When Facebook Meets Online Shopping – Cal Students Find Bargain Deals

Exactly 40 years ago here in Berkeley, California, Community Memory was established as the first ever computerized public bulletin board. Creators Efrem Lipkin, Mark Szpakowski, and Lee Felsenstein wanted Community Memory to be a resource-sharing medium that would inevitably strengthen the Berkeley community. Community members used this medium to share information about anything from art and literature to social chatter.

Although Community Memory eventually fell apart with the advent of the World Wide Web, the ideas of the group of friends who conceived Community Memory still persist here in Berkeley.   

With over 10,000 members and a hundred new posts everyday, the Berkeley “Free & For Sale” Facebook group has become an addictive virtual marketplace for Cal students, while bringing the community closer together.  

Created just over a year ago, this Facebook group offers UC Berkeley students an online destination to buy, sell, trade, and give away items ranging from pencils to cars. For UC Berkeley students, joining the group is as easy as providing your school email. Items are sold rapidly and often competitively through bidding.

So why is this site so popular among Cal students? What sets it apart from the numerous other online buy/sell/trade websites like Craigslist and Ebay? It’s exclusive. The group only grants membership to UC Berkeley students.  

For Jody Sheu, a fourth-year Cal student and frequent “Free & For Sale” user, knowing that someone with a berkeley.edu email address is on the other end of a potential transaction provides a layer of security she can’t find on a site like Craigslist. It’s also a great place to find a bargain, “if someone is moving back to their home country… or at the end of the [school] year.”

Not only does this Facebook group adhere to the slogan “reduce, reuse, recycle,” it fosters a sense of community. Although it is a virtual marketplace where the sales and bidding take place online, the actual transactions are done in person, thereby connecting two people on an interpersonal level.

Sheu says, “it encourages Berkeley students to be able to go to each other for things they need.” Often times you will see students asking for help moving their furniture, followed by a prompt response from a fellow student.

Although the site could be more organized if the items were ordered by date or by category, it is still a great way to connect Cal students through wallet-friendly sales and free giveaways.

Many fear that the Internet is making people feel disconnected from each other. But if used the right way, whether it was 40 years ago with Community Memory or now with the “Free and For Sale” group, it can sometimes bring us closer together – at least temporarily.