The 2023 How-To Guide to Selling on the Facebook Marketplace

Since 2015, Facebook Marketplace has been home to all sorts of weird and wonderful sales. From boots strapped to wheels and sold as DIY skates, to coffins (never used) to an engagement ring labelled as a mistake. But you can also find furniture, pet toys, kids’ toys, clothes and electronics. This marketplace is home to the wonderful and the weird. Due to a few great features, it has gained in popularity since it was first launched.

Why is Facebook Marketplace an Underrated Platform?

Facebook Marketplace started as a small selling platform. But as the years have passed by it has become a platform for people who want to buy things sooner rather than later. For example; say you’ve been invited to a black tie event tonight and you simply do not have time to go shopping. Facebook marketplace not only provides a streamlined buying/selling process, but also the ability to pick up the items the same day depending on the seller location. This is something few online markets offer.

One frequently asked question is: How much does it cost to sell on Facebook marketplace?

The amazing answer to that question is, it doesn’t. It does not cost to sell on the Facebook Marketplace… unless you use the boost or other ads. But one of the beauties of Facebook Marketplace is that being location-based, it’s easy to sell on without buying any ads at all!

There are also other great aspects to selling on Facebook Marketplace:

• The phone app allows for great browsing and shopping.
• You can upload items to the marketplace from the phone app.
• Household items sell well on the marketplace.
• Anyone can sell on the marketplace. From someone trying to clear out a cupboard, to a big business. You can scale as much or as little as you want to.
• It is set up as a personal space. This gives you flexibility and control over your items and your costs.

How Does Facebook Marketplace Compare to Other Platforms?

If you were to look at the Facebook Marketplace vs Etsy, you would see some big differences. Firstly, the Marketplace stays trendy. Facebook has what people are trying to get rid of, what they don’t need anymore, and what is too good to throw away. Because of this you never know what you are going to find on a day-to-day basis, but it always seems to keep in tune with current styles and designs.

Etsy is a place where you are more likely to find vintage, antique, quirky and different items. It is a place for homemade goods and creators. While you will find second hand goods on there, they are normally aimed at a more niche audience. This does mean items on Etsy are more likely to fetch a little more cash, but you are also limited to what you can place on there that will catch people’s attention.

So, how about other platforms? How does Facebook Marketplace compare to eBay? Or Poshmark?

The biggest advantage that Facebook Marketplace has over these sites is the same day selling and location-based search. You can literally put an item up in the morning and have someone swing by, pay for it, and take it away a couple hours later. However, selling through Facebook Marketplace creates limited buying options. On eBay, Poshmark and other selling sites people can purchase the item by clicking on it and adding it to the basket. If you were to try this on the Facebook Marketplace you would be faced with message seller buttons. You would then use these to negotiate how to pay for, and collect the item.

How to Sell Things on Facebook Marketplace

Before you go through the process of how to sell an item, you first need to know what sells best on Facebook marketplace.

TOP TIP. This may depend on where you live. The Facebook Marketplace shows the items selling closer to you; what is trending in your area? Go to the marketplace and have a browse. Alternatively, turn off the filter that focuses on your area to reach a wider audience. This may mean you need to arrange postage for the items.

A bit of research will tell you that furniture, toys, books and other home products sell well on Facebook, with furniture reaching the best-selling points on a regular basis. However, clothes also sell well.

TOP TIP For Selling Clothes. If you are selling clothes on the Facebook Marketplace, you will either want to be selling branded goods at a discount, or job lots to maximize your profits and selling rates.
Once you know what you are selling you can concentrate on exactly how to sell stuff on Facebook.

Step by Step

Whether you are selling through the phone app or your computer, selling on Facebook Marketplace is easy.

1. Take quality photos of your items. Make sure the pictures are taken in good lighting.
2. Go to Facebook Marketplace.
3. Click on SELLING in the left-hand bar.
4. Click on CREATE NEW LISTING in the left-hand bar.
5. Choose the listing type from the four options provided on the main screen. Most people will need the ITEM FOR SALE listing.
6. Add your photos and change the order around so you have the one you want as a thumbnail, the first on your list.
7. Add a title and a price. (Be prepared for people to haggle on Facebook. Perhaps list it for a little more than you actually want).
8. Fill in the other boxes down the left-hand side. Category, Description (be honest, add keywords), availability, etc.
9. Boosting your listing will incur a small fee but will also help you reach more people. If you are new to the marketplace we recommend you don’t use this function until you have figured out the basic dynamics of selling.
10. Click “Next”.
11. Go over all your details and submit your item.
12. You now have something for sale on the Facebook Marketplace.

