Facebook online flea market launches in Switzerland
New competition for Internet retailers Ebay and Ricardo: Facebook is bringing its Marketplace sales platform to Europe and Switzerland.
The online flea market is launching in 17 European countries this week. Deborah Liu, vice president of Facebook Marketplace, said in a phone interview Monday. Switzerland is among the new markets. The platform has already been running in the U.S., the U.K., Mexico and four other countries for just under a year.
On Marketplace, users can offer or buy primarily used items with their Facebook profiles. In the process, offers in the user's vicinity are displayed. The flea market costs nothing - neither the seller nor the buyer. Facebook earns through intermediary advertisements.
According to Facebook, more than 18 million products were offered for sale on the platform in the USA in May 2017 alone. The company wants to secure a firm place in the hotly contested industry and is therefore investing a lot of money in its online platform. Unlike larger rivals such as Amazon, which focus on mass-produced goods, the company presents itself more as a virtual flea market where collectors' and individual items are sold. (SDA)
