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Facebook marketplace is essentially the online equivalent of a car boot or yard sale: you can buy, sell, and haggle, for virtually anything. Well, anything legal.
It’s a mystery as to what you’ll find on Facebook Marketplace. You can stumble across hidden gems or – more often than not – you’ll find mind-boggling garbage that people are trying to flog.
As a social media platform, Facebook already plays a huge role in society. However, while the brand once sat firmly in one camp only (digital social interaction), they are quickly becoming one of the most popular sites to buy and sell your goods.
Meet Facebook Marketplace. It’s like eBay, but without the self-respect or dignity that most eBay sellers pride themselves on.
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Facebook have certainly capitalised on their 2 billion+ users, and made a quick and easy platform that removes the middle man. That’s 2 billion+ ways to incorparate spelling mistakes into a listing.
Q: The great thing about Facebook Marketplace?
A: It gives you great flexibility and freedom with what and how you choose to sell items.
However, this often leads to people listing their items incorrectly. As such, they aren’t getting the traffic or attention that they would want for their item.
Benefits To Facebook Marketplace
Facebook Marketplace’s main selling point is its convenience.
It is designed to be quick and easy for you to search for items within your area, aimed at getting that quick purchase/sale.
It’s perfect for selling low cost items that are in popular demand – such as electronics, children’s toys, and clothes.
It has an unparalleled customer reach and is designed to sell items fast within close proximity. Never before has it been so easy to spend/make money without leaving your home.
Unlike other ‘buy-and-sell’ sites, Facebook takes no fees for the sales. This is naturally a huge benefit for the seller. It’s why some people use Facebook Marketplace to sell or rent their house (we are not kidding). Because screw estate agents.
How To Sell An Item On Facebook Marketplace
Don’t yet know how to sell on Facebook Marketplace? Never fear! Let’s take a look.
Here is a quick guide on how to list your item from money saving expert Martin Lewis (he also gives a number of helpful tips on how to sell on Facebook Marketplace):
- Click the Marketplace icon, then tap the ‘Create new listing’ button. Select the type of item, then take a photo of your item (you can select more than one from your gallery), and click the ‘Add Photos’ option to upload them.
- Enter an item title, description and price. As when selling via a group, include all relevant details to attract interest. Then set an asking price.
- Select a category of item. Buyers can also filter listings by these.
- Confirm your location. (This is how buyers browse items on Facebook Marketplace.) Don’t worry, it won’t reveal your exact address, only a rough location.
Facebook also shows you how to list an item correctly on their site. Armed with the information presented, you’ll be selling like a Pro in no time!
Yet, there are a few things to avoid when getting to grips with Facebook’s pound-shop eBay. And we’ll now guide you through that, too.
Mistakes Used On Facebook Marketplace
Selling any items online can be complicated. From uploading poor images, to breaking rules on what you should and shouldn’t sell; people commonly make mistakes whilst using Facebook Marketplace.
Selling Items Against Facebook Guidelines
Facebook, like most places, has their rules and regulations that you need to follow. That shouldn’t really come as a shock. And neither should the list of banned items.
You can’t sell tobacco products, alcohol, drugs, sex toys, pirated software, and weapons (shock), are all a no-go for Facebook Marketplace.
Frankly, if you’re looking for that sort of thing, you shouldn’t be looking for it on facebook anyway. That’s what Craigslist is for (*looks shiftily right to left*).
If you’re under any doubt on what you should or shouldn’t sell, you can always check Facebook’s guidelines.
Not Pricing Things Correctly
This is a huge one for Facebook Marketplace.
People will either undersell, or oversell, their product purely because they’ve done no background research into how much the item is worth.
You need to expect a bit of bartering from the customers, but make sure you search for similar items and see how much they are listed for.
Have a look on Ebay, Amazon, and at similar Facebook Marketplace listings, to compare prices.
Poor Descriptions
Descriptions on your listing are key, leaving out information, or only having a sentence, describing it could be a reason why your item isn’t selling.
Give a detailed description of what the product is and what the condition the product is in.
Check your description for spelling and grammar, this can be a huge turn off for potential buyers.
Make sure your title is exactly what the item is. Don’t make it waffly, it needs to be to the point!
