this post was submitted on 19 Jan 2026
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Privacy
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Marketplace can be good for local deals and I can’t fault anyone for taking advantage of that
Yeah I use it extensively for this.
If it asked me to verify and I couldn't use someone else's face it would be a tough decision.
Surprisingly, Craigslist is rather active in my area. It's still not as active as marketplace, but it makes it possible to get by without having an FB account.
It's just not really a thing here in Australia. I just checked and in my state (about 2 million people) there's a dozen ads or so across all categories.
A distant second to facebook marketplace is gumtree. I just had a look to see how popular that is and their site just seems to be down. Shits fucked really.
I use Gumtree instead of marketplace pretty regularly and I've not had an issue. In fact, I've found the quality of the interactions to be much higher, far fewer time wasters.
Yeah.
I think gumtree is better for different types of items.
My sister is a dog breeder and lists exclusively on gumtree to avoid the idiots on facebook.
The vast majority of stuff bought and sold from our household is low value toddler gear. fb marketplace is awash with that stuff and when you list something for the right price it's gone by the end of the day. It's true that there's some time wasters but you get better at kinda managing the great unwashed.
My partner doesn't care about the privacy issues and will never delete her fb account so maybe for the time being I can just use her account.
In 12 months or so we will be well past the worst of the "toddler gear" and I'll be happy to leave fb behind for good.
One of the only good uses of Gen AI.
That being said, it's best to avoid any Big Tech products altogether if at all possible, even if Marketplace is incredibly purvasive.
That's a generalisation.
We have twins, 2 years old.
With kids there's loads of "stuff" that just makes the whole ordeal a lot more livable. Being able to buy all that stuff on facebook and re-sell for the same price has saved us a heap of money. Like thousands.
It's easy to say "oh well you should use whatever alternative platform", but honestly there's just no other ready market for this stuff.
how are you guys curving their invasive dark patterns? They are dead set on forcing you into their bullshit to use marketplace.
No idea. Never been asked for any verification.
You will if they don't face any competition. I haven't either yet, but everyone will, because they are maximizing revenue.
Remember that folks are using ‘Garry's Mod’ to circumvent UK's facial recognition requirement.