Facebook Gets Into The Used Car Sales Business

Facebook announced news on Thursday (Oct. 26) that it is expanding the number of cars for sale users can view via its Marketplace, teaming up with leaders in the auto industry.

In a blog post, Deborah Liu, Facebook VP of Marketplace, said that millions of Americans use Marketplace each day to look for cars and that it has become one of its most popular categories. The expanded Marketplace offering will take place over the coming weeks to make it easier for Facebook users to browse and buy cars.

Among the new features is the ability to browse the vehicle inventories of Edmunds, Cars.com, Auction123, CDK Global and SOCIALDEALER. Searching for cars will be even easier, thanks to new features, such as filtering listings by year, make, model, mileage, vehicle type and transmission. Users will also get access to the car’s value from Kelley Blue Book and can communicate directly with a dealership via Facebook Messenger. The chat is being powered by ActivEngage, CarCode, Contact At Once!, and Gubagoo, Liu said in the blog post.

The social media giant is also testing features in other Marketplace categories, such as jobs, event tickets, retail and home rentals, the executive stated. The idea is to give people more options when looking for products and services in their community.

This isn’t the first time Facebook has partnered up in its Marketplace platform. In August, the social media company launched a new feature within the Marketplace section on its mobile app, creating a selection of eBay’s Daily Deals available to select users through the Facebook Marketplace platform. Although eBay’s Daily Deals can be shopped directly in Facebook’s app, checkout still takes place on eBay’s eCommerce website through an in-app browser.  

Launched publicly last fall, the idea behind the Facebook Marketplace section is to collect the “for sale” postings from the social network’s various “buy and sell” groups for an easier way to search and shop offerings from local sellers. Users can also list their own items for sale, as well as chat with potential buyers and sellers via Marketplace’s integration with Messenger.