Facebook testing online marketplaces in Sydney and Auckland

Social media giant Facebook is running “test” online marketplaces in Sydney, Australia, and Auckland, New Zealand. The test marketplaces seem to be low-key and low-maintenance affairs. Users upload their products and handle their own shipping arrangements. There is a “Buy” option, but no auctions.

Sources report that Facebook is already used for selling items on Groups, but this new marketplace should make it easier for people and brands to sell items. On the downside, the same sources point out that there is no infrastructure set up by Facebook to make sure sellers ship items on time – but then these are currently just localized test offerings.

In April, Facebook announced that the site was pulling in 1.44bn monthly active users – so if the company does go for a global roll-out of its online marketplace it will obviously have huge potential for growth.