Facebook's global reach remains massive, but its grip on younger users is slipping. Only 32% of U. S.
teens use the platform today, down from 71% in 2014. But one feature is still keeping users engaged: Marketplace. I only use it for the Marketplace.
It is the only reason that I log on to Facebook. I only use Facebook for Facebook Marketplace, looking for specific large items of furniture or things for my house. Um, and I go in with knowing what I want, not just casually browsing.
Since its launch in 2016, Facebook Marketplace, which is owned by Meta, has quietly become one of its biggest success stories. With 1. 1 billion users in 70 countries, it's now one of the world's largest platforms for secondhand sales, rivaling eBay and Craigslist.
Marketplace has actually been referred to as the garage sale or the flea market of the internet. And so there's a tremendous amount of consumer -to -consumer business. What makes marketplace so sticky is the cost.
Unlike eBay and Etsy, Facebook doesn't charge listing fees and sellers can arrange local pickups, avoiding shipping and transaction costs. No selling fees is a major selling point for Marketplace and introducing any kind of fee or having Meta insert itself further into the sales or the transaction process could push Marketplace sellers and buyers to other platforms. So how important is Facebook Marketplace to Meta?
And with Facebook's growth among younger users slowing, how crucial is Marketplace to its future? One study found that only 32% of U. S.
teens use Facebook, compared to 63% on TikTok and 61% on Instagram. Yet, Marketplace's billion monthly users suggest a different kind of engagement; one driven by necessity rather than social networking. When I was moving to New York, I was on it every single day browsing Facebook Marketplace.
So that was a high usage period. If I have nothing to buy or sell, I'll probably open the app less than once or twice a month. I see a lot of Gen X and even baby boomers use Facebook Marketplace and also millennials.
So affordable and budget friendly second hand shopping experience can be aligned with the Gen Z-ers, you know, eco -conscious mindset. Marketplace, which is primarily a C to C shopping destination where people go to sell or buy secondhand goods, is a big part of that strategy to attract and keep those users on its platform. For younger consumers, Marketplace aligns with both financial necessity and sustainability.
The global resale market is projected to hit $350 billion by 2027, fueled by eco- conscious and budget -savvy buyers. They can find really, you know, cheap, price affordable items through Facebook Marketplace, especially with the money constraints for younger generation. We've compiled a list of things that we bought from Facebook Marketplace when we were moving to New York, and we were able to compare the original price from the price that we bought it at, and we saved around $2,300 from this move, which was really amazing.
The appeal isn't just about saving money, it's also about trust. Unlike, let's say, Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace offers more information regarding sellers, and it's a bit more transparent in terms of who you're buying from and so on and so forth. This built in trust factor keeps users engaged, even if they rarely scroll the Facebook feed.
So I do, you know, do my my scroll of it, but not nearly as long as I do on other social media platforms. Everyone is familiar with Facebook, so there's good familiarity. And I think with familiarity, often comes trust.
One of the biggest advantages of Facebook Marketplace is how it is connected to Facebook profiles. This helps build the trust between buyers and sellers because people can see who they are dealing with. So it feels a bit more secure compared to completely anonymous platform.
For many users, local pickups are the real game -changer. Instead of waiting for delivery, buyers can inspect items in person and sellers avoid logistics hassles. There's a lot of C to C, consumer -to -consumer business, a tremendous amount of consumer -to -consumer business.
But now Facebook is expanding Marketplace's reach. In January 2025, eBay announced a partnership with Facebook Marketplace, allowing select eBay listings to appear in the U. S.
, Germany and France. Wells Fargo projects an additional $1. 6 billion in gross merchandise volume for eBay by the end of 2025.
The move not only expands Marketplace's inventory, but also potentially helps address EU regulatory concerns. Users can browse eBay listings on Marketplace, but must complete purchases on eBay's platform. A partnership between eBay and Facebook Marketplace will make it easier for eBay sellers to sell directly on Marketplace.
That will boost the number of sellers and potentially buyers on Facebook Marketplace. It could also help solve some of the trust problems that Marketplace has. If eBay is authenticating those items, or adding another type of verification or buyer protection, which most purchases on Marketplace do not have.
With this partnership, eBay get access to a much larger audience through Marketplace's huge user base and also Marketplace can offer a wider selection of a product list. So collaboration highlights a complementary relationship rather than direct competition, because each platform caters to different buyers and sellers. Facebook Marketplace doesn't charge upfront fees, but it does take a cut of sales made through shipping.
Sellers pay a 10% selling fee with a minimum charge of $0. 80 per transaction. For eBay, the deal expands its reach, helping it compete with resale platforms like Poshmark and Depop.
For Facebook, it's about scaling up Marketplace into a resale powerhouse. Marketplace doesn't charge mandatory listing fees and ads, and Marketplace can't be bought separately. They're bundled into Facebook's broader ad network.
So why does Meta keep it around? It is one of the least monetized areas of Facebook, meaning that it isn't making a lot of money there. At least not directly.
And the challenge now for Meta is to redirect Marketplace users to more monetizable services on the app, especially the main feed, where Meta generates roughly about 80% of its worldwide ad revenues. Meta's business model is built on ads, which made up more than 97% of its $164. 5 billion in revenue in 2024.
Even if Marketplace itself isn't a cash cow, it keeps people on Facebook longer, giving Meta more opportunities to serve ads and collect valuable data. According to eMarketer, the average 18 -to -24 year old spends only 11 minutes per day on the platform, compared to an hour on TikTok, but many of them still log in regularly, specifically for Marketplace. Marketplace gives Meta a way to say young people are on Facebook, but logging on to Facebook to browse, buy or sell second hand items is a very different behavior than spending time scrolling the feed, like they might do on other platforms.
This is valuable because advertisers follow engagement. When people log in to Marketplace. Meta collects valuable data, what users are searching for, what they're buying, and even their location preferences.
This information helps optimize ad targeting across all of Meta's platforms, from Facebook to Instagram. Unlike eBay or Etsy, Meta doesn't take a cut of most transactions. The financial benefit for Facebook from Marketplace is largely indirect, meaning that Marketplace helps to bring in users and engagement, which is what advertisers are looking for when they're deciding where to allocate their budgets.
Meta hasn't really provided any more specifics in terms of how it intends to further monetize Marketplace, but I imagine that a lot of it is going to continue to be about indirect rather than direct revenue. And more broadly, about how it can convert Marketplace users into more traditional Facebook users. This is why Marketplace plays such a long term role in Meta's e-commerce strategy.
While Instagram is now responsible for about 50% of Meta's U. S. ad revenue.
Facebook still needs a way to retain users, especially younger ones. I just think the concept of Facebook is a bit outdated at this point in terms of a social media platform. There's definitely opportunities to.
For example, if they shut down Instagram one day, I'm sure everyone will be going back because I think the value of Facebook is people have had it for so long, they've accumulated a lot of connections over time, so it's still valuable to see when people's birthdays are for example, I don't think anyone will delete it anytime soon. Um, but I don't know if people will be going on it super frequently either.
