Welcome to the Ultimate No Nonsense Guide to Selling on Facebook Marketplace. I’ve sold somewhere close to 2,000 items through the Marketplace over the last three years and I want to share tips & tricks that have worked for me. *I am in no way associated with Meta nor do I get paid by them to share information on how to sell through marketplace. I’m not an expert and can’t guarantee sales.*
I am going to assume that you have already found a product that someone would need or would want to buy.
1. The Title:
Here is the framework I follow
|
Broad Category Description- More Specific Description- Unique Feature/Selling Point- Shipping Info
|
Broad Category Description:
Make the first part of your title for humans. What this means is find words that someone is going to search for. I‘ll use what I sell as an example. I sell vintage art prints so instead of making my title super specific like “From a Moravian Village” by Hugo Darnaut - I would think of broad categories or phrases that someone would type in when looking for art work. For example “Vintage Art Prints” or “Wall Art Decor”.
More Specific Description:
Give a little more detail but don’t get too nitty-gritty. Using my example of vintage art prints, I could write “Landscapes” or “Country Paintings”. This just gives the person looking at your listing a better idea of what you are selling.
Unique Feature/Selling Point:
Answer this question for this section: Why should someone buy your product? A few good examples of unique features include things like hand-made, locally sourced, or offering multiple products for a reduced price (if you’re able to). If you’re selling earrings, a selling point could be that they are rust-free. Pick pain points that people have and figure out how to solve their problem. With my product category (art), a pain point I’ve found is that art can be expensive, so I try to solve this problem by offering art prints as a set vs individual prints as this gives people the best bang for their buck!
Shipping Info:
Even though the shipping price is right under the title, people will still ask if you ship and how much it costs. Since a lot of people only read the title, including the shipping info in the title can help minimize unnecessary questions. You can also advertise that you will ship items together if they purchase multiple things from you. You can write “Can Combine Shipping” or something to that effect (plus it also encourages the customer to look at your other items). Also, if you can offer free shipping, do it!! Just raise your price by whatever the shipping cost is.
Title Suggestions:
1. Capitalize the first letter of each word. This just makes it easier to read!
2. Separate the sections with a dash or a comma.
Take this listing for example:
| Living room furniture grey chaise sectional pet free and smoke free will deliver for a fee |
vs.
| Living Room Furniture- Grey Chaise Sectional- Pet Free & Smoke Free- Will Deliver For a Fee. |
It just reads better. Don’t have word salad and don’t make people have to work harder to try to read your title because they won’t, they’ll move on.
3. Meta’s marketplace selling guide recommends a 65 character title to prevent words from getting cut off. I would advise to use all 200 characters because if you’ve been selling on Facebook Marketplace for any amount of time, you know that some people only read the title. Put it all out there. The more the better. If it gets cut off, it gets cut off. It doesn’t hurt anything and can only help.
The Price:
If you ship, I would recommend you price your item with the shipping cost factored in and make shipping free. If you don’t ship, give the total price if you’re selling something as a set- you can always write “Willing to sell separately” in the description and list the price for one there.
Things to NOT do:
1. Don’t bait people with pricing. What I mean is don’t get their hopes up only for them to be let down when they click on your listing and find your price to be misleading. For example, your title says “Accent chairs” and you have a picture of two chairs and you write “$75” for the price. Then, they read the listing and see that the accent chairs are $75/piece. Just write $150 in the price box. You can always write “Will sell separately for $75/piece. Those who are serious in buying accent chairs will contact you. Otherwise, you will attract the wrong category of people who are not looking to spend as much as you are wanting to get out of your item and will try to haggle/offer way less.
2. So what do you do if you are selling multiple items in one listing (like a furniture sale). I’ve seen the price at $123,456 as well as $1. Honestly, I would list the items separately if you could because if one item sells and you have others on there that are not sold, you have to constantly update your listing and write which item is sold. Don’t get lazy and try to kill a bunch of birds with one stone- put in the work and take individual pictures of your items and give them their own listings.
3. Don’t make your product price cheaper and raise the shipping cost. For example, let’s say I am shipping earrings and instead of listing the earrings at $20 with $4 shipping, I switch the two and put the price of the earrings at $4 and then the person clicks on it and sees that shipping is $20. This is annoying and comes off as bait-y and is probably not the best sales tactic.
Product Photos:
1. This should go without saying: don’t put some blurry, dimly lit image up and expect people to click on it. Shoppers are very visual! Entice them! Take the couple of minutes that it takes to stage whatever you are selling and make it visually appealing. Don’t plan to take pictures at 11pm at night when the lighting sucks. Plan to take pictures with natural lighting and get all the angles and close up’s. The more, the better!
2. I would recommend showing a picture of your item in use (if you can/if it makes sense). If you’re selling jewelry making kits for example, show an example of a bracelet or necklace that can be made using the kit.
3. Be transparent. Take pictures of the flaws! Don’t hide anything. Honestly is always best!
4. A cut out item with a white background (like one you would see on Amazon) does not do well on marketplace. Fake mockups also don’t do well. It’s a different platform, people are used to looking at real life photos. At the very least, don’t make it your primary image. 
Description:
Get to the point in your description but cover your bases. No one needs the backstory of a product, they want to know what they’re buying, what condition it’s in and how they’re getting it. Using short, broken up paragraphs reads better than one long paragraph!
Here’s a guide I use:
a. Write what the product is.
b. Give descriptions about the product. (Dimensions. Is it old? Is it new? Is it refurbished? Is it thrifted? Do you create it yourself?)
c. How is the customer getting your product? (if you’re shipping it, describe how it’s shipped and how long it takes. If it’s local, give a nearby road or crossroads and specify if they need to pick it up or if you deliver for a fee).
d. Other disclaimers or important info. (You only take cash, sales are finals, etc)
Things to NOT do:
1. Don’t be rude in the description and say things like “Will not respond to “is this available”, serious inquiries only.” Is it annoying when people send the “Is this available” message? It can be but it’s not their fault that the button is right there for them to click. It’s their way of opening up a conversation and it’s not difficult to respond with a “Yes it is”.
2. If you’re selling a product that someone would ask dimensions for, like furniture for example, put the dimensions in the description. Don’t write “see photo for dimensions.” No one wants to sift through photos and see tape measure pictures. It’s lazy.
3. “Fcfs”. Unless your item is out on the curb and is free, there is no need for the “first come first serve” line.
Hopefully this blog has been somewhat helpful! The success of selling on Facebook Marketplace hinges upon the careful crafting of listing titles, descriptions, photos, and pricing. These elements serve as the first impression for potential buyers, shaping their perception of the item and influencing their decision to engage further. A compelling title and detailed description provide crucial information about the product, while high-quality photos offer a visual representation that can make or break a sale. Additionally, pricing plays a pivotal role in attracting buyers and establishing trust. By optimizing these components, sellers can enhance the visibility and appeal of their listings, ultimately leading to more efficient sales on Facebook Marketplace.
Thanks for reading!