Facebook is a common platform for sharing photos, joining interest groups, and catching up with friends and family. But did you know that Facebook allows you to create an e-commerce store and sell products? You only need a Facebook active account, of course!
We’ll explain how to sell on Facebook Marketplace in this guide.
What is Facebook Marketplace?
Facebook introduced the Marketplace in 2016 and it quickly rose to prominence as a well-known online marketplace for local consumers. In contrast to Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace is a safer and easier platform to sell locally.
Facebook further differentiates itself from Craigslist by allowing qualified sellers to offer nationwide shipping for goods in particular categories, giving it a much larger customer base than local-only sellers.
What size? Facebook itself has a whopping 2.9 billion monthly active users and an estimated one billion Marketplace users each month. Therefore, it’s important to use Facebook for local SEO campaign.
People tend to think of the Marketplace as a clearinghouse for people’s used or unwanted household items( which it undoubtedly can be used as) because of its origins as a local buy/sell platform.
However, thanks to its shipping capabilities, it’s also great for retail arbitrage, which involves reselling products on the internet for more money than retail.
Take some time to browse the Marketplace and compare the different products that are available if you’re not familiar with them. You can purchase and sell virtually anything you can think of, including furniture, video games, cars, and more.
Facebook Marketplace is also part of local SEO for small businesses.
The Benefits of Selling on Facebook Marketplace
Online sellers and buyers now have access to Facebook Marketplace as an alternative to Amazon, Craigslist, and eBay, which some consider to be more traditional.
They did this primarily for two reasons:
Extended Reach
With nearly 3 billion active monthly users on Facebook, the social media giant is a behemoth. Users in the US spend the most time on the Facebook app at night, as well. Therefore, it is truly beneficial to do social media optimization, especially on Facebook.
With these figures in place, Facebook Marketplace has grown significantly in the past six years, reaching a billion monthly active Facebook Shops and a billion monthly visitors.
There might not be a better market where sellers can reach their target audience.
Personalized service to the client
Facebook Marketplace gained popularity as a result of its customizability, particularly for its customers, like Facebook itself.
The platform uncovers products that are relevant to consumers and their search patterns, helping your company find the ideal customers through a smart algorithm.
This increases the likelihood of an interaction resulting in a purchase by ensuring that your product is being seen by the right audience.
How to Sell on Facebook Marketplace?
How to set up your Facebook Marketplace account
You can access Facebook Marketplace if you already have an active Facebook account. You should see a “Marketplace” tab on your Facebook homepage on the left-hand side. If not, the search bar will return a search result for “Marketplace.”
It’s simple to create a Facebook account if you don’t already have one.
Create a new account on Facebook .com by clicking “Create New Account.”
Click “Sign Up” and enter your information.
Your account will then be set up and ready to go. Filling out some information will help you appear real as a real person; this is a crucial step in building your reputation in the Marketplace. If you don’t have at least a profile picture and some basic identifying details on your account, people won’t want to buy from you.
All that is left is a piece! You can access the Marketplace once your Facebook account is set up.
What should you sell on Facebook?
On Facebook Marketplace, you can practically sell anything, much like on eBay and Craigslist. If you have any items in your home that are valuable enough to be repossessed, you should first look around your home, garage, or attic.
Anything that includes old furniture, electronics, video games, kitchen equipment, books, etc. What other people’s products are available in your area on the Marketplace?
Take note of the product descriptions and images posted by other sellers while you’re at it. What aspects of your potential customers did you find helpful, and what do you think needs to be improved? Did the seller include the product’s dimensions and well-lit photos, for instance, with the purchase order?
As you create your listings, keep your observations in mind( more on building listings in Step 4).
Facebook Marketplace categories:
On the marketplace, you can sell items from a variety of categories, including pet goods, musical instruments, and apparel.
Here’s the full list of Facebook Marketplace categories:
- Vehicles
- Property rentals
- Apparel
- Classifieds
- Electronics
- Entertainment
- Family
- Free stuff
- Garden & Outdoor
- Hobbies
- Home goods
- Home improvement supplies
- Home sales
- Musical instruments
- Office Supplies
- Pet supplies
- Sporting goods
- Toys & games
- Buy & sell groups
As you can see, there is a Facebook Marketplace category for everyone, regardless of what you sell.
Where to source products to sell on Facebook
How do you obtain these products once you have an idea of what will sell on Facebook? Generally speaking, eBay and Facebook sourcing are similar to one another. Going through the retail arbitrage process is the best course of action, in my opinion.
Resell products from retail stores
This business model, which works well on Amazon, is known as retail arbitrage. Over half of Amazon’s sellers engage in retail arbitrage, and they generate 1, 000 or more in sales each month.
There’s no reason why you can’t succeed with it on Facebook because it also functions well on eBay. You will have customers if nearby residents are looking for those same products.
Keep in mind that people frequently notice heavily marked products and Facebook users aren’t shy about criticizing sellers who try them. It is best to set fair prices for your arbitrage products and disprove unfounded criticisms. You’ll eventually hear from buyers who want to buy.
Search retail stores like Walmart, Target, and even grocery stores for clearance or sales. You’ll find excellent deals to resell, which is more than likely.
Use the sell-through rate method and the eBay example in Step 2 to find profitable opportunities while using the eBay app while browsing.
Sell your own private label product
Facebook Marketplace is probably already on your radar if you have a private label business that you sell under your distinct brand. Facebook currently has 8% of its customers who are mostly private-label businesses, and another 8% are planning to do so in 2024.
