Generation Z uses Facebook to save money on purchases – 03/19/2024 – Market

In December, Ellicia Chiu and Cher Su had just a few boxes when they moved into an apartment on New York’s Lower East Side.

Before moving, coming from Los Angeles, the two friends knew they would need to furnish their new apartment with small appliances, decoration and furniture.

But instead of buying new items, they knew it would be more affordable to find secondhand items on Facebook Marketplace, the social network’s buying and selling service.

“I only use Facebook for Marketplace,” said Chiu, 24, who added that she spent most of her social time on TikTok and Instagram, which is owned by Facebook’s parent company Meta.

For many 20-somethings who don’t have much disposable income, Marketplace is a place to get deals on items they normally couldn’t afford.

“As someone in their 20s, I want to have better things, but I don’t have the financial means to get there yet,” said Chiu, who added that she preferred Marketplace over other sites because its interface was easy to use, making it easier the search for offers on furniture.

Over the past decade, Facebook has been losing popularity among Gen Z as a social site, a 2022 Pew Research Center survey finds. Instead, young people are spending more social time on Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat.

“Facebook Marketplace is often called ‘the bazaar of the internet’ and is a modern equivalent to eBay and Craigslist,” said Yoo-Kyoung Seock, a professor of textiles, marketing and interiors at the University of Georgia who studies consumer behavior among Generation Z and millennials and environmental sustainability in the textile industry.

“The success of the platform is largely due to the trust that users place in it, resulting from a single login made using the Facebook social network.”

For a generation that is environmentally conscious and prefers to shop second-hand, Marketplace has become popular.

“Young people, including students and young professionals, are increasingly attracted to used goods,” said Seock. Faster inflation has also made secondhand shopping a practical choice, she added.

Launched in 2016, Marketplace has more than 1 billion monthly active users and is the second most popular online site for secondhand goods, behind eBay, according to a 2021 survey by Statista, a company that provides market data. .

Meta doesn’t talk much about Marketplace as a business, how its demographics might differ from Facebook as a whole, and whether it has any growth vision for the platform in its annual reports.

The company did not respond to questions about whether it has long-term business goals for Marketplace or whether it was aware of the platform’s popularity among Gen Z.

Some buyers say they prefer Marketplace to Craigslist, which was popular among older generations looking for used goods, because unlike Craigslist, Marketplace buyers and sellers have profiles with reviews that make them more trustworthy and communication is integrated into Facebook, making communication easy.

The Marketplace is free for shoppers to use. While sellers may encounter transaction fees, many of them avoid this by selling locally and asking buyers to bring cash when picking up their purchase. Chiu said she usually paid using Venmo, although she would take cash if the seller insisted.

Chiu and Su said their favorite Marketplace purchase was a West Elm sofa, which the seller had for less than a year. The sofa retailed for $1,200, and they bought it for $145.

Chiu said the seller had warned her that the sofa had cat scratch marks, but when she and Su went to look, they didn’t see many scratches.

Some of her other favorite Marketplace finds include a Zojirushi rice cooker (retail price: $150; purchased on Marketplace for $50), a Dyson vacuum (retail price: $470; purchased on Marketplace for $ 135) and an Ikea Norden extendable table (retail price: $350; purchased on Marketplace for $150).

In total, Chiu and Su said they spent approximately $1,400 on more than 30 items purchased from Marketplace and estimated they saved more than $3,000.

Not all of Chiu and Su’s purchases were successful: Chiu once bought a plant from a seller who discovered it had rotten roots when he tried to replant it.

Buyers have to negotiate returns with sellers on the marketplace, and the seller of Chiu’s plant later offered a refund of 50% of the price she had paid, which she accepted. Su said she bought a bookshelf which she dismantled as soon as she got home. She was unable to get a refund.

Su said he was aware of scams on Marketplace and tried to avoid them. “There are many scammers who try to ask for personal information when messaging about items – so be aware of that too!” she warned. (Meta provides users with guides on how to recognize and avoid scams.)

Sebastian Ramos, a third-year student at DePaul University in Chicago, also uses Marketplace to buy and sell items, and even once scored a free couch (estimated retail price: $1,300).

He also purchased acrylic shelves for vinyl records (estimated retail price: $45; purchased on the marketplace for $10) and sold his used Nintendo 3DS (retail price: $200; sold on the marketplace for $150 ).

Sebastian said he doesn’t use Facebook for social media, but he likes to buy secondhand items on Marketplace to save money and also because he likes shopping at thrift stores.

“You don’t have to pay more for something new when you can find something that has been used, or even lightly used, for a much cheaper price,” he said.