University of Oregon student Dylan Bourne acquired a high-end couch for free on Facebook Marketplace on Aug. 30. The peer-to-peer marketplace has grown increasingly popular for its bargain finds, but it is also becoming a hotbed for crime.
Bourne said he was surprised to see such a nice couch being listed for free — he estimated the couch used to be worth between $1,200 and $1,600 and is now 20 years old with minimal damage — but, after communicating with the seller, he determined the offer to be legit.
“We probably shared eight messages together. She just gave me her address, and I drove half an hour to pick it up,” Bourne said. “Very nice home. She was an older lady.”
When Bourne and his girlfriend’s father arrived at the house, the woman met them outside, let them in and told them about the couch. Then they loaded it into their pickup and drove off.
Despite the exchange going through with no hiccups, Bourne couldn’t help but be shocked by how trusting the woman was. After all, what if the two men had been armed robbers?
Marketplace has exploded in popularity since its launch in 2016. It now has over one billion users. The biggest difference between the Marketplace and Craiglist is that Facebook lets the buyer see the seller’s profile and any mutual friends. On Craigslist, a buyer would be fortunate to get the seller’s full name or email.
“After I saw my dad use [Craigslist], I knew I did not want to use it. The interface is super old. The people seem creepy on it,” Bourne said. “Facebook Marketplace seems contemporary and urban, and the people on [it] feel safe. Like, I know that there’s real people on there that are, you know, not scary.”
Even though the Facebook social interface creates a feeling of safety, credit reporting company Experian advises taking the same precautions that one would take on Craigslist or other online marketplaces. It recommends meeting in public places when possible, using payment services like PayPal that have fraud protection, never paying in advance and never going to an exchange alone.
According to ProPublica, peer-to-peer marketplaces can also create an environment that accommodates crime. As Craigslist has declined in popularity, its notorious criminal activity has also lowered. Unfortunately, many of these criminals and scammers are now switching over to Marketplace. Since the start of the pandemic, 13 homicides and numerous armed robberies have originated from Marketplace.
Some red flags for fraud and criminal activity include profiles selling the same item in different locations, items with suspiciously low prices and items with no available pictures.
While Bourne got lucky. Chris Hauk, a consumer privacy expert at Pixel Privacy, wants users to remember the saying: “If something seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
On Oct. 3, Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee, came forward, accusing Facebook of prioritizing profits over the well-being of its users. She also said Facebook knew about the harms its products were causing — especially to young people — and hid that research from the public.
None of this came as a surprise to Bourne, who only uses Facebook for Marketplace and never as a social platform. He doesn’t use Instagram or Twitter either and said he is keenly aware of the negative effects social media has. Bourne knows Facebook runs Marketplace, but said he sees Marketplace as its own entity separate from the rest of the company.
