Everyone knows Facebook as a place to find friends and family, share photos, and join interest groups. But did you know that you can also sell things, and even build an eCommerce business on Facebook? All you need is a valid Facebook account, and you can start selling right away.
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What is a Facebook Marketplace?
The marketplace was introduced by Facebook in 2016 and soon became a popular forum for selling items to local buyers. Compared to Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace is a secure and easy-to-use platform that you can use when shopping locally.
Now, Facebook is distinguishing itself from Craigslist by allowing qualified retailers to offer product shipping nationwide in certain categories — providing them with a much larger customer base than just local retailers.
How big is it? However, Facebook itself has 2.8 billion active users, with an estimated 800 million users each month.
Because of its origins as a local shopping/sale market, people often think of the Market as a place to clean people’s personal or household items that people do not want. But its shipping power means that it is also good at solving sales problems — the practice of buying the most sought-after products at a retail store and reselling them online at a higher price.
If you do not know the Marketplace, take the time to look at and see the types of products available. Like eBay or Craigslist, you can buy and sell just about anything you can think of — from cars to sofas, video games, furniture, and more.
Who should sell on Facebook Marketplace?
The short answer is anyone! The Facebook Marketplace is for people who want more to get rid of, but also for businesses, eCommerce businesses, Amazon retailers, woodworkers, artisans, brick and mortar stores — you get the picture.
Marketing strategies do not differ much from Facebook and other platforms like Amazon and eBay.
Unlike other eCommerce or retail markets, Facebook charges zero for posting your items when you sell them locally. When a customer places a shipping order, the seller is charged only 5% of the price. Low overhead makes product listing on Facebook irrelevant to new or experienced eCommerce marketers.
What do you need to start selling on Facebook?
All you need to do to start trading in the Facebook Marketplace is a valid Facebook account. That’s easy! If you would like to offer delivery on your list, you need to take an extra step to include your payment information and shipping information.
How to Sell Facebook Market: Step-by-Step Guide
How to set up your Facebook Marketplace account
If you already have a valid Facebook account, you can now access Facebook Marketplace. To the left of your Facebook homepage, you should see the “Marketplace” tab. If not, search for “Marketplace” in the search bar and it will appear.
If you do not have a Facebook account, it is easy to set up.
- Go to Facebook.com and click on “Create New Account.”
- Enter your details and click on “Register.”
- After that, your account will be set up and ready to go. You will need to fill in some information to appear as a real person — it is an important step that will make you more reliable in the Market. People will not want to buy from you if you do not have at least a profile picture and basic identification information in your account.
That’s all there is to it! Once your Facebook account is ready to go, you can access Marketplace.
What should you sell on Facebook?
Like eBay and Craigslist, you can sell just about anything on the Facebook Marketplace. Your first step in selling on Facebook is to look at your entire house, garage, or basement to see if you have items that cover your home that are important enough that you can resell them.
This could include old furniture, old electrical appliances, video games, kitchen items, books — anything! Look at the Marketplace and see what others are selling in your area.
While you are there, be aware of product descriptions and photos of other vendors. What did you find useful as a potential customer, and what are some of the features that you see improvement in? For example, did the seller include the size of the product and the illuminated images taken at most angles? Keep your notes in mind as you create your listing.Product Research
Before you can start selling on the Facebook Marketplace, you should do some product research to make sure that what you are selling will be profitable. This is an important step, especially for marketers who want to build an eCommerce business with Facebook.
Effective product research is based on data: it looks at how many units of a particular product are sold over time and at what price, and how many other vendors compete for the same customers within a particular area.
Facebook Marketplace sells most of the local sales for one-off items, and we do not have a lot of useful data on what is for sale and what is not for sale. But that doesn’t mean we have to guess what’s for sale — we can just look at what works in other markets like eBay and Amazon.
There are profit measuring shortcuts, as well as a variety of eCommerce business tools available that handle all heavy lifting.
Competition
Whether you sell a used sofa, a car, or a product of your own, you will be competing with many other vendors on the Facebook Marketplace.
As you can see from the Charizard card example, it is easy for listings to get lost in search results. To make it stand out, prepare your listing with beautiful images and a rich description of keywords. In the next section, I will give you some tips on how to do that.
How to come up with product ideas
If you have trouble finding out what to sell on Facebook, check out the eBay “Trending Deals” page for inspiration. There you will find popular, highly sought-after products.
Here are some tips to keep in mind as you narrow down your product search:
Keep an eye out for new releases of popular items:
Take advantage of the much-needed product release. For example, retailers are purchasing an inventory of the recently released Xbox and PS5 gaming apps for resale in markets such as eBay and Facebook.
Stay tuned for new trends
Use an example of the previous Pokemon / Charizard card. Pokemon trading cards have exploded in popularity in recent months, and people want to buy them.
Seasonal products
Think about the different things you buy as the seasons change. The winter months are a great opportunity for coats, coats, holiday decorations, etc. Ventilation pools and swimming pools are popular during the summer months.
Ordinary, everyday things
It is good to sell fun, fashionable things, but reliable eCommerce sellers often fly under the radar. Facebook Marketplace is a great place to sell everyday household items such as furniture, cleaning supplies, books, and glassware. There will always be a need for this type of product.
