If you’ve ever used Facebook, you probably noticed that besides the Watch, Newsfeed, and Messenger area, you also have this section called the “Marketplace.” Introduced in 2016, it is pretty much like a garage sale where people of Facebook try to sell their products – old and new.
That being said, selling on Facebook is a completely different story in comparison to selling on other similar sale platforms. Plus, with the number of people that is currently on Facebook, there are countless buyers that are just itching to make a purchase. Here is your guide into how to get Facebook Marketplace and make the best use of its services.
Contents
What’s Facebook Marketplace?
How to Sell on Facebook Marketplace
1. Access the Facebook Marketplace.
2. Sell Something.
3. Choose the Category.
4. Add More Details.
5. Wait for Buyers.
6. Arrange the Sale.
7. Mark as Sold.
Top Ways to Use Facebook Marketplace for Business.
1. You Can Increases Discoverability and Awareness.
2. You Can Build Trust with Customers.
3. You Can Track What Sells Best on Facebook.
4. You Can Use Facebook Personalization.
5. You Can Test Out New Products.
Rules to Follow on Facebook Marketplace.
Tips to Fix Marketplace Not Working.
Wrap Up
What’s Facebook Marketplace?
The name is pretty much a giveaway of its purpose: the Facebook Marketplace is a Facebook section where you can list services or products for sale, therefore gaining a wider audience. The items sold are either new or pre-owned – being pretty much like a garage sale that occurs in an online medium.
Brent Freeman, founder, and president of Stealth Venture Labs also attempted to clarify Facebook Marketplace to the new users in an article for Entrepreneur. He tried to address specifically those who were uncertain whether to use this platform due to security reasons or Facebook scams.
“If you’re unfamiliar with Marketplace, you’re far from being alone. It’s a relatively new feature on the Facebook app, working somewhat similarly to Craigslist with one exception — you can actually see who is selling the product. Anything you buy has the potential to be connected by eight degrees of social media separation. Buying something from a friend of a friend adds a certain level of trust, which isn’t often present on the likes of Craigslist or eBay. In short, Facebook Marketplace doesn’t feel like such a gamble.”[1]
Plus, unlike Craigslist or other similar platforms, Facebook Marketplace also gives you the benefit of Messenger. You may send the messages directly and quickly, no longer concerning yourself with the lag of email.
So, what many people fail to realize is that Facebook Marketplace is not a place where buying and selling occurs. Rather, it is a place where everyone is put into contact with a variety of sellers or buyers (depending on what they are looking for). This is further touched upon in an article by Natalia Kudryavtseva for CCM.
“It is important to note that sales groups on Facebook keep their website and are kept separate from the platform. Contrary to some other popular marketplaces, the one proposed by Facebook provides neither a payment nor a delivery solution for those who trade using its service. Rather, it simply acts as the channel through which the contact is made between buyers and sellers, leaving the logistics of the exchange in their hands.”[2]
You also have the Facebook marketplace app, but you may access these services through dedicated Facebook interfaces as well. The Marketplace connects people like a town market would, putting you in contact with various sellers that have products of your preferences.
A user may do anything they want, from browsing the entire marketplace to going directly to stores, checking in on their favorite groups, or selecting different categories. The option that you choose will be tailored to your specific interests and likes on Facebook, allowing you to find exactly what you have been looking for.
How to Sell on Facebook Marketplace
Anyone may sell anything on the marketplace, as long as they adhere to the Facebook Marketplace rules. To begin with, you don’t necessarily need a separate marketplace. In order to make the initial sell, all you need is a Facebook account (no matter if it is a personal or a business one).
CEO of Monbi.com, Louie Ortiz, has a few thoughts about why the Facebook marketplace has gained quite a lot of popularity recently:
“If you want to post a listing on the Facebook marketplace, you need to have a Facebook account – and at this point, there are very few people that do not have one. Plus, these Facebook accounts can be viewed by your potential buyers, to determine whether you are trustworthyor not. Also, even if they have a private account, you’ll still be able to see their profile picture and perhaps some posts that can give you an idea. This way, people feel like they can trust the seller much more – because they can put a face on the seller.”
Here’s a basic guide on “Facebook Marketplace How to Sell:”
Access the Facebook Marketplace
Perhaps it is obvious, but if you wish to sell something, then you will have to go to your account’s marketplace. This can be accessed through your desktop or your smartphone, whatever you may fancy. All you have to do is click on the marketplace icon and you will be sent directly where you need to be.
Sell Something
Once you access the Facebook marketplace, the left-hand menu will show you the option to “Sell something.” It’s a big, blue button, so it is rather hard to miss. Depending on the version of your Facebook, the “Sell something” button may also appear as “Create new listing.”
