Draper’s Pick Week #3. The Facebook Marketplace

You know that cupboard in that room that you try not to go into, in your apartment that has all of your old electronics? There’s an app for that.

Over the weekend, I started cleaning my office, and I have some of the most ridiculous un-opened things. I have a Xiaomi Phone, a pair of beats headphones, two mini drones (Toys), a beer making kit, and an old guitar.

So I have all this stuff in my back room that I hide from myself, and I took a picture of the Xiaomi phone that I will never use (it was a gift a long time ago), and an hour later someone made an offer and bought it from me. In fact I had 300 people see the item, and I had 6 bids. It went for a higher price than I intended it to go for.

It took me all of 30 seconds to post it and I suddenly I have 50 additional dollars in my pocket. This thing is awesome!

It’s like Craigslist, but it has a real identity behind the sellers and purchasers. Or as real as Facebook identities get.

There was magic in the transaction. It just worked. I’m always so impressed when things just work the way they were supposed to. I expectations were exceeded, and for that Facebook get’s to be one of the “Picks”.

Now think about this as a platform. Think about how this new platform could enable the average retail store or merchant to expand their reach beyond the people who enter their store, and allow them to sell to anyone within a given radius. I think that there is going to be a lot of focus on the Facebook Marketplace over the next 12 months. I’m excited to see how people start to use it.