Facebook about to launch free classifieds
Facebook looks as though its about to launch free local classified service. The service will probably allow free classifieds posting to your own Facebook networks, with a small fee for posting outside your networks to the broader community.
The source of the rumour is a survey that was sent to facebook users that looked something like this:
Imagine you log onto facebook one day and find a new classifieds feature, where you can connect with other users to buy/sell goods and services in your local area. You see that it is FREE to make a post to any network you are in.
1. Knowing it’s free, would you list something to your network?
Yes
No
2. If you were making a free listing for something in your network, would you also want to list it in nearby networks?
Yes, I would.
No, I wouldn’t.
I said I wouldn’t list an item.
3. If you said you would want to list your item in nearby networks in addition to your network, would you be willing to pay to do this?
Yes, I would.
No, I wouldn’t
I wouldn’t be at all interested in listing in nearby networks.
4. How much would you be willing to pay for each additional network (knowing your own network will be free)?
50 cents
$1.00
$2.50
$5.00
I don’t think it’d be worth any money.
There is some general concern being voiced that Facebook will piss off people that have used Facebook’s API to deliver features like this, but that comes with the API territory I guess.
Pete Cashmore at Mashable has the full story and screenshots.