Meta launches Seller app to professionalise Facebook Marketplace
Coinciding with the platform’s tenth anniversary, Meta introduces dedicated storefront features for its billion-user marketplace, aiming to drive business growth and additional revenue.
Meta has released a new application called Seller for iOS and Android in the United States, designed to professionalise Facebook Marketplace for high-volume sellers. The app provides AI-powered listing creation, inventory management, a unified inbox, and performance insights. It syncs with existing Marketplace accounts, allowing users to carry over listings, messages, and selling history. The launch aims to support business growth and generate additional revenue for Meta, coinciding with the platform's tenth anniversary.
The application offers a dedicated listing creation page that uses Meta AI to fill in details such as title, description, price suggestion, and category once photos are uploaded. A bulk listing feature allows users to create multiple listings simultaneously. The app includes a home section highlighting actions requiring attention, such as items to ship, messages to reply to, and listings to reprice. Performance insights provide data on views, clicks, message threads, and sold listings.
Facebook Marketplace was originally characterised by a "community billboard vibe," but the introduction of professional seller tools aims to support business growth. The move mirrors trends seen in the decline of competitors such as eBay and Etsy. The initiative is expected to generate additional revenue for Meta. The 'Seller' app is available to users aged 18 and older in the United States.
Facebook noted that Marketplace turns ten this year and has evolved into a destination for over a billion monthly active users where 430 million items are listed each month around the world. Seller is now available to users 18 and older in the United States on iOS and Android. Facebook is also testing a web experience for anyone who downloads the app.
"This is just the start — we'll continue to evolve the app based on feedback from the seller community," the company wrote. The long-term impact on the community-oriented nature of Facebook Marketplace remains to be seen. The effectiveness of the AI-powered listing creation in improving sales outcomes is not yet quantified. The success of the web experience testing is pending further data.