Choose the Category
Regardless of which button shows up, you may pick from Facebook marketplace categories to add your product. First things first, you may go for the three main categories: items for sale, vehicles for sale, and homes for sale. Facebook marketplace vehicles are a great hit among users, as they seem to trust the rapid connectivity slightly more.
Add More Details
In order to sell a product on the Facebook marketplace, you need to add all the right details. You must tell people exactly what you are selling, a description, its price, the location where you are selling – whether you can ship the product to a different locationor not. If you are selling a car or vehicle in Atlanta, then you might want to select Facebook Marketplace Atlanta settings – that is, unless you want to ship the product to different cities or countries.
You also need to post up to 10 pictures of the product, so that the buyer knows precisely what they are getting. You should be particularly careful about the way in which you are presenting your product. Beth Marchinko also gave some advice on that in an article written for Clark.
“If you don’t know how to price an item, research the competition by searching Facebook Marketplace to see what other people are asking. Buyers on Facebook Marketplace will often try to haggle with you to get a lower price, so keep that in mind. If you are listing multiple items on a single post, setting the official post price at $1 and adding more details on individual pictures may attract potential buyers. Important: Before you take pictures of the item you’re selling, you should clean it up to make it more appealing!”[3]
The more open you are with the details, the more you will be attracting your potential buyers – so make sure to be as transparent as possible. At the same time, try to paint your product in a nice light – because no one wants to buy something that looks overall horrible.
Wait for Buyers
You listed the product – and now all you have to do is to wait for the buyers to start flowing. Bear in mind that it might take hours or days until you receive a message. In the event that you are not getting any messages, you might want to lower the price of the product. This way, you should be able to gain more potential customers.
If you still aren’t getting too many viewers, then you might want to turn your post into a Facebook ad (although that might require you to pay from your own budget). Facebook marketplace motorcycles, for example, generally need this kind of advertisement. After all, the product can be costly – and the sooner you sell it, the better.
It is very important that you have a strong Facebook presence. The more you learn about marketing in general, the better you should become at selling your product. Amine Bentahar, Forbes Contributor and chief operator at Advantix Digital has the same thoughts for us on the matter:
“If users are going to spend even more time on Facebook, the importance of businesses having a strong Facebook presence becomes paramount. This will benefit agency executives with strong social media backgrounds, as they will have an understanding of what does and doesn’t work on the platform. Success on Facebook comes from not only determining how to interact with customers on social media but also figuring out how to measure the success or failure of your strategy.”[4]
Once you create a presence on Facebook and learn how to interact with your customers, it should be much easier for you to make your presence known on the marketplace. This way, your products will appear more often on the Facebook marketplace search.
Arrange the Sale
You have officially found a buyer – all you will have to do now is to arrange the sale. Since Facebook does not permit any transactions, you won’t have to pay fees like you would have to with Craigslist and other similar platforms.
In most cases, the sale is done face to face. For example, if you have some big products to sell, such as a Facebook marketplace vehicle, then the transactions will likely be done face to face. The same thing applies to Facebook marketplace furniture or any other large-scale products that are being sold. The seller will receive cash, check, or any other face-to-face type of payment.
When it comes to smaller items – say, for example, clothing – face to face transactions are not always necessary. Since these packages are small, they can easily be shipped between cities. You just have to be careful when choosing the payment method.
Facebook typically recommends that you either use cash or PayPal, but other payment methods may also be used. Be careful about what you use, though, as Facebook marketplace scams may also occur. Ideally, transactions should be done in public areas. As a seller, you might want to ask for a cash advance first – but since this is the marketplace, the chances are that the buyer will want to see the product first. Facebook provides a safety guide on how to avoid being scammed on the marketplace.
Mark as Sold
You already sold the product, so you don’t want any more people asking about it anymore. What to do about it now? It’s simple: you just mark it as “sold.” This way, the people will know that the product is no longer on the market, giving you some peace of mind.
You might also want to keep in mind that Facebook offers badges detailing how well you interact with your customers. For one, you have the “very responsive badge,” which suggests that you tend to respond quite quickly to your customers. On the other hand, you have the “community recommended badge,” given to sellers that are ranked high up on the Facebook marketplace.
No matter the badge that you receive, you may be able to boost your reputation and earn more trust with each sale. This way, you should be able to get more clients on future sales.
Top Ways to Use Facebook Marketplace for Business
As you know, Facebook is mainly a social platform where you keep in touch with your friends, family, and perhaps other people that you have a personal connection with. Having said that, the marketplace allows you to create a personal relationship with customers.
