How To Successfully Use Facebook Marketplace To Buy and Sell

Have you heard of Facebook marketplace? I hadn’t until quite recently, and was a bit confused about what it was – so I thought it would be good to clarify it here in case any of you are wondering the same.

If you go onto Facebook you will find a lot of selling pages already (I’m a member of quite a few!) and Facebook has picked up on this and decided to make a marketplace for their users to make the whole process easier and more appealing.

Within the Facebook app, at the bottom there is an icon named ‘Marketplace’. If you click onto that it will show you what is for sale locally to you (if your location is enabled within your settings).

Once you have clicked on this, you are in the Marketplace!

how to use Facebook marketplace to buy and sell

A massive plus with using Facebook Marketplace is that there are zero fees. If you want to sell on somewhere like eBay, you will have to pay listing fees, postage fees and Paypal fees. That is quite a lot to have to pay.

That’s why a lot of the time, I will personally sell on Facebook or Gumtree before I sell on eBay. I would much rather put it on there to sell, and pay no fees – so therefore get more profit from the sale.

How To Sell On Facebook Marketplace

If you want to sell an item, click on the box that says “What are you selling?”. It will then prompt you to upload a photo of the item that you wish to sell, and then to give it a description.

The next step is to give your item a price – I would recommend looking at what the item is currently going for second hand on sites like this, and also to try and find out how much it was originally (even if you did not buy it full price initially).

The next step after this is my favourite, because it can save you so much time. When you are finishing your post, it will ask you if you want to post it to more places – so instead of just posting it to the marketplace, you are also able to post the same thing in various selling pages that you are a member of.

This saves a lot of time, especially if you are selling many items! To find groups in your area, if you aren’t already a member, type in the search bar something like ‘buy, sell’ and it will bring up local groups.

How To Buy On Facebook Marketplace

Buying things on the marketplace is really easy as well. When you have opened up the app, there are icons across the top with various categories e.g. Musical Instruments, Tools, Jewellery etc. If you click on any of those, it will take you to the items for sale within those categories.

Additionally, if you just scroll down past the marketplace notifications that you can see, it will bring up all of the items that are for sale locally to you. I don’t advise this really because you will find a lot of things that tempt you, which could lead to you spending more money than you initially wanted!

When you click on a photo, it will take you to the description, with the price and also where the item is located. You can then message the seller or make an offer on their item.

The messages go through on Facebook messenger, which is a handy way of communicating with seller or buyer as you can both reply instantly if you are able to, which can speed the whole process up.

how to use facebook marketplace

Tips To Sell Successfully on Facebook Marketplace

Clean your items as best as you can
Whether that just be a wipe over or if they need to have a wash in the machine. Not only does it look better for selling, but you will have a happy customer when they collect.

See if it would be worth bundling anything together.
Would the kettle and toaster sell better together than separately? Would the book and cuddly toy sell better together?

Take as many clear photos as you can.
Natural light is best, but if you cannot do outside try and do near a window so that the light comes through.

If not, put the light on and see if that’s any good – if you have a smart phone you can always download a free app to make the photo brighter if needed (but if it changes the colour of the item, make sure you mention this in your listing).

Give a detailed description
Make sure that you list any problems with it e.g. scratch, bits broken off. It is much better to be honest when selling something. When you write the title, or in the description, I always put in the RRP.

Us humans are much more likely to buy something if we think that it is a bargain, and we can see the clear difference in price between buying it brand new or second hand.

You may also want to put your location in the description too – not your street name – but your area and maybe what you are near to (e.g. near the shops, near the police station etc).

In my experience, even when it has the location on there, people still ask – so I would put it in the description to save them asking the question.

Price it appropriately.
When I am selling something, I will always do a Google search to see how much it could be bought for originally.

I can never usually remember that far back to what I bought it for, so it’s handy to have a quick look – or you could look for your receipt.

Look at how much your item is currently selling for on Facebook, or on other selling sites such as Gumtree or eBay. This will help you price it accordingly.

Sometimes with pricing, it may be a good idea to leave in some haggling room. It is likely that people will try and get it for less from you – and can you blame them?

It doesn’t have to be much as you don’t want to put people off in the first place with a high price – maybe an extra £5 depending on what it is that you’re selling.

When a buyer contacts you, ask them when they would like to collect.

I personally won’t hold any items for people as you will find that they will more than likely mess you around. I’ve had many people let me down when they have said that they are going to collect something and I never hear from them again.

When you have arranged a time for them to collect, give them your address and I personally give my mobile number in case they cannot find it. Do what you are comfortable with though.

Something I would recommend as well is asking them if they can bring the collect change with them as I do not have any on me. This saves you from having to change up a £20 for a £5 item, and also lets them know that you don’t carry cash on you (I get a bit paranoid about this kind of thing, but it will make it easier for you).

I would also suggest that you do not post anything. This can result in scams – my brother got scammed on here with a fake Paypal email that looked legit.

Even if they do pay you on Paypal genuinely, they can also retract it – so I would suggest to deal with face-to-face and cash only.

Keep safe – don’t list your address on your item, but wait until the buyer is going to collect it.
I work from home so I’m always here, but if you only suggest evening times to collect, then they may realise that the house is empty during the day and this makes your house vulnerable (sadly, there are these kinds of people out there who do this).

Tips To Buy Successfully on Facebook Marketplace

Again, I would personally recommend only having a browse when there is something specific that you would like to buy, as it is incredibly tempting to scroll through and see loads of great items for sale.

I just had a look now and there are so many things that I could be tempted to buy if I didn’t have a highly trained frugal muscle! (It uses clever algorithms to show you what you would be interested in, hence why you will want to buy everything).

When you have spotted something that you wish to buy, contact the seller. Ask them if it is still available (as some people take a while to delete after something has been sold) and also let them know when you can collect it. This saves some to-ing and fro-ing with messages.

If you are planning on haggling, now is the time to do it. Don’t wait until you turn up on their doorstep to hit them with an offer – ask in the initial contact message if they are willing to sell it to you for less. Be polite, and be prepared to be told no.

NEVER EVER send them money. You need to pay in cash, when you collect the item. If they want money to secure the item, or to send to you, this is a scam. Do not do this.

I’ve never had a problem with this, but for both buying and selling, you may want to meet up at a public location to exchange item and money. I usually have people come to my house to pick up – although if I go to collect an item I always take someone with me.

Have a look at the various categories that are available – there are so many things for sale on there, including houses, cars, white goods, toys, jewellery and more – you can find a lot of stuff on there, and it can save you a lot of money. It won’t all be second hand either, as many people sell things that are brand new that they didn’t need or want.

Have you ever used Facebook Marketplace?

facebook marketplace

Ways To Make Extra Money Now:

  1. Start a blog with Siteground! This can start off as a fun side hustle, and have the potential to turn into a huge full time income (which is still fun!). Yes, you CAN make money blogging, and it’s the best thing that I ever did. To get started, read my post How To Start a Blog.
  2. Answer simple questions on survey sites! This is a really easy money earner and I love it because I do it when I don’t need to really think too much e.g. Netflix on in the background. Sign up to the best survey sites over here.
  3. Matched Betting – you don’t need to be good at maths, it’s not gambling, it’s tax-free, it can be done at any time of day and earn you thousands extra per month. All explained here and you can sign up to my favourite site that will guide you through the steps.
  4. Mystery Shopping – I always thought these were a scam or a pain to do, until I got started! Since then, the free food and other items (e.g. clothes for me and my daughter) have convinced me otherwise! My favourite legit sites are rounded up for you here.