Guide to buying and selling on Facebook Marketplace
Whilst I used to spend every waking minute after school on Facebook, I now loathe it (there goes my chance at being sponsored for this post). Now, I find it’s only good for three things: remembering birthdays, being part of Groups like Obscure Simpsons Memes, and Marketplace. Facebook Marketplace has become a virtual treasure trove for buying everything you could ever need secondhand, as well as a nifty source of income to sell your odds and ends, as well as flog things that have been taking up space in storage for far too long. Buying and selling secondhand is better for the environment as it prolongs the life of unwanted items, and it doesn’t create a demand or labour for a new product to be made. To protect the environment and avoid precious resources from getting wasted, we need to have a circular system - this means very little going to waste (i.e. incinerated, dumped in landfill, or floating through forests and perching on pavements). So, buying and selling secondhand is one of the main shifts we need to action as consumers - here’s how you can use Facebook Marketplace to do that.
I don’t care about the environment. What are the other benefits of buying and selling on Facebook Marketplace?
Glad you asked!
You can save a silly amount of money by buying things that are as good as new, from someone who already bought it new
You can earn a decent amount of pocket money from selling
You can browse for things you want/need easily and often pick them up in your local area, meaning you don’t need to drive or get the bus into town
The basics
You will need a Facebook account to buy and sell on Marketplace - it is extremely useful to have Messenger installed too but there is a clunkier messaging system through Marketplace on Facebook separately as well - it’s far easier just to use Messenger though
You can just as easily use Marketplace on Desktop as you can on the mobile app - I prefer using my phone as it’s more convenient
You can use Marketplace to give pretty much anything away for free, to sell for as much as you like, or to buy as much as you want. The only restrictions I’ve seen are for makeup as my used makeup listings quite often get rejected (so I listed them for free on Olio or sold on Depop instead), and I’m assuming there would be restriction for food too, though I’ve never tried it.
How to sell effectively on Facebook Marketplace
Free things
As a caveat, I don’t only buy and sell on Marketplace - I also use it to give things away for free that are low value (to me) or I don’t want to go through the hassle of waiting for someone to decide they want to pay money for something. Examples of things I’ve given away for free: unwanted stationery, a bin, ringbinder folders, empty boxes, empty glass jars, plastic bags, parcel jiffy bags, cardboard boxes, puzzle books and more. Giving things away for free promotes the sharing economy which is another really important feature of a sustainable system - things that usually might have been thrown in the bin are shared instead. If you think something is low in value or not worth paying for then try giving it away for free - for example if something is broken or damaged. You will be really surprised at the sort of thing people will take - people use broken things for upcycling projects, to repair and resell, to use for parts, to use as set props. The point is that it doesn’t matter what it is - before you bin something, see if someone else can make use of it by putting it on Marketplace for free!
How to list something to sell
Facebook makes it really easy and hassle-free to list things on their Marketplace. It is far easier, from experience, than Gumtree, eBay, Depop, Vinted, and any other secondhand sites I’ve used, which is why I use it so much to list things (the only other thing I think rivals the ease of Facebook is Olio - but Olio is exclusively for sharing things for free).
Take clear pictures of the item or items. You can attach up to ten photos, so take plenty - the better the photos the less hassle you will have with people asking details. Clearly photograph any logos, defects, different angles and anything else you think is important.
Use a descriptive title - for example “IKEA A4 wooden black photo frame”. The better the title, the quicker people will find your listing and you will get the item sold. If it is a free item, put ‘FREE’ in the title (some people love free stuff, don’t question it, just take advantage of that knowledge).
Put as much information in the description as possible. Put all measurements and dimensions. If you don’t, someone will ask you for them, and then you’ll have to measure it anyway. Describe the condition accurately so the sale is fair to the buyer - you’ll only run into issues later if you describe something a bit too generously. Like I said before, people will take things for a whole bunch of reasons, so just be honest if something only half works. That being said, if something is new in its box, definitely make a show of that. Mention RRP prices so buyers know you’re pricing fairly (more on pricing later). It is useful to mention why you don’t want it any more as people will rightly be suspicious - I often am and I’ve quite often asked people why they’re selling something if I’m not sure. To cut down on unnecessary messaging, just put the reason in your description. Usually buyers should come and collect from an agreed meeting place (usually your house) - make it clear in your listing at the end by saying ‘Collection only from [Area & Post/Zip code]’. For example ‘Collection only from Manchester M13 9PL’. If you don’t feel comfortable putting your whole post code in the description, just put the first part, and the first number e.g. M13 9. This is really to avoid people asking where collection is as the map Facebook provides for the seller won’t ever show your location too closely, so putting your neighborhood and part of your post code in the description is helpful.
