If you’re looking to grow your reselling business and you’re already using eBay, try expanding to Facebook Marketplace. With 2.934 billion Facebook users as of July 2022, there is a huge opportunity to reach a large number of people in the United States and locally. Reselling on Facebook Marketplace is a great option to diversify where you’re reselling your items, and it’s easy to use.
Source Items
Facebook Marketplace can be a great place to source items for your reselling business. When you go to Facebook Marketplace, you can sort items by categories such as apparel, electronics, home goods, sporting equipment, and more. This will allow you to sort down into your niche so you can find the type of items you usually sell in your business. If you love selling NordicTracks, you will want to look in the sporting equipment category. Furniture lives in the home goods category. You can also do a general word search such as “vintage” or “1990s” and see what comes up in those categories.
Easy Tools
Facebook Marketplace allows you to save posts you’re interested in or message the buyer via Facebook Messenger. If doing a local pickup, you’ll want to schedule a time with the buyer to set up the purchase. You can also use messaging to negotiate with the buyer. I’ll usually message the buyer and ask if their price is firm, or if they could do $20 instead of $30, or something along those lines. Sometimes a seller will be willing to give you a deal, and sometimes not. If the price isn’t right, it’s okay to let it go. Remember, the profit is made in the buy.
Facebook Marketplace also filters by geographic location, so if you’re willing to drive to the next City over you can see what they have to offer too and expand your sourcing area. The location search can be narrowed or expanded from 1 mile up to 500 miles from any zip code in the United States.
Another way to source on Facebook Marketplace is by looking at yard sale posts. Sometimes people will upload photos and an address and description in Marketplace about an upcoming yard sale in your area. This is a great way to preview what might be at the sale.
Sell Locally
If you’re looking to sell an item quickly and have flexibility on the sale price, Facebook Marketplace is a good platform for it. Often when you’re selling locally, you won’t be able to get the same amount that you would if you sold it on eBay with shipping, but if you have enough profit margin, that won’t matter. You can easily list your item on Facebook Marketplace and share it with your local market, Facebook friends, and any Facebook groups. You will still have to schedule a time to meet with the buyer and finish the transaction, but you can also include in your listing if they must pick up or if delivery is included.
Local Transactions Are Free
There are no transaction fees if you’re reselling locally on Facebook Marketplace. Since payment is not accepted through Facebook and the transactions are happening in person offline, there is no way for Facebook to take a percentage fee for local sales.
If you’re using the shipping option and getting into online payment, that’s when Facebook Marketplace has a fee involved. You can set your listings to be available for shipping in the U.S. if you want to go that route. Facebook Marketplace fees for reselling with shipping are 5% per shipment or a flat fee of $0.40 for shipments that are $8 or less. We don’t sell to ship on Facebook Marketplace, we only sell with local pickup, but that’s another option to consider.
It’s Easy To List
To get started listing on Facebook Marketplace you’ll need to have a Facebook account. Go to Facebook Marketplace and click “Create New Listing” in the left-hand column. Usually, you’ll choose the single listing option. Then pick the category. Most of the time it’ll be an item for sale. Then it’s time to add your photos, a video (optional), and a description. You’ll need to put it in the right category, add an item condition, and create a title and price.
Boost Your Listing
Facebook Marketplace allows you to boost your listing so it reaches more potential buyers. Picking this option will turn your listing into a Facebook ad, so more people view it, which can help you sell your item. A boosted listing on Facebook Marketplace does cost money.
It might not make sense for your reselling business to get in the habit of paying for boosts, but if you have a more expensive item that isn’t moving, this could be a good option. A boost can help get more eyes on your listing faster so the right buyer will find your item. If going this route, you’ll have to decide how much you want to spend on the boost and how long you want the boosted ad to run. You can also define your audience so you know it will only reach people within a certain geographic area.
Reach Different Users
Everyone has preferences on which app they prefer to buy used items from. Some people are super fans of eBay, while some prefer OfferUp, Poshmark, or Facebook Marketplace. By expanding your reselling business to Facebook Marketplace, you’re opening up another way to reach a different group of users. Adding Facebook Marketplace to the list of platforms you resell on allows you to reach people who prefer using only Facebook Marketplace. Facebook already has a captive audience of people scrolling through their friends’ posts daily, so it’s full of opportunities.
If you haven’t used Facebook Marketplace for your reselling business, now’s a great time to give it a try!
