How to Make Money with Facebook Marketplace

Heather Orchard

Aug 31, 20206 min read

Updated: Mar 16, 2022

Facebook Marketplace is a digital marketplace where users can arrange to buy, sell, and trade

items with other people in their area. I honestly don’t know what I would do or would have done without Facebook Marketplace in my life over the past 5 years I have been using it! I have sold so many items from clothing, furniture, electronics, household appliances, to even my wedding ring! Yes, I said it, my wedding ring! We even listed an AD for our house when we were selling it as FSBO (For Sale By Owner) on Facebook Marketplace. I also have used Facebook Marketplace to buy certain goods. I purchased my 2010 Nissan Armada from a listing on Facebook Marketplace. That was the most expensive purchase I have personally ever made on Facebook Marketplace. I primarily have purchased furniture from this platform. I have also been very blessed when I was at a time in my life where I was able to find a brand new FREE twin size mattress for my little four-year-old who had outgrown his toddler bed.

There are surprisingly a good amount of people on Facebook Marketplace who list their items as FREE, which is so amazing! And very helpful when you are on a tight budget, don’t have a lot of extra money, or you have no money to be able to afford the essential things you need.

Occasionally I browse the FREE items just to see if there is anything I could really use as a single mom on a tight budget. Everyone I have talked to on this platform has been extremely gracious and sincere.

How Does Facebook Marketplace Work?

Facebook Marketplace allows you to:

Search for items to buy
Browse for-sale items by category and/or location
Create item listings. You can create the images for the item using a camera function within the app, or alternatively you can add photos from your device’s camera roll. Items are sorted according to location and category.
View previous and current transactions
Set custom bids for items
Message buyers/sellers to arrange transactions

How to get started

It’s easy to get started. All you have to do is search for your area or postcode in the main search box, alongside words such as “selling” or “buying”.

Find top Facebook selling groups near you

There are thousands of Facebook buying and selling groups from all over the world on the Facebook Marketplace Platform.

What I love about Facebook Marketplace is that it does not charge any listing fees, nor does it take a percentage of your sold listing, nor does it charge taxes on listings.

Another great feature is that you can see who you are buying from or selling to. You can click right on their profile picture and it will take you straight to their personal Facebook Page. This makes it nice to be able to see if a profile is “fake” or seems “safe” or not.

Anytime I am buying or selling to someone on Facebook Marketplace I like to look to see where they are from, if we have mutual friends, and to see if they stay active on Facebook.

Here are a Few Pro Tips

Check your 'Message Requests' folder

Make sure to check your 'Message Requests' folder. This folder is usually hidden in a separate location from your 'General Inbox' folder to prevent spam or unwanted messages from people who you do not know or who you are not 'friends' with on Facebook. Although this is a good feature, you can often miss important messages from buyers, so make sure to always check your 'Message Request' folder as well.

👉Here is how to locate this somewhat "hidden" message folder, just click 'messages' (top right), and next to 'inbox' is a 'Message Requests' folder in light grey. You might even find some other messages that you didn't know you had!

Avoid being scammed

Always ask to be paid in cash rather than by bank transfer, check, or PayPal. If someone has your bank account details, it increases the risk of fraud against you. With checks, you have no guarantees that they will clear or not.

I personally have had customers try to scam me by using Paypal. This has become more common with more expensive items being sold online. I had someone tell me that they had already sent the payment via Paypal, and requested that it be shipped immediately because it was going to be a surprise. Well, I was gladly ready to ship, except when I check my PayPal account there were no funds in it. I tried to ask questions to find out where the money was sent and asked for verification of the funds being sent. The customer asked me to check my spam folder. This is when I knew that this person was a scam artist and that I needed to leave the purchase and sale and make a report of it. If I would have trusted this person, not only would have I been out of $4,000, but I also would have lost my wedding ring set that I was selling.

Make sure to be aware of customers asking you to ship as soon as possible and or saying it is a gift or surprise for someone. This is generally someone trying to scam you and it would be very hard to prove if this person is who they say they are, or if they are even a real person or not.

Another PayPal scam is when unlawful buyers pay for and take the items they "purchased" from you and then are issued a 'chargeback'. This is when the unlawful customer claims that the transaction was unauthorized and the card issuer reverses a transaction that has already cleared. If this happens you will lose both your item(s) and money. Be careful!

Facebook Pay Feature

"Facebook Pay is a seamless, secure way to pay on the apps you already use." -FB Pay

👉Click here to learn more about Facebook Pay

Safety First

Always try to do exchanges in a central public location. This helps to ensure everyone's safety.

Be upfront about what type of payment you accept in your listing. On my posts, I like to put I accept cash only. On my more expensive items, I also like to state "serious buyers only," or "firm price," not willing to negotiate or take discounts. This helps with any buyers who are not willing to pay full price or are really just not worth your time doing business with.

If you have to go to or have a buyer come to your residence, try to always do exchanges on the front doorstep. You should never have to feel pressured to allow anyone into your home and vice versa. Always make sure to have a friend, family member, or relative at home with you while the exchange is occurring. This is also good advice if you have to go to someone's residence to pick up an item, always have someone with you, never go alone.

Make sure to have your cell phone in hand, keep any valuables out of sight, and if you let a buyer into your home, make sure to have them stay within a safe location close to a front or back door where there is a close exit available. If you ever feel threatened or are in an uncomfortable situation, leave right away, and remember it is ok to dial 911. Your safety is important.

Want to start listing on Facebook Marketplace?

Here is how to list an item on Facebook Marketplace:

Click the Marketplace icon, then tap the 'Sell' or 'Sell Something' button. Select the type of item, then take a photo of your item (you can select more than one from your gallery), and click the ‘Add Photos’ option to upload them.
Enter an item title, description, and price. As when selling via a group, including all relevant details to attract interest. Then set an asking price.
Confirm your location. (This is how buyers browse items on Marketplace.) Don't worry, it won't reveal your exact address, only a rough location.
Select a category of item(s). Buyers can also filter listings by these.

In the final step, you can also choose to post to any specific buying and selling group you're a member of at the same time as you list on Marketplace if you want to maximize the visibility of your item.

I like to post to as many groups as I can to get my items out there for as many people to see in my local area.

5. Click Publish

👉Click here to watch how to buy and/or sell on Facebook Marketplace Lindey Glenn