Facebook Charging Users To Send Messages

Facebook now charges users to send messages to people outside of their social circle, and evidently testing the price points.

We discovered this when we tried to send a message to Mountain View-based Ujena Swimwear to schedule a meeting to profile the business.  

For a user to send a message to another popular person Facebook could charge as much as $15. That fee would direct your message to their inbox. If you don't pay the fee, the message will be relegated to the "other" inbox. 

We asked a Ujena Swimwear employee, if her company instigated that fee. "No," she said. "Facebook started charging automatically." The swimwear company does not receive a portion of that revenue, she explained.

In January, Huffington Post reported that Facebook began to charge $100 to send a message to Mark Zuckerberg, in an attempt to keep down spam.

Facebook, a Menlo Park-based company, does not charge people to send messages to pages that they've liked or "friends," in all the scenarios. I wasn't charged when I sent a message to Flea Street Cafe, or to Mountain View Patch, from my personal Facebook account. 

One way to circumvent the fee is to add the person as a friend. Friend to friend messages remain free. 

Additional reporting by Claudia Cruz.

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