When you’re trying to sell a few things you don’t need anymore, Facebook Marketplace is a great way to do that. But if you’ve never done that before, this beginner’s guide to selling on Facebook Marketplace will really help you.
My parents sold their house in North Carolina to be full-time Florida residents earlier this year, which, if I’m being honest, was a real mixed bag of emotions for me. If you’ve been around Drugstore Divas for a while, you know that my parents had a house two doors down from us where they lived part-time.
So, they sold that house and many of the items inside.
Well, I guess to be more clear, they sold the house and I sold the items inside. So, I feel like I have become the authority on selling on Facebook Marketplace.
Selling their stuff was the first time I’ve ever sold anything there, and now that I’ve sold dozens of items, I wanted to put together this beginner’s guide to selling on Facebook Marketplace. Because there is a learning curve and it took me a little while to get it to click.
What You Need To Know About Selling On Facebook Marketplace
I’m writing this guide based on my own experiences. I have no affiliation with Facebook. I also don’t represent buyers or sellers on Marketplace, so I take no responsibility on any listings or potential sales. Use this guide at your own discretion.
Figure Out What You Want To Sell
Before you can sell anything, you have to decide what you want to sell.
What don’t you need, what’s taking up space in your home but not serving a purpose, what did you buy on clearance that you just can’t find a reason to keep.
I found that furniture does really well and toys do terribly (even brand new, in package toys). So, keep in mind that what you want to sell and what people want to buy may not be the same.
Photograph The Items
Clear, in-focus, well-lit photos with a plain background do much better than blurry, cluttered photos.
People scroll through Facebook Marketplace quickly, and if you don’t have a clear and concise photo of your item, there’s a good chance people will scroll by and never click on it. That’ll result in your item sitting for a very long time.
I have a plain white desk that sits against a gray wall with no wall hanging above it that I use to photograph everything. I use my phone rather than my DSLR camera to photograph, just because it’s easier. So don’t feel like you need a professional camera to list items for sale.
A couple quick tips for your photos:
Lay items down flat and take the photo from above, making sure to keep your shadow out of it. For whatever reason, people don’t like photos with hands in them, so don’t hold the items.
If the item is still closed and in a box, prop the box up and take the photo straight-on against the wall, making sure to get the entire box in the photo. People like to make sure that the box is not ripped or dented.
Price Your Items
What you paid for the items and what you think the items are worth doesn’t matter. All that matters is what people are willing to pay.
So, quickly, look on Facebook Marketplace or eBay for similar items and see what they’re priced at. That’ll give you a good idea of a starting price. Of course, if you start too high, you can always edit your listing and lower the price.
If you’re not in a rush to get rid of your items, marking items at 40% of their original value tends to be the sweet spot.
Since I know any furniture item I list is going to sell within 48 hours, I’ll list it around 75% of the retail price if it’s like-new and barely used.
Your area may not be a hotbed for furniture, but we live somewhere where people are always moving and so furniture is huge.
If you’re not able to hang onto the item until it sells, or if it’s a seasonal item that you don’t want to hold onto for another year, price it lower (I do 20% of retail, but you have to find your sweet spot).
People love $5 items. That’s an easy price point for them to decide if they want the item or not. If you price a $5 item at $10 because you want that extra $5, you might hang on to it for longer than you expect.
List The Item On Facebook
Open Marketplace on Facebook or the new Shop app, click on selling, and upload your photos with a very detailed description. The more information you add into your description, the better chance that people will search for those keywords and find your item.
You’ll want to add the brand and model, dimensions (especially for furniture items), the condition of the item (and any damage it may have), and what’s included.
Always make sure to add pick up information to your description. Personally, I do porch pick up only because I don’t have time to be running all over two counties, since I live on the border of one, and meeting people. Porch pick up is a lot easier for other people too because then they can just come whenever it’s convenient for them.
Go through the prompts (it’ll ask if you want to hide the item from your friends and if you want to list anywhere else) and then submit your item. Facebook will review your listing to make sure you’re not selling anything prohibited or recalled, and then the item will post. (You can see Facebook’s list of prohibited items here.)
Respond To Messages
Facebook Marketplace messages appear in a separate folder under “Marketplace” in your Facebook inbox.
A lot of people will accidentally click a button that automatically sends a message to the seller that says “Hi, is this available?” The chance of those people actually following up when you reply to them is pretty slim, but it’s not zero. So, I just reply to those people and say, “Yes, the (item name) is still available.”
If people write a more detailed message, you can kind of assume that they’ve typed it themselves and they actually want to buy what you’re selling.
Check Out The Potential Buyers
When someone messages you, you’re able to see their buyer profile. So, you can click on that, and sometimes go to their Facebook page, to see where they’re from, what their buyer/seller rating is, and any comments that other Marketplace users have left about them.
I check this a lot so that I can vet the potential buyers and also set my expectations about if they’re going to buy the item or not.
We live in North Carolina, and I’ve gotten messages from people in South Carolina who want to buy my items.
