Facebook Is Officially Testing a Craigslist-Like Buying and Selling FeatureThe rumors are true. The social-media giant is indeed toying with ways for people to buy and sell items on its iOS app.

Thanks to an outpouring of userscreenshots, the secret is out. At long last, Facebook is officially taking on Craigslist and eBay with its own buying and selling feature called "Local Market."

The social-media giant confirmed today that it is indeed running trials of the functionality. "We are in the very early stages of testing new ways for more people to easily discover, buy, and sell items with other people on Facebook," a spokesperson for the Menlo Park, Calif.-based company told狗万官方moments ago.

The statement confirms what several Facebook users in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia, as well as in Auckland, New Zealand, reported fleetingly glimpsing in their Facebook iPhone apps over the last couple of days, some as early as Oct. 5. Sorry, Stateside shoppers, it is not yet known when the inaugural feature will expand beyond those specific locales.

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For some, the new functionality appeared as a blue button (that looks like an awning-covered store window) in the middle of the bottom of the main Facebook iOS app screen. Meanwhile, others spied broader views of the feature in the app, which appears to offer a smorgasbord of basic, searchable shopping categories. Among them are everything from antiques to clothing, electronics to gardening and beyond.

至于我们知道迄今为止的当地市场吧ks, Facebook does not directly facilitate transactions. They occur between individual users. To initiate and complete a sale, prospective buyers comment on a post or message a seller. The particulars of how payment transactions take place are not yet clear.

Earlier thismonth, Facebook hinted that this long-awaited pivot was coming, noting that its users are warming up to more product-related content across several channels within its robust platform -- in groups, company Pages, news feeds, search results and sponsored content offerings. Also, lastFebruary, with an eye on boosting product discovery, the social mammoth announced new marketing tools for sellers, along with enhanced search and browsing capabilities for buyers.

Related:Facebook试图让移动用户商店Directly Through Its App

There's no word yet of the new initiative on Facebook'snewsroomwebsite, nor has founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg made a peep about it on hiswall.

For a look at user reactions to the fresh shopping feature -- and at early images of the functionality itself -- check out the tweet roundup below:

What's Local Market,@facebook?pic.twitter.com/CQatoPQTHX

— Pizza (@Clairzilla)October 27, 2015

So Facebook just released this new "Local Market" buy & sell function.pic.twitter.com/VFWvUrSe9K

— simon tracey (@zagundo)October 6, 2015

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@facebookI highly dislike your 'local market' tab which replaces messenger on the iPhone app - it's really inconvenient.

— Sarah Wu (@seeraawu)October 27, 2015

I heard there are some changes being tested to the Facebook UI, and then saw this Local Market on the app. New?pic.twitter.com/lLcCPOjdR8

— Simone McCallum (@simonemccallum)October 13, 2015

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