How to Sell More on Facebook Marketplace

The following list is full of tips for selling on Facebook Marketplace. These tips can help you to increase your standing, sell faster and sell more profitably.

• Stick with the trends.

Facebook Marketplace sells what is on trend really well. Sticking with the trend as much as possible will move your sales faster.

• Use selling groups.

Not everyone browses the whole marketplace for items. Join selling groups and share the items you have for sale in those groups. Be sure to follow group rules.

• Sell by location.

This encourages quick sales and same day pickups. It's one of the more popular features for buyers on Facebook Marketplace. It also saves on postage.

• Have notifications turned on.

People who message on Facebook Marketplace expect a quick reply. While most buyers and sellers are happy so long as you respond in the first 24 hours, in this fast-paced world the need to reply sooner is becoming a bigger issue. If you can reply within a few hours of a query your chances of making that sale go up.

• Keep your description honest.

Facebook is a social media platform at the end of the day. If you don’t disclose damage on an item in your description your reputation could be destroyed in a single irritated post from the buyer. Always keep your descriptions honest and upfront.

• Cross-list

Cross-listing means putting the same item up for sale across multiple platforms like Facebook Marketplace, eBay and Poshmark. Cross-listing from Facebook to other selling sites increases the amount of people who see what you have for sale. This can lead to more sales.

Manual Cross-listing

Cross-listing is the act of placing one item, or a list of items, on multiple sites.

For example: Say you were selling a series of pop style dresses. You placed them up on the Facebook marketplace then placed the same items up on eBay. You have just cross-listed them.

To do this manually takes a long time. You are rewriting, uploading photos, copying and pasting descriptions over and over again. Go back to the example, say you had 10 of these dresses. You are cross-listing them on three different sites. This would mean you have to upload the pictures 30 times, write or copy the title 30 times, write or copy the descriptions 30 times, and fix the price 30 times. Hours of work. This is why when cross-listing, people prefer to use software like PrimeLister.

Cross-listing with PrimeLister

Primelister makes Cross-listing easy. It lets you list, re-list and delist all your items across all your platforms from a single place. Remember, every time you cross-list on selling platforms, you increase your chance of a sale. And PrimeLister helps you cross-list more often.

TOP TIP. Cross-list to each platform, then use the sharing functions on those platforms to really get that exposure.

Here is how to Cross-list from Facebook to multiple marketplaces with and without Primelister.

Cross-listing from Facebook to Poshmark, eBay, Mercari, Etsy, Depop and Instagram with PrimeLister

1. Navigate to your Facebook marketplace store page.
2. Select the listings you want to cross-list.
3. Click on the SLIDE BAR button (right hand corner of your screen)
4. Choose CROSS-LIST from the drop down menu.
5. Click on the Cross-listing platforms of your choice. (For example: Cross-listing from Facebook to Etsy)
6. New tabs will open. DO NOT CLOSE THEM.
7. Go through each tab to ensure that all details are correct and nothing needs changing. (some platforms allow for longer titles, others need to be shorter. Some platforms might sell better with a higher price, others a lower one.)
8. Submit each one in turn.
9. Done.

To do this manually, let’s take the example of Cross-listing from Facebook to eBay.

1. Navigate to your Facebook marketplace store page.
2. In another tab, navigate to your eBay selling page
3. On eBay click ADD NEW LISTING.
4. Open up an item you wish to cross-list.
5. Work through every page of the eBay listing creation, copying across as many details as you can to the eBay page.
6. Re-upload the pictures you are using.
7. Submit the listing on eBay.
8. Repeat steps 3-7 until all items have been cross-listed.

You can follow these steps for most platforms. But with PrimeLister, you won’t have to ;)

Click the link below to start your new trial on PrimeLister. Setting up your listings for cross-listing on the tool is simple and now you can access it for free!

https://primelister.com/free-trial