Facebook Hires Oodle to Run Classifieds – Do People Want to Sell to Their Friends?

December 3rd, 2008

By Justin Smith

Facebook announced today that it will hand over the reigns on its Marketplace application to Oodle after a year in which listings in Facebook’s Marketplace dwindled to nearly 10 per day even in very popular markets like San Francisco.

Unlike other applications developed in house by Facebook like Photos or Events, Marketplace never gained widespread adoption. While Facebook Photos and Facebook Events are more tightly integrated with users’ friends, Facebook Marketplace has primarily been organized around Networks instead of being more deeply integrated with the social graph. What might change?

“In many cases, finding good homes for items we are no longer using is more important than selling them at the highest price,” Oodle CEO Craig Donato said in a statement. “For example, when I have extra tickets to a concert, I’d prefer to give them to a friend or sell them at face-value to someone I work with. We’re focused on making this simple to do with Marketplace.”

However, whether selling to friends on Facebook can become a large market still remains to be seen. Despite a year and a half of an open Facebook Platform, few classifieds applications have gained significant traction. It will be interesting to see what kind of progress Oodle can make by combining its expertise with the benefits of working directly with Facebook to create Marketplace 2.0.

Facebook says the new version “will be integrated into the site similar to other third-party applications.” It is scheduled for release in Q1 of 2009.

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8 Responses to “Facebook Hires Oodle to Run Classifieds – Do People Want to Sell to Their Friends?”

Oodle Nabs Facebook’s Marketplace; Becomes King of Social Classifieds Says:
December 3rd, 2008 at 2:10 am
[...] at Facebook realized they’re not that good at this marketplace business, so they decided to let Oodle handle it. The new Marketplace will be integrated into the site pretty much like other third-party [...]
Oodle Nabs Facebook’s Marketplace; Becomes King of Social Classifieds | Whoehoe Says:
December 3rd, 2008 at 4:13 am
[...] folks at Facebook realized they’re not that good at this marketplace business, so they decided to let Oodle handle it. The new Marketplace will be integrated into the site pretty much like other third-party [...]
Oodle se encarga de Facebook Marketplace, convirtiéndose así en el rey de los anuncios clasificados sociales | Mashable Says:
December 3rd, 2008 at 8:26 am
[...] dio cuenta de que no son tan buenos en este asunto de los mercados, por lo que decidieron dejar que Oodle se encargue de ello. El nuevo Marketplace estará dentro del sitio de manera similar a otras aplicaciones de terceras [...]
Facebook: Bientôt une nouvelle “Marketplace” Says:
December 4th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
[...] le service). Mainteant que Facebook a réaisé cela, l’entreprise a décidé de sous traiter la gestion de sa place de marché à Oodle, cette dernière cela intégré comme les applications tierces et sera lancée au premier [...]
Oodle Nabs Facebook’s Marketplace; Becomes King of Social Classifieds | Link Archive Says:
December 5th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
[...] have realized they’re not that good at this marketplace business, so they’ve decided to let Oodle handle it. The new Marketplace will be integrated into the site pretty much like other third-party [...]
Joe Dawson Says:
December 8th, 2008 at 2:13 am
My partner uses the Facebook marketplace, I personally feel that it needs more exposure. Possibly incorporate into the Home feeds, curiosity alone would drive interest and then potentially they could have a rival to eBay!
Developer Note: Facebook Deprecating Marketplace APIs in March Says:
February 1st, 2009 at 8:34 pm
[...] in December, Facebook announced that it has partnered with classifieds service Oodle to power a new version of the Marketplace application. Unlike other applications developed in house by Facebook – like Photos or Events – Marketplace [...]
Oodle Launches Facebook Marketplace 2.0, Aiming to Make Classifieds More Social Says:
March 3rd, 2009 at 1:00 am
[...] months after Facebook announced it had hired Oodle to run its classifieds business, Marketplace “2.0″ is launching on Facebook [...]