How to sell on Facebook Marketplace in 2023 (Beginners Guide)

Facebook is not just a social media platform. It is a great marketplace to sell your products and grow your business sales and revenue.

Statistics show that there are over 2.8 billion visitors to Facebook per month. Do you know you can leverage that number and drive sales to products you have through Facebook?

Wait. I know what you‘re thinking now. That’s a high number of visitors per month. How can I get a portion of these people to become my customers to sell items to them and grow my business revenue?

Well, I have your back.

This article will give you an in-depth guide on using the Facebook marketplace for beginners to capture visitors to your Facebook page, engage them and get them to buy your products.

How to Sell on Facebook – Step-By-Step-Guide

Want to know how to sell on Facebook but not how to start? Don’t worry. We will guide you step-by-step on how to start and run the whole Facebook marketing process. To begin with, you need to create a listing of your product on the Facebook marketplace.

Creating a listing on Facebook Marketplace is super easy since the platform integrates well with Facebook’s mobile app and desktop site. It takes only a few minutes to set up a listing.

When done right, the Facebook marketplace will help place your products in front of your right buyers and help make the sale faster.

As you do your product advertising and selling, it is essential to market products that people are more likely to buy and have a Facebook business page.

Do your research to know the hot selling items and give them the first priority in your marketing. After all, you don’t want to sell products that take months to be bought.

Also, ensure you have a significant Facebook audience and connect with many friends who are target customers for what you want to sell.

Follow these steps to get started!

Step 1: Access Your Facebook Marketplace

Facebook Marketplace on the left-hand side of the Facebook homepage.

If you have an active Facebook account, you can click Marketplace when you log onto it. You’ll see the “Marketplace” tab on the left-hand side of your desktop screen.

When using a mobile phone, log onto the Facebook app and tap the “shop font” icon on the screen’s top. You don’t have to create a separate account to access Facebook Marketplace.

Step 2: Create a New Listing on the Marketplace

Creating a New Listing on Facebook Marketplace

On the left side of the Marketplace page, you’ll see a blue “+ Create New Listing. When you click the link, a new page will load, requesting you to “choose listing type.”

Here are the listing options you’ll see on the Facebook page.

  • Item for sale
  • Vehicle for sale
  • Home for sale or rent
  • Job opening
Listing options in Facebook Marketplace

Step 3: Fill Out the Listing Form

Filling out a listing form on Facebook Marketplace

Once you select your listing type, provide as many details about your product or service as possible like:

  • Add relevant photos
  • Create the listing title. Include keywords that many people search.
  • Add the price of your product or service.
  • Select a suitable category of your product from the drop-down list
  • Specify the condition of the product as either new or used
  • Add a brief description of your product, though this is optional
  • Add relevant product tags
  • Specify your location
  • Indicate the number of items available
  • Specify the delivery method (local pickup or shipping)
  • Link to other buy and sell groups where target customers can get your products.

When you finish filling out the listing form, click the “Publish” button to get your Facebook Marketplace live.

It is essential to do in-depth keyword research and optimize it across your product listing to increase the chances of target customers seeing the product.

Though the product description is optional, it is essential to have a detailed description. It will tell the customers more about the items they want and how to get them on your e-commerce shop.

I’m sure that target buyers will want to know all they can about the product to see if it matches what they want before buying from an online store.

You can also create a Facebook business page so target customers can know more about your business and products.

Your great description will make it easy for them to make the purchase decision.

Step 4: Close the Sale

A closed sale on Facebook Marketplace

When a potential buyer comes across your product listing, they’ll send you a message. When requested, you can give more information about the product through the Messenger App. You can also link to your e-commerce shop for target customers to know more about your business and products.

After discussing the details and both of you are happy, let the buyer make the payment through money processors like BigCommerce and Shopify before delivering the item.

Selling Tips for Facebook Marketplace

Now that you know how to sell on Marketplace, optimizing your listings to increase sales is imperative. The following selling tips and ideas will double or triple your sales.

