Facebook is testing a new 'Local Market' feature on iOS, according to Tech Crunch.

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Local Market is a new Facebook feature that is built to promote items people want to put for sale in local groups. It has been described as a structured marketplace aiming at buyers and sellers. Facebook users can browse through or post items to sell from various product categories such as appliances, clothing, furniture, household, books, and autos.

The Local Market categories are almost the same as Craiglist's. Browsing for items such as cars, antiques, clothing, furniture, electronics, and books can now be done on Facebook. Not only that, but also users can customize and filter items into different collections to easily find the stuff they are searching for.

In the new Local Market, an option to cross-post items for sale in a Facebook Group is seen. On sale groups have increased in popularity over this year. A lot of locally organized groups are doing ongoing virtual garage sales. Creating a dedicated marketplace for those who are looking to buy and sell in their neighborhood is Facebook's idea.

A market button is similar to the Messenger button in the app's bottom navigation bar and is used to categorize the location for buying and selling items. Keywords can be used to search for particular items. Categorized items that are available for sale have photos and prices. A dedicated tab on mobile as well as a bookmark under Favorites on the desktop will be available soon to let users see all the items posted for sale in their area.

Facebook seems to have been testing the new feature a weeks ago as seen on posts in Twitter. The Local Market test is only live in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia, as well as in Auckland, New Zealand. It has plenty features tested such as saved searches, recommendations, and notifications. No date yet has been announced when this new featrue will reach more users or be launched formally.

TagsLocal market, Craiglist, iOS app, Facebook Groups, buy and sell