Poor Quality Photos
The difference between a good quality photo and a bad photo can make or break your sale.
It’s a waste of everyone’s time if you don’t spend the effort to put up a half decent photo of your item.
People will just scroll past if you don’t have good images.
All you need to do is to take non blurry photos of multiple angles of the product, and make sure the item is on its own. Limit those background distractions!
Not Updating Your Listing
Selling can take time on Facebook Marketplace as people are looking for bargains.
If your item has been listed for a while, be prepared to reduce the price and update the listing.
Similarly, if the product has been sold, let potential buyers know that it is no longer available. This will improve your credibility for future sales.
Checking Messages
Facebook Marketplace is used for its ease and ability to buy and sell quickly through Facebook Messenger.
Due to some accounts having greater security and privacy settings, you may not be able to see all messages in your inbox.
Check your message requests daily if you are listing an item, you may find potential buyers have sent you a message.
In your exchanges with buyers, make sure you are always polite and let them know if the item is no longer available.
Not Using Product Tags
Product tags are key to help place your item into the correct category.
Many people ignore the tags, but they are there to help you and can be key to put your product at the top of the search results.
Use as many tags as you can for an item, but make sure it is relevant to the product.
Selling Rare And Expensive Items
Facebook Marketplace is designed for its convenience, this makes it easy to sell popular items at a low fee.
Unlike most sites, Facebook don’t take any commission for selling an item which could make it tempting to sell expensive and rarer items.
People generally don’t search Facebook Marketplace for rare items, they typically want to search for general household items.
This isn’t to say you can’t do it, and won’t sell these items, but it is harder to do so.
Due to the payment not going through Facebook, you need to find a trustworthy buyer with more expensive items. Take a deposit to prevent the ‘buyer’ from wasting your time.
Dangers Of Facebook Marketplace
The photo might be too much but, like all of the online world, there are some dangers.
Facebook Marketplace in general is great for what it is there to do.
Nine times out of ten, you will have no problems selling online with Facebook.
However, like most online platforms, some people are there to take advantage of its simplicity.
Whenever you’re interacting with others online you have to be a little cautious. When it comes to Facebook Marketplace ,you probably need to tread more carefully.
Facebook offers little to no security when it comes to the selling of an item. They are simply there as advertisement.
Due to this, scamming can become relatively easy for people to understake. Which is why you need to know who you are selling to and buying from.
Unfortunately, in today’s day and age, you can’t trust anyone online at first.
A quick look at the person’s profile should indicate whether or not they have a legitimate account.
But you still need to be cautious even if their profile matches up.
This is especially important if you are listing your item as a collection only. You need to be sure the person is legit if you are going to be giving out your home address.
For additional safety make sure you are not the only one at the house at the time of collection.
Try to sell your items for cash. Cash in hand is the easiest way to prevent scamming as you have the physical payment in front of you. Even then, check that the cash isn’t forged.
You can run into difficulties with bank transfers due to Facebook not acting as a security buffer like Ebay would.
Try to accept online payments before you hand the item over to reduce risk.
Make sure you agree on the price before you send the item or ask for it to be collected, too.
If you’re worried about asking the seller to come to your house, you can ask them to meet up at a public spot.
Don’t be put off from Facebook Marketplace. If used correctly it can be a great service to buy and sell goods.
Yes, there’s risks to buying and selling on Facebook Marketplace, but there’s risks with buying anything online. Welcome to the modern world!
Using your common sense and doing your due diligence of potential buyers and sellers should put you in good stead for success on the marketplace.
Like any form of selling, there’s an art to it and once you’ve mastered how to correctly sell on Facebook it should be a breeze for you.
Facebook Marketplace has been created so users can buy and sell quickly with ease, it isn’t there to catch you off guard or to be difficult.
The best form of practice to keep for selling on Facebook Marketplace is to keep things simple.
People are out there to look for good deals, they aren’t looking for necessities.
Look to see what is popular and in the current trends and focus on selling those products.
Electronics and childrens clothes/toys will always be popular on facebook due to there being a constant demand for those particular items.
List your items correctly with accurate photos and clear descriptions.
Most importantly – sell as you’d like to be sold too, be polite, be friendly and be reasonable.
Andrew Wright
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