Optimize Your Listing and Boost Them

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) also matters a lot when listing on Facebook Marketplace. It can help you boost the rankings and visibility of your product listings.

Consider optimizing the listing by adding appropriate keywords in the title and description. So, when a potential buyer looks for an item that falls in your category, yours will rank top.

Once you’ve optimized the listing, boost it by turning it into an ad. You’ll easily track your listing performance, reach the target audience, and appear in people’s news feed. Use Facebook pixel to track the engagement of target buyers from your ads to your business pages and e-commerce website.

To boost a listing on Facebook Marketplace, go to “Your Account” then to “Your Listings.” Next, select the listing you want to promote and click on “Boost Listing.”

Improve Your Listing Photos

Many listings on Facebook Marketplace have failed to impress potential buyers due to dull, blurry, and poorly lit photos. So, using high-quality product photos will increase sales.

Take time to ensure that the product’s photos are clear, crisp, and well-lit. If you can’t hire a photographer to help you capture the item photo, use your smartphone camera.

If you don’t add legit photos to your listing, buyers may request more pictures or move to other sellers. You can borrow tips for creating high-quality images from Amazon Sellers.

Renew Your Posts

Renewing a Post on Facebook Marketplace

Sometimes, a listing can stay on Facebook Marketplace for more than a week without getting sold. If that happens, consider renewing the listing to improve the item’s visibility.

As more sellers post similar items on Facebook Marketplace, yours will go down the list. So, renewing the post will return it to the top of search results. Thankfully, the service is free.

Go to the Marketplace and click the “Your Account” button to review your post. Next, go to “Your Listings” and click the three-dot icon on the listing thumbnail.

You’ll find the “Renew Your Listing” option in the drop-down list that appears. You can do that up to five times per item.

Selling on Facebook Groups

Facebook local selling groups are a great place to publish your Facebook Marketplace listings. It puts your items right in front of the target buyers, increasing the chances of making sales.

The good thing about this is that you’ll get immediate feedback from customers as people will be commenting on your post. The response can be either positive or negative.

For example, brace yourself for a few disgruntled comments if you resell a product at a very high price. That may discourage some buyers from purchasing your products.

The listing will get immediate attention if the selling group is very active. This will help you develop long-lasting relationships with your loyal customers.

Use Facebook Ads

An image of a Facebook Ad

Facebook ads are paid advertisements that usually appear between regular listings on the Marketplace. So, they help sellers reach many active users who scroll to purchase items.

While paid ads appear along with other relevant products, they are usually more visible than other products due to their large sizes and “Sponsored” labels.

Since paid Facebook ads reach customers as they actively shop, your products will likely sell faster. You can also directly send target customers to your own e-commerce shop, where they can learn more about the products. This will even help you develop personal connections with the clients.

Another benefit of using Facebook ads is to quickly scale them across Facebook business pages with automatic placements. As a result, your sales will increase dramatically. Use Facebook pixel to track your ads to know how the target customers engage your business as they seek solutions to their pains.

Selling items on Facebook with E-Commerce Platforms

Millions of people buy and sell on Facebook Marketplace. So, you can integrate your already active e-commerce platform to Facebook to help market online and grow your revenue quickly.

Some eCommerce platforms available for integration with Facebook Marketplace include Shopify, BigCommerce, CommerceHub, ChannelAdvisor, and CedCommerce.

If you host some of your products on one of the partner e-commerce platforms, you can quickly import them to your Facebook business page catalog. After that, you can continue managing your items from the e-commerce platform. So any update you perform will automatically sync to your Facebook page.

Connecting Shopify with a Facebook Account

Include Delivery/Shipping

Adding delivery services to your Facebook Marketplace listings gives buyers an exceptional shopping experience. Add a small markup fee to the base price and watch the items sell from your online store.

If you’re selling to local customers, the delivery services can save you and your clients time, increasing convenience. Also, you’ll safely deliver your physical products to buyers who buy them.

