Facebook Opens Gifts to Entire US, Wines Added
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Peter Foley/Bloomberg via Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) — Good news for the wine lovers on Facebook. The social network is adding a collection of wines to its Gifts option. But that’s not all the news out of the company’s headquarters Tuesday. In addition to adding bottles of red and white wine to its gift collection, Facebook Gifts is now available for everyone in the U.S.
Back in September the social network launched Facebook Gifts, a service that lets virtual users give a friend a real gift — a teddy bear or cupcake or Starbucks card. The service began rolling out then but not to all of Facebook’s U.S. users. Tuesday, however, the gift-giving service will be available for everyone in the U.S.
“Starting today, Facebook Gifts is available to everyone in the U.S. Now you can instantly send real gifts, digital gift cards, charitable donations and wine to your friends right from Facebook,” Facebook said in a blog post Tuesday.
The service is expected to be a significant money maker for the company as it takes a percentage of every transaction. Facebook hasn’t revealed its profits from the service, but TechCrunch estimates that with Facebook’s 170 million users in the U.S. it could end up being a billion-dollar revenue stream for the now-public company. The service will add to Facebook’s advertising and virtual goods revenue, the site notes.
Facebook went public in May and has since been criticized by analysts for its performance. It offered the stock at $38 on May 18, but the stock quickly fell about 50 percent amid concerns about its slowing growth. It closed Monday at $27.83.
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