Hacker News Reader

Comment by yamtaddle | Hacker News Reader

Facebook Marketplace seems to have all but killed it, here.

You have to check Facebook anyway because schools, HOAs, businesses, even local governments often treat it as their primary outlet for information, as in, stuff gets posted there first, and sometimes only there. Though IG is taking over some of that (but of course that's still Facebook)

Luckily my wife does that, so I can get away without having an account, but I'd basically have to have one otherwise. If you've already got one and already have to visit Facebook sometimes, may as well use FB marketplace....

View on HN

I don't know why anyone would want to attach their name and everything to stuff they are selling.

I personally deactivated my Facebook account, but note that this less anonymity is a benefit for buyers. It makes Craigslist a far more attractive target for scammers.

It’s more that you’re more likely to have some context as a buyer that you aren’t meeting a scammer or criminal.

Craigslist attracted drug dealers, hookers and fences for a long time. People like that figure out that it’s easier to scam a buyer than do the honest work of stealing shit to sell.

To be fair; lack of anonymity CAN increase confidence and safety in the transaction/meetup.

(I'm not saying it always does, or that it cannot be exploited, or that it won't eventually be scammed beyond usefulness, etc; but it's not always a clear negative today).

It helps buyers to know who the seller is. FB suffers from bot sellers and scams. I check the person’s profile before proceeding and it gives me a sense of confidence in my purchase/sale.

A bunch of people are making this point, and it implies that Facebook is highly reliable as an identity verification authority. I’m not saying it’s wrong, it’s interesting whether it’s right or wrong.

That said, my personal experience with Facebook has been the same. It’s trivial to spot bot/spam accounts, and I typically end up with a high degree of confidence that the identity is real.

Honestly craigslist is a lot better moderated

I think the reason people use marketplace is because they already have a facebook app on their phone. One less password to remember. The upload "just works" - never mind that the data is poorly tagged, etc.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com