Another advantage of the Facebook marketplace delivery services is that it makes you look professional as a seller. Besides, the buyers don’t have to worry about searching where you live.

It’s important to note that Facebook delivery services are available in major cities such as Boston and Los Angeles. So, you should check if the service is available in your location.

Expand to Other Marketplaces

If you want to expand your network to other e-commerce platforms, consider posting your Facebook Marketplace listings in advanced marketplaces like eBay and Amazon.

With around 182 million active users worldwide, eBay is still among the best platforms to grow your e-commerce business. More than 70% of this traffic comes from the U.S.

On the other hand, Amazon has 200 million Prime members worldwide, 147 million from the U.S. In addition, It boasts a sophisticated fulfillment network that makes shipping easy.

The good news is that both Amazon and eBay are product-oriented, just like Facebook Marketplace. However, selling products on both platforms is not free like on Facebook.

Difference between Facebook Marketplace, Shops, and Buy & Sell Groups.

Facebook is a game-changer for e-commerce businesses. But with three distinct shopping platforms available on Facebook, it can be tricky for you to identify the best option.

Facebook Marketplace

Facebook Marketplace allows users to take a picture of an item they intend to sell and post it with a price. Many e-commerce businesses are currently using it to market for selling products online.

The platform is highly intuitive. You can quickly create a new listing from your smartphone and start receiving messages from interested buyers. Thankfully, you won’t pay listing fees selling on facebook’s marketplace.

A group of items listed on Facebook Marketplace

Source: Stuff.co.za

Facebook Shops

Facebook Shops offer a mobile-first shopping experience. A seller can quickly create an online store on Facebook or Instagram for free and sell their products.

Making a Facebook Shop allows you to select the items you plan to sell from your catalog and share them with the target audience. You can also customize your Facebook shop with accent colors and fonts.

Facebook shops on Facebook and Instagram

Source: glorify.com

Facebook Buy & Sell Groups

Facebook Buy & Sell Groups allow Facebook users to create communities to buy and sell specific niche items. The local selling groups have rules on what users should sell.

Buy and sell groups are similar to regular groups. The difference is that the former allows members to list items for sale, mark sold items, and search for products to purchase.

A screenshot of a Facebook Buy and Sell Group

Source: stackoverflow.com

Benefits of Selling on Facebook Marketplace

Facebook Marketplace is a perfect place to improve brand awareness and increase sales in your e-commerce business. Here are the advantages of selling on the platform.

Customized Page Design

A good Facebook cover photo enhances your business’s visual appeal to lure friends and followers into your Facebook page. As a result, it will increase your brand value and sales.

When selling items on Facebook Marketplace, your product listings should capture the target audience’s attention. And it all starts with your page design. Is it attractive?

The good news is that Facebook Marketplace provides tailor-made page designs. You can customize your sales page to fulfill your unique needs.

If you customize your page design, it becomes more appealing, forcing other Facebook users to stop by and check what you offer. This way, you’ll have multiple conversions.

Large Numbers of Potential Buyers

As mentioned, Facebook has approximately 2.8 billion monthly active users. So, selling your items on Facebook Marketplace allows you to target many buyers.

Besides, Facebook Marketplace provides a feature that connects all the active users on Facebook. This makes it a perfect platform to promote and sell your products or services.

Like many potential buyers, millions of sellers also market their items on the platform. To stand out in the competition, you need to create exceptional listings. People will want to see what you have in store for them from your Facebook business account.

Direct Connection with Potential Clients

Facebook Marketplace is an intermediary tool that allows sellers and buyers to interact and build strong connections. This will enable them to strike deals based on mutual interests.

When you list products or services, potential buyers can contact you directly through video chats, messages, or voice calls. They can also comment about your products on their posts. This increases the visibility of your product and drives more traffic to your Facebook business page.

A one-on-one engagement with your target audience allows you to answer their questions in real-time. As a result, it will improve the customer experience in your e-commerce shop.

Note that 75% of customers are more likely to buy from individuals who know their names, purchase history, and the best products that suit their specific needs.