Just know that selling your own branded goods on Amazon and Facebook is a good opportunity if the idea of a private-label product is new to you. Remember that there are more than one billion active users on Facebook Marketplace, making it a large number of potential new customers.
Advantages of the private label model:
- You develop your distinctive goods and brands.
- You can sell something that sets you apart from other sellers because you can.
- By purchasing your goods from businesses outside the United States, you can save money.
Go to your local thrift store
At thrift stores, you can always find some obscure treasures. Some hidden treasures are priced far below market value if you pay enough attention and maintain consistency.
Look out for items with their value, such as vintage or designer clothing, used but still playable video games and toys, furniture, glassware, and other items.
Source from garage sales and estate sales
You can find great items at even better prices at estate sales and garage sales. When a homeowner participates in one of these sales, they typically try to declutter or relocate, which will allow inexpensive items to go.
Although these can be difficult, you can still find gold if you persevere. Use these two free resources to locate local garage sales and estate sales:
How to Post on Facebook Marketplace
Let’s go over how to create your listings and begin earning some money now that we’ve reviewed product research and sourcing.
Facebook makes it simple to list products for sale. In this example, we’ll list products from a desktop, but you can also list products on your phone.
Create a Facebook Marketplace listing – the basics
Click “Marketplace” on the Facebook homepage’s left-hand menu.
Then click “Create new listing”
Click “Choose your listing type” after that. Choose from the options “Item for Sale,” “Vehicle for Sale,” “Home for Sale or Rent,” or “Create Multiple Listings.”
You’ll upload product images and fill out all of your product information now.
Facebook Marketplace listing optimization
We begin the process of listing optimization by increasing the visibility of our product to customers, increasing the number of clicks, and increasing sales.
To improve your search engine optimization, you should first ensure that your listing title and description include all relevant keywords. This will help your product appear more prominently when a customer searches for it or similar products.
The more accurate information and keywords you include, the more likely people will purchase your goods.
Before moving on to the next step, let’s first check the listing:
Click “Next.”
Delivery Method
You’ll have to select a delivery method in this section. You can choose “Shipping and Local Pickup” to target both regional and national customers. You can choose “Shipping Only” or “Local Pickup Only” as alternatives.
You can choose a prepaid label from Facebook, which simplifies the shipping process. However, you may also design and print your shipping label elsewhere.
To calculate the cost of the label, you must choose the package weight.
After a customer purchases your product, Facebook will then indicate how much money you can expect to make.
List in More Places
The final step is selecting the product’s location. You can list it in the Marketplace as well as local selling groups. Join local “buying/selling “groups in your area. This is a fantastic way to promote your goods to even more consumers.
Click “Publish” when you’ve chosen where to list your product. Your product is now available for purchase on Facebook!
Expect to start receiving messages from interested buyers once your listing becomes available.
Downloading the Facebook Messenger app on your phone should be your first step now that your listing is live. You won’t miss any messages in that manner.
Advanced selling tips for Facebook Marketplace
You can become a pro at Facebook Marketplace once you understand how to conduct product research and optimize listing. Let’s review a few next-level tactics for boosting your sales.
Increase your listings
You can “boost “your Facebook listings to appear at the top of the results from Marketplace searches, or you can promote them. Essentially, boosting your listing transforms it into an ad, which has a few advantages:
- Your listing will also appear in people’s news feeds
- Customize your audience to target likely customers
- Set your own daily budget and campaign date range
- See insights from Facebook about your listing’s performance
- Here’s how to boost your marketplace listing:
Navigate to “Your Listings” in “Your Account” on Marketplace. Click “Boost Listing” to open the listing you want to promote.
Set your daily budget and increase the duration then. Based on your budget, Facebook will calculate your audience’s reach so you can choose the best option for your spending plan.
You can select the audience you want to target once your budget has been established. Facebook lets you search for users based on age, location, and even interests. Custom audience settings can be saved for use later.
To begin your boost campaign, click “Promote Now” once you’ve identified your target audience.
You can track the effectiveness of your boosted ad using metrics like clicks and reach. You’ll be able to see how much money you’ve spent, how many people have viewed your listing, and how they’ve gotten involved with it.
Offer free local delivery
Many customers choose to pick up items from their homes, especially when they have large pieces of furniture. You’ll increase your conversion rates if you offer free local delivery when you can within your preferred range.
Take excellent pictures
You wouldn’t believe how many Facebook listings we come across that have dull, poorly lit, or blurry photos, even though we know this sounds obvious. Make sure your photos are well-lit, clear, and crisp. You can bet that people will ask for some good photos if you don’t list them in your listing.
Be sure to include high-quality photos taken from various angles, close-ups of cosmetic imperfections, and lifestyle photos that show the product in use because customers want to know exactly what they’re getting.
Post your listing in your neighborhood selling organizations.
It’s always a good idea to direct your products to local customers.
People can comment on your listing if you post it in one of these buyer/seller groups. This has the potential to be positive or negative. For instance, if you’re reselling something for a wildly exorbitant price, you could get some angry comments.
On the other hand, your listing will be immediately viewed if the group is moderately active.
Renew your listing
You may renew your listing if your item hasn’t sold yet and has been on the market for at least 7 days. This will “bump “your listing for free back to the top of the results! Your listing will be moved back down the list as more sellers list or renew products.
To accomplish this, go to the Marketplace, select “Your Account,” and then “Your Listings.”
Find your listing by clicking “Renew.” There is a renewal option for your listing in the drop-down menu that appears.