With over 800 million people browsing for sale items on social media site Facebook alone, Facebook took it upon themselves to set up their own ‘for sale’ pages with Facebook Marketplace. Facebook Marketplace was initially released in 2015 to a set number of Facebook users and then was released to the whole community in 2017. Facebook Marketplace is now used in over 70 countries.
Facebook stated upon it’s release that ‘“You can use Marketplace to list what you have and what you want within your group of friends, networks, or other networks. Beyond its use for classified listings, you can use Marketplace to get a sense of everything available or desired within your networks.”
So basically, what Facebook was trying to say was that you could sell almost anything from cars to furniture, to unwanted DVDS, books, clothes, household bric-a-brac and even a house on Facebook Marketplace but of course all within reason and within their guidelines!
What You Can Do With Facebook Marketplace
- You can
- Look for an item to buy
- Discover an item on sale by location
- Create images and listings of items that you have for sale
- Set the prices for your products
- Send a message to the buyer or seller
- View previous transactions that have taken place
Benefits Of Facebook Marketplace
It’s FREE! They won’t charge you a penny if you buy or sell through Facebook Marketplace which makes it a very appealing proposition to many an online seller!
Anybody living within 100 miles of your home will be able to see your items for sale. You can even expand your selling field or decrease it with the settings which in it-self is a rather handy option to have!
To post your item up for sale is both quick and easy and it’s more or less hassle free.
It’s a simple as just taking a photograph of the item you wish to sell, write up a brief description, include the price obviously, select your chosen category and your location and post! It will also let you share the pots with any Facebook groups you are a member of!
Facebook marketplace has an extremely good filtering option. Which allows you to target very specifically the price, location and type of item you’re after on the site.
How To Post Your Item
Step 1. Click the Marketplace icon, (the house icon at the top middle of your Facebook page if you’re on your computer or the middle bottom icon on your Facebook screen if you’re using your mobile) then simply tap ‘Create new listing’. Next select the type of item you are selling and take a photo ( you can add more than one) then take a photo of your item and then tap or click ‘Add Photos’ to upload.
Step 2. Now you have type in an item title, a description and of course the price. If you are selling via a group, include as much detail as possible to gain a buyer’s interest and add your desired asking price.
Step 3. To allow buyers to browse your items in your vicinity, add your location and there is no need to panic as Facebook won’t reveal your exact location or home address!
Step 4. Choose a category for your item so potential buyers can filter their listings by this.
Finally, you can choose to post to any specific buying or selling group as we said above if you’ are a member of the group at the same time you post it to Marketplace. This will increase your item for sales visibility! of at the same time as you list on Marketplace, if you want to maximise the visibility of your item.
You will find the items that you have put up for sale under the ‘Your items’ tab and this will also alert you to any messages or offers you have received for you for sale items.
The Disadvantages Of Facebook Marketplace
Facebook Marketplace has it’s disadvantages too.
Your name and profile will be Exposed as there is no way to hide behind a pseudonym. But many may see this as a good thing as if anything was to go wrong after the item has been purchased you will be able to trace who the seller was quite easily.
There is no buyer protection. So you’re on your own! Hence why buyers are encouraged to provide a photo of the item they are selling!
Is The Facebook Marketplace Seller Legit?
Facebook is yet to add something like a user rating system that can provide the buyer with the seller’s legitimacy (rather like you find on Amazon or Ebay). So be aware and have an element of caution when buying on Facebook Marketplace.
No transparency – you can’t see if there are any other people interested in your item
Lastly there is no section for you to provide feedback for the seller.
So Facebook Marketplace or eBay?
Depending on the item probably the biggest factor when comparing the two sites is shipping costs. If your item can fit in a small enough box then post it up on eBay as there is a larger audience of potential buyers. BUT for your larger and heavier items then Facebook Marketplace is the ‘place’ to sell as you can either have the item picked up by the buyer, deliver your it to the buyer’s home as it’s local or arrange a meet up where you can exchange.
Buyer Protection
As we said earlier Facebook Marketplace has no buyer or seller protection whilst eBay has a 36 day time limit from listings end for sellers to make a complaint about unpaid purchases. Also, if the buyer uses Paypal a seller can raise a dispute under Paypal’s protection scheme.
Commision
Facebook takes no commission on sales but eBay on the other hand will take a 10 per cent of the final sale price including the postage as a fee and PayPal will charge 3.4 per cent per transaction, plus an extra t2here’s an extra 20p charge. Any listing upgrade, a reserve price or listing in more than one category on eBay you have to pay for those ‘extras’.
So to sum up. For local, bulkier goods and no fees or postage attached then Facebook MarkeTplace is your answer as you can sell anything within reason. And if you want a wider worldwide audience with the added seller and buyer protection then eBay is your answer. But Facebook Marketplace has caused a bit of a stir amongst it’s competitors and will be around for many years to come.