Improved Target Audience Reach

Facebook Marketplace is a reliable investment for your e-commerce business because it allows you to reach interested buyers quickly. These are individuals looking for products like yours and ready to buy from your Facebook store.

For example, if you sell office furniture and a buyer is searching for an office desk, they will see your listings beside other desk listings.

Since your products match their search, the chances are that they’ll develop an interest in purchasing your office furniture.

You can also reach clients in your local area without struggle. Facebook Marketplace automatically shows products and services available within your location and you can, quickly sell things in your local area.

Things to Consider When Selling on Facebook Marketplace

It’s vital to perform product and market research before selling on Facebook Marketplace. Some of the factors to consider during the study include your product’s demand, profitability, and competition.

1. Demand

Is your product in high demand or not? Because Facebook doesn’t offer any data about a product’s market, it makes more sense to use the data from Amazon and eBay.

You can see the number of sold or completed listings on eBay, making it easy to calculate a product’s sell-through rate. You’ll also compare the item’s number of active listings with sold listings and express the figures as a percentage.

When your target products are in high demand, many people will be willing to pay high prices to have them.

You can easily drive traffic to your business and grow your business sales and revenue.

Use the demand for your products to capture more target customers, engage them and convert them to make more sales from your products.

It is also important to make different Facebook offers of your products as you market them to easily attract target customers and close sales.

To know the products in high demand, look through the Facebook database and see the units of different products.

See what sold the most and the price range within a given time frame. You will know the product’s sales revenue and costs.

Use the data to get the products that sell most and reach more target customers and sell them the products.

2. Profitability

When you are selling locally on Facebook Marketplace, you won’t pay any listing fees, referral fees, or other fees, unlike Amazon and eBay, which charge hefty fees.

There are drastic differences between Facebook marketplace fees vs eBay fees.

Facebook will only charge a small selling fee of 5% when you set up shipping on a listing. It covers the cost of using Facebook’s checkout system and the payment process.

For instance, if you sell a product for $30, you’ll pay $1.50 as the selling fee. So you can determine the item’s profitability by subtracting the buying price from the selling cost.

Making sales on the Facebook marketplace is free. You can place your products for sale, drive more traffic to your account and get people to buy from you.

Since Facebook marketing is easy and cost-effective, you can make huge profits from the sale of your products.

The initial process of setting up the account is easy. The costs are minimal, and you end up making more sales as your target customers reach out to purchase the product.

Set up the marketplace the right way, and create listings that are optimized to drive more target customers.

Since there are few expenses, you will generate more revenue from the sales when more target customers buy from you.

3. Competition

There are millions of sellers on Facebook Marketplace. So, when you are selling any product on the platform, note that you’ll be competing with other sellers.

As a seller on Facebook, you don’t want your item to miss in the search results. So to boost the listing’s ranking, optimize it with a keyword-rich description and high-quality photos.

One great way to stand above others is to earn the trust of your target customers and show them the value they get out of your products. Let them see first-hand the value of your business and what they get out of it.

You will easily stand above your competitors when your target customers are convinced you will help solve their pain points with your products.

Remember, your target customers have other sellers they can buy from. Capture and engage your target customers by showing the quality and value of your business.

You can also include a link to your website testimonial page. It will prove to them you offer quality products as they can see other people using the products.

If a target customer asks you why should I buy this car from you? You should have the best answer with confidence and show why they should buy your car.

4. Security

Not everyone who claims to be a potential buyer on Facebook Marketplace is honest. Some are scammers who are ready to rob unsuspecting sellers.

To avoid getting scammed or robbed, sell to buyers within your local area. Meet them in a public place and bring someone along for security reasons.

Never give a buyer an item and expect them to pay later. Exchanging the product and money simultaneously is the best option.

Your target customers can’t buy from you if they feel that you are a scammer. As a seller, when you make these mistakes you will appear as a scammer to your buyers.