Facebook Marketplace is the platform where you can find new potential customers and nurture a long and lasting relationship with them. On Marketplace, you don’t only have other companies as your competition – you have individuals as well. That being said, there are a few ways in which the Facebook Marketplace might help you with your business.
You Can Increases Discoverability and Awareness
Increasing the discoverability and awareness of your brand is one of the easiest and quickest ways to bump up your sales. Considering that Facebook has been connecting you to people for ages, it does not have much difficulty in finding brands on the marketplace.
Plus, people looking for Facebook marketplace rentals or sales are bound to seek similar products on the marketplace. If you are a brand that is trying to sell, then you will most likely find a decent community on the Facebook Marketplace that is interested in buying your product.
If you are interested in boosting the visibility of your product (something that should be quite obvious), you have to understand how the categories within the marketplace work. There are 11 top categories in total, all of which have been broken down into smaller sub-categories. This should make it easier for customers to find what they are looking for.
The main categories are as follows:
- Vehicles
- Rentals
- Home & Garden
- Electronics
- Hobbies
- Home Sales
- Classifieds
- Entertainment
- Clothing & Accessories
- Family
- Deals
Each category will branch out. For example, electronics may include computers, or it may include mobile phones. Clothing and accessories may include dresses, jewelry, or even shoes. By breaking the categories out and adding your product in the correct one, you should be able to find the right seller.
Once the products are placed in the categories appealing to your target audience, there is a higher chance that people will find your product as they are browsing. However, this is not the only way for you to increase your brand’s visibility.
Likes on Facebook also help you sell. If your business profile has quite a decent number of followers, your items will be considered “the real deal,” allowing them to appear in the newsfeed of your potential customers. A good place to encourage your customers to do so is in your product description.
In an article for CNET, senior editor Rick Broida connects the rate of success on the Facebook Marketplace with the discoverability that it offers:
“My success rate for selling items on Facebook Marketplace is about 70 percent. In some cases, I’ve sold things the same day I’ve posted them. On Craigslist, it’s more like 25 percent. I have a few guesses as to why. First, there’s the fivaforementioned ease of browsing items via Marketplace. On Craigslist, I don’t think people browse; they search. So there’s less opportunity for someone to stumble upon my item. Second, at last count, Facebook had some 2.2 billion users. That’s a lot of eyeballs, and while only a small portion of them will be looking at your ad, it’s a good bet there are more than will be looking at your Craigslist ad. It’s purely a numbers game.”[5]
Last but not least, the Facebook marketplace settings allow you to set up ads. While this might not help you much if you decide to sell your living room couch, for example, it can still help you if you have a business. For instance, if you sell carved wooden beds on a general basis, sponsored ads might be able to help you out.
You Can Build Trust with Customers
When you buy a product online, all you generally have is trust. So, in order to get past that distance that generally occurs between sellers and buyers, the seller has to find a way to inspire confidence. You may not be able to completely do so with an actual website, but Facebook Marketplace might be able to help you build trust.
Louie Ortiz of Monbi also has a few thoughts as to why this happens:
“Facebook, in general, is a peer-to-peer platform – so obviously, the Marketplace will behave in the same way. Plus, the Facebook Marketplace has a few unique characteristics that will help you build more trust. First things first, every transaction is started through Messenger. This way, you may connect with potential customers by having a direct conversation. Add to this your store page as well, and you have a variety of ways to build extra trust and increase your credibility.”
Facebook Marketplace is a great place for potential customers to ask questions in regard to a product – and the more answers they get, the more trust they will be able to put in you.
This trust goes the other way around as well. For instance, if you have a new product, you can put it on the market there first and see whether it resonatesor not. You can trust that your customers will tell you (indirectly or not) if your product is a success.
You Can Track What Sells Best on Facebook
If a product sells great on Craigslist, it does not mean the same thing can happen to Facebook. Every self-respecting company that wants to go big knows that Facebook ads are the key to getting leads – and to get your ads’ worth, you need to know exactly what products sell best.
First things first, you can look into your target category and see exactly what products are best sellers there. This way, you may create ads with these product types, ensuring even more success.
Not only does the marketplace show you top picks from a certain category, but it also goes into products that you might like. By doing just a little bit of research, you should be able to find the most popular products. It does not matter if you are researching the Facebook marketplace cars for sale or if you are looking into other categories – you should be able to narrow things down quite efficiently.
You Can Use Facebook Personalization
Ads don’t only allow you to promote popular products – they also target the people that have previously purchased from your shop. Since they already bought from you (or at least followed your page), they have already shown they have an interest in your page – so the chances are that they are going to buy (again).
