for is hiding in. I could see it being appealing for a buyer who is accustomed to spending their weekends scoring yard sales and flea markets for that overlooked or poorly-advertised treasure. And maybe finding a ready buyer for one or two pieces among like-minded collectors with very similar interests might work okay too (kind of like trading cards with your school buddies). As a higher-volume seller with inventory crossing several categories of collectibles though, I can't imagine how difficult it would be to list, much less find buyers for, the thousands of items currently in my eBay store. Frankly, it sounds like a seller's nightmare that I'll gladly pay a few percentage points on my sales to forego.

Do I wish eBay was cheaper? Sure. Less restrictive? Maybe. More like the "good old days?" Of course. But I appreciate it for what it is: a selling platform with a large number of efficiencies and tools available to help sellers offer their wares, and help buyers sift through it to find what they're looking for. While it may be possible to buy and sell on Facebook, that is not the function it was designed around, and I do not see it in any way replacing eBay in general or for me personally for that function.