  • Setting low prices for your products.
  • Not engaging the buyer directly on the Facebook messenger. Communication is key to building trust as you do business on the Facebook marketplace.
  • Asking buyers to respond directly to an email that you give them ( directly related to the above point)

If you want to know a buyer who is a scammer, check these habits.

  • They ask for your phone number, claiming they want to prove you’re a real person. They send a code to your phone and use it to set up a Google voice account to scam others. Here is how this scam happens.
  • They try to give unsecured places to exchange the product when purchasing or at someone’s house. This is dangerous as you can be robbed or even get killed by the buyer.

Here are other things you can do sell on Facebook marketplace safely:

  • Don’t pay for the product before purchase.
  • Read user ratings to see if they’re trustworthy.
  • Only use trusted payment methods like Paypal.
  • Inspect if the product is working well before buying.

Facebook Marketplace Rules

Facebook Marketplace Rules for Sellers

If you consider selling products on Facebook Marketplace, it’s imperative to know all the rules before creating any listing. Otherwise, you might end up making a lot of mistakes.

Here are some of the rules to uphold when selling on any of Facebook’s sales platforms.

  • No Sales of Prohibited Items

Not every product qualifies to sell on Facebook Marketplace. Some are allowed, while others are prohibited. Here are the items you should not list on Facebook Marketplace.

Some prohibited items include alcohol, event tickets, and prescription drugs. Weapons, explosives, and ammunition are also illegal on Facebook.

  • Listing of Non-Physical Items is Prohibited

You should never list any non-physical product as you sell on Facebook Marketplace. A few examples of such listings are the “in search of” posts, “lost and found” posts, news, and jokes.

When coordinating with Facebook’s partners, services like event tickets and housekeeping are only available on Facebook Marketplace.

  • Product Descriptions Must Match the Images

Whenever you post a picture on Facebook Marketplace, ensure that it matches the title and description of the listing. The item won’t sell if the photos don’t match the product details.

  • No Before and After Pictures on Listings

Items that show before and after pictures are prohibited on Facebook Marketplace. A photo showing someone who has lost weight is an excellent example of an illegal image.

Facebook Marketplace FAQ

If you’ve never sold anything on Facebook Marketplace, creating your first listing can seem challenging. You might ask lots of questions, including the following:

1. What types of payment does Facebook Marketplace accept?

You can only use PayPal accounts and debit cards to send and receive funds through Facebook messages. To add a payment method to your Facebook account, go to “Payment Settings” then click “Payment Methods.” Click “Add Credit or Debit Card” to add a card.

2. How to organize shipping when selling on the Marketplace?

When you want to organize shipping for customers, go to Facebook Marketplace on your app and click the “Sell” button. Enter your product’s details, then click “Next.”

After that, click the “Set Up Shipping” button, then feed in your name, birthday, bank account details, and mailing address.

3. What do you need to start selling on Facebook Marketplace?

The procedure is pretty simple. You can start selling products and services on Facebook so long as you have an active Facebook account. But if you want to provide shipping for the listings, you have to enter your shipping and payment information.

4. Does Facebook charge for listing the products?

No. Unlike other e-commerce platforms, Facebook Marketplace doesn’t charge any fee to list items that sell locally. Besides, the listing process is easy and will take a few minutes.

Executive Summary

Taking advantage of the Facebook marketplace can be a great start to growing your business sales and revenue.

Create and optimize your marketplace on Facebook to drive a lot of traffic to your listing, engage target customers, convert them into your customers and sell items.

Use the tips especially if you’re a beginner to sell on Facebook to maximize your selling opportunity, attract customers and grow your business through the Facebook marketplace.

  • Have a link to your e-commerce website for target customers to know more about your business.
  • As you start and run your marketplace, ensure you follow the marketplace rules. You’re not the only seller there.
  • Price your products competitively, have a clear description and provide all the information the buyer might need about your product.
  • Let your target customers know that you are open to negotiation on the price and use tags to make target customers find the product with ease.

Remember that the platform has millions of sellers. To stay top in the competition, ensure that you optimize your listings, use high-quality product photos, and renew your posts.