There was a great deal of excitement when Ebay first came onto the scene and provided a platform for mass online buying and selling. It gave people the power to release a few quick funds by selling objects that they had lying around, find an obscure item that they’d always wanted, or set up an online business and start trading properly from the comfort of their home. Of course Ebay is still a very popular website, but there are some new kids on the block in the form of social sites like MySpace, Facebook and Twitter.

One website that was quick to see the potential in allowing their users to trade items online was Facebook. Their ‘marketplace’ quickly became an active community in itself and people even started setting up shops here, in the same way as you might do on Ebay. Being able to advertise online is nothing new however and sites like Gumtree and Craig’s List have done very well through allowing people to do this, but they find themselves struggling to compete against the newer socially-led networking sites. They allow buyers and sellers to interact with each other in many more ways, including being able to trade photos easily, see friend’s recommendations or even ask online experts before they buy. For example, before you make that commitment to buy one of those second hand bikes you can request more pics, query your friends about it, or ask those people who are hanging out in the cycling community section if you are making the right choice, and if not, what is the right one?

Further more, with the likes of Twitter to your disposal you can flip the advertising process on its head by requesting second hand items that you are seeking. For example an extreme sports enthusiast might post on their twitter profile that they are looking for 7’6” surfboards, and because of the potential size and power of the networks here, they will likely find multiple people very quickly who have suitable surfboards for sale

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