Carousell Might Finally Be Free From All Weird Listings As They Limit Free Listing to 30 Items from 25 August 2020

Ever tried to find something on Carousell but all you could find were old listings from two years ago and you’re not even sure if the seller will even entertain you?

I mean, that Filet O’ Fish listing that someone put up during Circuit Breaker may very well still be there, and what are the chances the burger hasn’t turned to mould at this point?

Or concert tickets to concerts that are long over but still for sale?

If you’ve experienced difficulties finding what you needed, wondering if the listing was still relevant or that the seller is actually just a big troll, there’s a new Carousell plan that just might make things easier.

Limited Listings

On 11 August, Carousell announced their new plans for sellers through a press release and via Facebook.

Sellers are now only limited to have 30 active listings advertised on the marketplace, with all other listings on their profile being marked as inactive.

Inactive listings will be hidden from other users.

By default, the 30 most recent listings by date will be the ones marked as active but sellers can choose which of their listings to include in the active quota under the “Manage quota” profile tab.

For sellers who wish to increase their active listing quota to more than 30 listings, plans under the CarouBiz (Carousell For Business) scheme are available for purchase as well.

Four different plans, including access to features such as video listings and enhanced visibility besides an increased quota, will be made available.

The prices will range from $9.98 to $99.98 a month.

To help ease sellers into transitioning to this new active quota feature, there will be a free one-month trial for CarouBiz available to users.

So if you’ve ever thought of starting a business or decluttering your room of preloved items, now’s the time to do it.

The new plan will be implemented from 25th August so if you’re a professional seller, you still have time to plan your listings before then.

For A Cleaner Marketplace

Carousell made the decision to restrict listings after receiving feedback from users.

They mostly shared that it was challenging to find and sell items on the marketplace because of the unlimited listings.

Carousell plans to shift impressions from inactive listings to newer and more relevant listings in a decluttered marketplace, Lewis Ng, the chief commercial officer of Carousell, said.

“Buyers can quickly find exactly what they need and sellers can stand out and sell faster. We are forecasting a higher rate of success, more transactions and more active users.”

Sellers Unhappy 

Of course, as with every new change brought about, there will be those happy with it and those that aren’t.

This new move might be better for buyers who can have an easier time trawling through the site but sellers find themselves facing a whole set of challenges.

Under the comments section on Carousell’s Facebook announcement of the listing policy, many sellers reacted with anger, with some saying that they would be moving to other platforms such as Facebook marketplace or Shopee to sell their items instead.

Some sellers felt that Carousell was out to make some extra cash off sellers as 30 listings is too little (for professional sellers).

Carousell also responded to sellers who were upset about the change to further explain their rationale behind the move.

Oh well, let’s see if the policy will indeed prove to be useful for user experience in the long run. Shopee, anyone?