At this point, you might want to create a lookalike audience (or a simple interest-target audience) that will help target marketplace ads. Chatbots are a tool of the future, as they may automatically follow up to those that are trying to reach you, no matter if it is before or after they have made a purchase. This has been explained in an article written by Sam Shead for Forbes:
“When buyers and sellers start communicating via Messenger, an automated assistant powered by AI called M makes suggestions to help people communicate and get things done. For example, M will suggest replies like “Yes,” “No,” or “I think so” when someone asks if an item on Marketplace is still available.”[6]
Personalize your Facebook marketplace so that it does not allow for the conversation to grow cold. By linking it to your main business account, you can personalize and connect so that you get even more leads.
You Can Test Out New Products
Going back into the issue of trust, with Facebook Marketplace, you can test out new products. Say that you are thinking about new products or want to see whether a particular idea will be successfulor not. In that case, the marketplace of Facebook is one of the best ways to test it out.
Facebook does all the targeting for you, based on your follower list. Mixed with the number of people looking up “marketplace near me,” you should be able to see exactly which product resonates the best with your target audience. You may share an idea, and based on the response you will receive, you should know whether your product will be a successor not.
Rules to Follow on Facebook Marketplace
When it comes to Facebook marketplace rules for sellers, you need to understand that certain actions can keep you safe from scams – no matter if you are a seller or a buyer. If you are asking yourself “Is Facebook marketplace safe,” you need to remember that online scammers are everywhere – so, to prevent any unfortunate scenarios, you may want to consider the following.
- Don’t trust automatically. This should apply for sellers and buyers alike. Do your research on the person whenever you want to buy or sell something valuable and try to find out whether it is someone you can trustor not.
- Keep personal details for yourself: Some buyers or sellers may ask certain personal questions, such as your working hours or whether you have a spouse to help them move an objector not. “Are you a single mother? Will you be home alone? Can I drop by your house and take the item?” these questions should raise a red flag, and you should be very careful about giving out this type of personal information.
- Enlist a friend: No matter if you are a buyer or a seller, you should not go alone to a meeting. Say that you are interested in Facebook marketplace cars – you may be going there to buy a vehicle, and you may have one other disaster dropped upon your head. Make sure that you always bring someone with you – or if the transaction occurs at your house, the cops should always know.
It’s always better to be safe than sorry when it comes to Facebook marketplace jobs – so, if you don’t want any surprises, take all the necessary precautions against Facebook theft.
Tips to Fix Marketplace Not Working
You don’t like it, but occasionally, it does happen. You try to set up or list a product for sale, and you see the Facebook Marketplace not working. What can you do if the marketplace is suddenly not turning up? Well, you’ll be relieved to find out that most of these errors are not your fault – and some can even be fixed. Before panicking for Facebook Marketplace not showing up, here are the main reasons why it tends to happen:
- Your account age: New accounts may not have Marketplace enabled yet. This is done in order to avoid spam and ensure legitimacy.
- Your own age: Sometimes, those under the age of 18 may not access the marketplace.Sometimes, it may work to simply change your age – that is, if the “Facebook police” doesn’t catch you.
- Your country is not supported: One common cause for Facebook marketplace not loading is that your country is not supported. Many countries are on their green list, so if it‘s a no-show for you, then you might want to check Facebook’s list at the bottom of this page.
- Your device isn’t compatible: Some of the older Android or iPhone devices no longer support Facebook Marketplace. If it’s not one of the above, you no longer need to ask “is Facebook marketplace down – thechances are that you just need to change your phone.
Sometimes, you may fix the problem; other times, it may be beyond you. If your age is right, your country is listed, your account is not new and your phone is not old, then you might want to go for the last resort and contact Facebook’s support staff. If there’s a bug on your end or you did not get the setting right, they should be able to help you get to the bottom of things.
Wrap Up
If you thought that the marketplace is a simple garage sale before, then you could not be more wrong. This audience-targeting Facebook section allows you to sell products that are either second-hand or brand new. It’s great even if you want to sell your old furniture or if you want to find new customers for your company.
It is a cost-effective way for advertising that will help you build relations – earning new customers by building more trust. These connections can create the pipeline necessary for further sales.
[1]https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/286543
[2]https://ccm.net/faq/56829-use-facebook-marketplace
[3]https://clark.com/make-money/how-to-sell-stuff-on-facebook-marketplace/
[4]https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2016/12/01/what-facebook-marketplace-means-for-digital-marketers/#38b333a8cc3f
[5]https://www.cnet.com/how-to/reasons-you-should-use-facebook-marketplace-instead-of-craigslist/
[6]https://www.forbes.com/sites/samshead/2018/10/03/how-facebook-marketplace-uses-ai-to-help-buyers-and-sellers-connect/#528aac132ba6
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