Carousell announced the upcoming implementation of a new feature that limits sellers on its platform to 30 active listings, but this has been met with backlash from some of its users.
In a press release on Aug. 11, Carousell outlined the details of the new plan.
Users with more than 30 listings will have their inventory of listings divided into two categories:
- Active listings that are displayed on the marketplace.
- Inactive listings that are hidden from other users.
Users can change the selection of their Active listings, otherwise it will be the the 30 most recent listings by default.
If they so wish, users can purchase additional listing allowances under Carousell for Business subscription plans.
There are four plans available, from S$9.98 a month to S$99.98 a month for more listings, video listings, and other features.
Steps taken to "de-clutter marketplace"
According to Carousell, this step was taken after receiving feedback from 4,550 users, 70 per cent of whom said that it has become more difficult to buy and sell on the platform due to unlimited listings.
Lewis Ng, chief commercial officer of Carousell, said: "With a decluttered marketplace, we can shift impressions from inactive listings to newer and more relevant listings."
"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."
This will be implemented on Aug. 25, and users can get a free month-long trial of a Carousell for Business plan.
However, this decision appears to have been met with some criticism by users.
Carousell's Facebook post announcing the move attracted a number of comments about how 30 listings is too low for their purposes.
Screen shot from Carousell's Facebook page.
Screen shot from Carousell's Facebook page.
However, Carousell did reply to some of the irate commenters:
Screen shot from Carousell's Facebook page.
Screen shot from Carousell's Facebook page.
You can see the post below: