You’re wondering how to sell your products on Facebook Marketplace and be extremely profitable, right?
Facebook Marketplace—like other popular platforms such as Amazon, eBay and Walmart Marketplace—draws tens of millions of avid shoppers every single day…eyeballs you definitely want to grab some part of!
But the question is: How do you properly sell on Facebook Marketplace from the get-go?
This article has got you covered.
To sell on Facebook Marketplace as a beginner:
- Understand What Facebook Marketplace Is
- Create a Facebook Account
- Create a Facebook Business Page (If Needed)
- Create New Listings
- Add High-Quality Photos
- Write a Captivating Product Description
- Optimize Your Listing for SEO
- Publish Your Listings
- Manage Your Shipping, Payment, Returns and Responses
- Avoid Getting Blocked on Facebook Marketplace
- Follow These Tips to Help You Stand Out on Facebook Marketplace
Ok, let’s get into it!
1. Understand What Facebook Marketplace Is
Facebook Marketplace is a new shopping feature built into your Facebook experience. You can buy and sell locally, directly from friends and local businesses in your area.
Advertise your products or services, so customers can see what’s available at no cost to them. Set up a free business page with information about your product or service at your location and photos. Create an ad to help drive traffic to your product listing—and then wait for people to find you!
The more detailed information you include about yourself, your business, and what you’re selling (i.e., pricing, returns, payment methods accepted), the more likely someone will be interested in buying from you.
2. Create a Facebook Account
Create a Facebook account to help you get started with Facebook Marketplace. You don’t need to create a new Facebook account if you already have one. Visit https://facebook.com to create an account on Facebook so you can start selling on Facebook Marketplace.
Click on “Create New Account” and fill out relevant information, such as name, email address, date of birth, gender, phone number and a preferred password. Click on “Sign up” to complete your registration.
Verify your phone number and confirm your email address to complete the process. Create a business page on Facebook—as you’re planning to sell products or services, and it shows your business’s credibility and helps potential customers want to interact with you.
3. Create a Facebook Business Page (If Needed)
It is easy to create a Facebook business page. Visit business.facebook.com/create to create a Facebook business account. Fill out your name and confirm your identity with Facebook login credentials. Follow up with the remaining steps to create your Facebook business account.
4. Create New Listings
Create a listing type for your product on Facebook Marketplace. Facebook Marketplace has four basic listings “Item for sale,” “Home for Sale or Rent,” “Vehicle for Sale,” or “Create Multiple Listings.”
Choose “Item for Sale,” as you want sell products. Choose where to list your product. You either list it in the “Marketplace or in the “Marketplace” and “Local Selling Groups.” To add the local selling groups to your category, join buying/selling groups in your local area.
5. Add High-Quality Photos
Add images that are relevant to your product listings. The better-looking your products are, the more likely people would want to buy. Take high-quality pictures of your goods and place them on a white background. Provide a 360-degree view of your products so potential customers can see them when viewing your listings.
Take pictures showing all aspects of your products so there is no confusion as to what you are selling. Use impeccable photos that can help generate many sales for your business over the long term.
6. Write a Captivating Product Description
Write an attention-grabbing product description that highlights the relevant keywords for your product, using SEO-optimization tools as diverse as Analytics, Wordtracker and MOZ.
Make sure your product description is so exciting that it stands out from other listings. Think of your description as your ads—it communicates the value that makes people want to buy your products. An attractive product description can be a deciding factor in whether or not someone makes a purchase.
Connect with your audience emotionally and introduce yourself as an authority in your niche. Include information such as size, color, and material type. Specify product conditions as either new or used to help potential buyers know what they are buying.
Pen a mesmerizing product description using some of these tips:
- Write in a conversational tone
- Tell a story about the product you are describing.
- Be honest about issues with your products. Be transparent and upfront about potential product defects (Your customers will thank you for it.)
- Make every word count—use words intelligibly!
- Write a clear and easy-to-read product description.
7. Optimize Your Listing for SEO
To ensure your potential customers are more likely to see your listings, do in-depth keyword research and optimize the keyword across your product listing.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a wonderful way to make potential customers discover your product listings. Write a compelling, SEO-oriented description so potential customers can find your products when they type in the title and keywords they’re looking for.
For easy optimization, use tools like SmallSEOTools to search keywords relevant to your product. Stick to keywords that are pertinent to products you sell on Facebook Marketplace.
For example, if you sell “men’s wear,” use keywords relating to “men’s fashion.” Use specific phrases, such as “nice polo for able-bodied men” or “fitted packing shirt for men” if you sell men’s wear.
8. Publish Your Listings
After creating your listings, wait for them to be approved, and then publish to start selling. After publishing your listings, be on the lookout for orders—and once they’re in, handle them as professionally as possible.
Stay on top of your game, answering customer questions, giving instructions, providing competitive prices, and setting the right shipping details. Facebook Marketplace shoppers love a responsive seller—and that’s the number one goal you must achieve.
Answer all questions—that’s right, all questions!—those potential clients may have about your store and products because you never know where the big sale will come from.
Yeah, the big sale that could catapult your store into a multi-million-dollar store one day! You never know! You see, the thing is that your store is new—and so are your products. People are curious, they want to know more about the products they’re about to buy…so they ask questions.
And when they ask questions, be there to answer. Use a clickable button stating “Want It or Leave Comments” to give a potential buyer an urgent sense of buying your product.
The clickable button could lead to the conversion of non-customers into buyers. The more information you provide about your products, like shipping costs and return policies, the more potential customers will likely purchase from you.
9. Follow These Tips to Help You Stand Out on Facebook Marketplace
There are many sellers on the Facebook Marketplace. To stand out, do what other sellers are not doing—or do better the things other sellers are doing.
Visit your competitors’ stores to see their prices so you know how to price your items.
Use high-quality photos for your listing.
Reply to potential inquiries on time.
Provide sufficient details in the product description.
Provide a “Call to Action.”
Use tags to help potential buyers find your listings.
10. Manage Shipping, Returns, Payment, and Responses
PayPal handles the shipping, return policy and payment on Facebook Marketplace—for a per-sale fee, of course. There is a link going directly to your shop for each product you list.
Customers can directly purchase from you than if they had to go through Facebook first. You can’t see people who bought your items or the reviews they left. You can only see their feedback on your page.
To respond to buyers/potential shoppers, associate a business email to your account. If there is an open dispute about an unpaid item, both parties receive a separate notification and have three days to resolve any issues before either party can leave feedback or open another dispute.
Ship the product within two days after receiving payment unless stated in advance. If you refuse to ship within that timeframe, Paypal may hold funds in escrow until the time you do so. If a customer files an “Item Not Received (INR) claim against you, he or she will receive a full refund after PayPal holds your funds for 45 days.
11. Avoid Getting Blocked on Facebook Marketplace
Don’t Sell Prohibited Items: Don’t sell any item that Facebook Marketplace does not allow its users to sell on its platform. Avoid posting prohibited products on Facebook Marketplace. Avoid selling items like alcohol, event tickets, animals, ammunition, healthcare products, explosives and prescription drugs. Avoid products Facebook Marketplace considers illegal.
Avoid Listing Non-Physical Items: Avoid listing a non-physical item on Facebook Marketplace, so Facebook won’t bar your account. Avoid posting things like “in search of” posts, “lost and found” posts, jokes, and news. Facebook Marketplace prohibits them.
Avoid Posting “Before and After” Pictures on Listings: Avoid using pictures showing “before and after” products on Facebook Marketplace. Avoid posting a photo that shows, for example, a person’s face before using a product and after using it. It is illegal and not acceptable.
Conclusion
To start selling on Facebook Marketplace, understand what Facebook Marketplace is. Create an account with Facebook if you don’t have an existing one before. Create new listings for your products with high-quality photos. Write captivating product descriptions for your items along with relevant keywords to help optimize your listings for SEO.
Publish your listings if you have added detailed information about the product like the product’s title, price, images, etc. Stick to Facebook Marketplace rules—to avoid Facebook blocking your account—and follow some tips to help you stand out on Facebook Marketplace.