Facebook Money Is Coming! Is It Second Life’s Linden Dollars?

secondlifeAs advertisers are increasingly interested in Facebook advertising, ad revenues are not the only source of revenue for Facebook. Facebook started testing virtual currency just a few months ago so the company could also be profiting from the sale of virtual goods. With these “virtual money credits” Facebook users could carry out transactions in certain sub networks. Websites view alternative payment methods as a way to accelerate the sales of the virtual goods that can be an important source of revenue. On Facebook there is the potential for a currency exchange market similar to the hugely popular virtual world, Second Life. Second Life users have been using their Linden Dollars for quite some time now and they seem to be working fine in that particular environment. Linden Dollar rates fluctuate based on supply and demand, but over the last few years they have remained fairly stable. For 1 Us Dollar (US$) you can get about 260 Linden Dollars (L$). While Second Life’s currency is used to purchase virtual items (obviously), Facebook’s currency could be used to purchase real-world items as well; here is a huge potential for the recently updated Facebook Marketplace as well as Facebook Auctions and similar services.

Second Life has almost 15 million registered users from over 100 countries and a fully functioning economy with more than $300 million Linden Dollars transacted annually. As they have successfully implemented the use of virtual money in their environment, you might even speculate with the possibility of using Linden Dollars successfully on Facebook. This would create the biggest online marketplace in the world that would have it’s own currency. Science fiction? I don’t think so.


New Facebook Marketplace Launched

marketplace

Facebook has launched its new, updated Marketplace.  Facebook Marketplace is a space where users can sell their unwanted stuff.  This time the Marketplace is powered by a company with a funny name, Oodle. Despite the name they are a big online classifieds company founded by former Excite and eBay executives. Since its launch in 2005, Oodle has grown rapidly and now gets over four million unique visitors each month. Oodle is privately owner and their headquarters is in San Mateo, California.

Facebook first introduced the Marketplace application in mid 2007 as a way for people to post classified listings on the site. The idea was great, but the execution was not so.  Facebook realised this and therefore late 2008, Facebook turned to Oodle for its expertise in online classifieds. Oodle has built a completely new version of the Marketplace focused on giving people a place to buy, sell or give things away to the people they know. Only time will tell wether this incarnation is better or …worse.

If you have already tried the new Facebook Marketplace, I would love to hear your comments and views. Just click the comment hotlink at the top right corner of this post.

If you want to learn how to sell your stuff on the new Facebook Marketplace effectively, please feel free to download my free Guide > > > .