Make sure to update your location on the map. This is so your listing is shown to people who are actually near you and so are likely to want to come to you to buy your things. Sometimes Facebook has a location for you slightly further than where you actually are so make sure to check before you confirm the listing - your sale will be quicker if the location is accurate.
Pricing - don’t expect to make thousands on pounds on here, you won’t. The cheaper you can sell something the quicker it will go. If something is rare, special or expensive obviously list it for a price that reflects its worth, but honestly it’s not Depop or eBay, nobody will bid for your things, there’s a reason it’s so simple. Make it clear if you’re open / not open to offers in the description and add how much you paid for it too to justify the price you have put for it.
Use hashtags - Marketplace now has a hashtag section at the end of listings to add up to five hashtags with key words. For example for a photo frame you might put in the hashtags ‘picture frame’ ‘home decor’ ‘art prints’. This makes your listing more visible.
Check your messages - Marketplace uses the Messenger function and the quicker you can reply, the greater your chances of making a sale, rather than replying eight hours later. You can reply from within the Marketplace feature of the Facebook mobile app, but it is clunkier I find, and I’m not sure if it works without Messenger installed.
Renew listings that haven’t sold / been interacted with for while - if you aren’t able to shift something and it has been listed for a few weeks, try and click the ‘Renew Listing’ button on your Seller account to push it back to the top of the listings. This works really well, I usually get an influx of interaction with the listing when I renew old listings.
How to find something to buy
To make it very clear, don’t replace any sort of consumer / fast fashion addiction with scrolling on Facebook Marketplace and looking at stuff mindlessly. It is easy to fall into this trap with thrifting, but know that the most sustainable thing to do is to consume less all together, not just avoiding buying new. If you are able to keep the browsing to only when you need something, read ahead!
As a rule, you can find anything on Marketplace… - if you live in a decent sized town then you will be able to find pretty much anything on Marketplace, and a lot of the time it is new and unused. From empty boxes, books, secondhand iPhones, gym equipment, jewellery, clothes, plants, furniture, spare tiles you name it, they will have it! With this knowledge you can thrift pretty much anything which is so good for your wallet and for the planet.
Set your location preferences - you can set your preferences to see listings from a certain distance away - so 5km, 10km, 20km, or further. It might depend on what you want and how you are able to travel as to how far you are willing to go to collect it, but I have had some hairy experiences accidentally ending up in the Hampshire countryside or halfway across London collecting things! Not that I minded, but make sure it’s worth the journey. Depending on what it is and how desperate the seller is to get rid of it, you might be able to get them to post it. Some sellers may state ‘Collection only’ though so might not wish to deliver or post.
Make sure it’s not just a business outsourcing how they sell - whilst it’s all very well and good small businesses using Facebook Marketplace to advertise their goods, if you’re after cheap secondhand items for frugal and sustainable reasons then you don’t want to get duped by a business selling their things new at full price. Be wary of listings that display more than one of the same item, or when they have variants, as well as being wary of photos that look too professional, and a description that sounds like it belongs on a business website!
Ask for more details - if the seller hasn’t provided all the details or clear photos, don’t be afraid to ask for more details. Marketplace is informal so it’s just regular people buying and selling their stuff. If there seem to be any defects, make sure you know what they are and ask the right questions. As a rule of thumb on any secondhand selling site, I always ask sellers why they are selling the item - if I’m happy with the response then I buy!
Make offers - unless the seller has explicitly stated in the description that they won’t take offers, try and haggle down a few pounds. If the price is a bit unreasonable or the seller is keen to get rid of the item then they will usually accept it, or meet in the middle!
Search with different terms - people might put listings under terms slightly different to what you searched, so for example instead of ‘photo frame’ try ‘picture frame’ if the results don’t come up.
Happy thrifting!