When I see those messages, I don’t get that excited because I know that someone is not making that drive. They might and I’m still nice and reply to them, but I set my expectations accordingly.
Agree On The Price
When I was selling a lot of stuff at once, it was because my parents needed it out of their house because they were moving. So if anyone tried to negotiate on big ticket items, I would consider giving them a discount just to make some space.
But, if they tried to negotiate on small items, I said no. It was so easy for me to store the small things in my garage while I waited for a full price offer.
But, here’s the thing. If you’re trying to declutter your house, you might be more willing to take a lower offer.
Quick pep talk for a second: A ton of items that aren’t selling creates digital clutter. So now not only are you dealing with physical clutter in your house, you’re also dealing with digital clutter on Facebook Marketplace. And now your brain is carrying two piles of clutter. Sometimes, that’s not worth it. Sometimes it’s not worth waiting for weeks to get five more dollars.
I’ve done that before. I had an item listed for $15 and someone offered me $10 and I said no because I thought it was worth $15. I sat on that item for another six weeks. But, I didn’t mind because, in the end, I got my price, but I was questioning my decision for a little bit.
Figure Out The Payment Method
If you don’t already have a Venmo account, I suggest you make one before selling on Facebook Marketplace. It’s a relatively safe way to accept payment. (Also, side note: Venmo has a section on its website about scammers that you might want to read before getting started.)
You can go into your Venmo account and get a link to send the buyer. They’ll click that and be able to virtually send money from their Venmo account into yours. It’s super easy.
Some people will try to pay with Cash App, but I’ve heard too many horror stories about people getting scammed via Cash App that I don’t feel comfortable recommending it.
You can accept cash upon pickup, if you feel comfortable doing that, but that’s up to you.
Decide On A Pick Up Location
I mentioned this above, but just to reiterate: I only offer porch pick up for the items I list on Facebook Marketplace. I list a lot at a deep discount, which means I end up with a ton of $5 or $10 items. I’m not spending money on gas to meet someone 30 minutes away so I can hand over a $5 item.
But, that does mean that you’re giving your home address out. I wasn’t too worried about this when I was selling my parents’ stuff because I was giving out that address and they were moving anyway. But, if you don’t feel comfortable giving out your address, you should pick a well-lit neutral location to meet.
I also won’t deliver large items because I’m weak. Plus it would involve loading them into my car, figuring out how to get them to fit, and then helping someone unload them and load them into their car. I don’t have the upper body strength for that. I also don’t have a car that can do that.
Yes, you want to sell the items and declutter your home, but you also have to know your own limitations too.
Mark The Item As Pending/Sold
When an item is pending, you can mark it as pending. It won’t come up as sold, but other people who are searching on Facebook Marketplace won’t message you about it. If you leave it up, it will look like a current listing and you may get a lot of messages.
I learned this the hard way.
One of the first things I sold on Facebook Marketplace for my parents was a front patio set. Because it was one of the first things I listed, I listed it at a huge discount. Someone wanted to buy it, and I said okay, and I left it at that. I didn’t put the listing as pending because I didn’t know that was a thing.
Cue the 45 messages after that. And, because I didn’t know what to do, I started telling everyone that someone had already claimed it, but if she didn’t show up, they would be my next message. Forty five people thought they were next. Sorry to those people.
So now, anytime I have a verbal agreement from someone who sounds like they’re gonna show up, I put the item on pending. I don’t mark it as sold, though, until after it’s actually purchased and paid for. Because, marking it as sold will tell anyone who sent a message about it that it is sold, and you could lose that sale in case the first person doesn’t show up.
Tips For Selling On Facebook Marketplace
Vet the person who wants to buy your item.
When someone asks about the item, don’t immediately say yes. Look at their Facebook profile and their Facebook Marketplace profile. Check their rating.
If they have a lot of one star ratings and comments about not picking up or showing up, just tell the person the item isn’t available. You don’t want to deal with the headache.
You don’t have to sell to the first person who messages you.
If someone messages you and the vibe is off, you don’t have to sell to them. Not everyone is a bot or a scammer, but sometimes you just get a feeling. If someone is being difficult or just making you feel uncomfortable, you don’t have to sell to them. That’s it.
Just tell them sorry the item isn’t available anymore and move on. It’s better to lose a sale then go back-and-forth with someone who doesn’t make you comfortable.
If someone stops messaging you, move onto the next person.
Sometimes, people will send you a message and then completely ghost you. You can have told them that you’ll sell them the item, set a pick up time, and they disappear. It’s frustrating, but it happens.
If it does, oh well. To quote Ariana Grande, “Thank you, next.” Just move on to the next person and save yourself a headache. Because if you spend so much time waiting for someone who ghosted you and is never coming back, you could lose out on a sale from someone else. The second person could find something else and not want your item anymore.
So, give people a reasonable amount of time to reply, but if you see they read the message and didn’t write back or it’s been a couple hours and they’ve stopped messaging you, it’s okay to move on to the next person.
Have you sold anything on Facebook Marketplace? Let us know your experience in the comments.