Key Points:
- With over 2 billion monthly active users, Facebook has become an ideal marketplace for connecting products to people
- Selling on Facebook Marketplace is absolutely free, which means setting a Facebook Shop is free
- Customers can search and filter products by location, category, and price to find what they need
Facebook Marketplace has been a long way coming. The concept was born in 2007 as a C2C approach, where users posted classified ads in the job, housing, and sale categories.
In 2015, the "Sell" feature was incorporated in what came to be popularly referred to as "Buy and Sell Groups", where members listed items for sale to the more than 450 million users engaged in these groups.
People could find new items, save them as favorites, communicate with sellers via Messenger, or head to the brand's website to make a purchase.
Fast forward, and the Facebook Marketplace has grown from a peer-to-peer shopping marketplace to include merchant selling. Today, this platform allows individuals and businesses to sell products directly to consumers within the Facebook app via the Checkout on Facebook features.
With over 2 billion monthly active users, Facebook has become an ideal marketplace for connecting products to people. That's why both individuals and businesses need to figure out how to sell on Facebook Marketplace.
In this article, we help you understand the fundamentals of selling on Facebook Marketplace, why you should consider Facebook Marketplace for your eCommerce business, and how you can leverage Facebook Marketplace to drive sales for your eCommerce store.
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Fundamentals of Selling On Facebook Marketplace
The retail world is increasingly becoming omnichannel. As more and more people switch to eCommerce shopping, there is a need for businesses to find selling opportunities in different places.
Facebook Marketplaces is one such platform that gives businesses and individuals the ability to capitalize on the more than 2 billion monthly interactions taking place on the platform and pitch their products to targeted audiences.
What is Facebook Marketplace?
Before you can figure out how to sell on Facebook Marketplace, you need to know what it is. Simply, Facebook Marketplace is a convenient destination for retailers to sell their merchandise to targeted audiences, and customers to discover and buy items. Customers can search and filter products by location, category, and price to find what they need.
With over 800 million people patronizing the Marketplace monthly to browse, buy, or sell products, it is a perfect place for businesses to engage customers, get discovered, and sell products to over 2 billion Facebook users.
How does it work?
Facebook Marketplace is powered by the Facebook Checkout feature. Introduced in April 2019, this feature enables eCommerce merchants to purchase, sell, and ship products from Facebook.
Customers checkout directly on Facebook without the need to leave the retailer's Facebook page or be redirected to any website. This enables retailers to reach more buyers and get paid securely within the Facebook site.
To get started on Facebook Marketplace, retailers need to set-up a business account on Commerce Manager, set up a Facebook shop, list their products, and start selling. You can also have your products listed on the Marketplace by selling with one of Facebook's listing partners.
Related post: The Top 10 eCommerce Markets You Should Be Targeting
What can I sell on Facebook Marketplace?
If you want to nail it on how to sell on Facebook Marketplace from the word go, it is important to get familiar with Facebook Marketplace categories. Luckily, Facebook allows individuals and businesses to list products in various categories. They include:
- Furniture & Hardware
- Health & Beauty products
- Home & Garden
- Luggage & Bags
- Office Supplies
- Apparel and Accessories
- Arts and Entertainment
- Baby Products
- Business and Industrial Products
- Camera and equipment
- Electronics
- Food & Beverages
- Software
- Sporting goods
- Toys and Games
- Vehicles and Spare Parts
- Apparel and Accessories
- Arts and Entertainment
- Baby Products
- Business and Industrial Products
- Camera and equipment
- Electronics
- Food & Beverages
Facebook Marketplace Rules & Policies You Should Know
An important part of knowing how to sell on Facebook Marketplace is to learn to play by the rules. You don't want to get your products delisted for violating the Marketplace's policies. Here are some Facebook Marketplace Commerce policies you need to be aware of.
- Certain items cannot be sold: Facebook has a list of prohibited items that cannot be sold on Marketplace. Adult products or services, event tickets, unsafe supplements, animals, and alcohol are good examples of these. See the full list here.
- You can only sell physical products: You must sell physical items on the Marketplace. That means you can't offer services such as jokes, news, lost and found posts, or "in search of" posts.
- You can't use before-and-after pictures to promote your items: A good example of this is for a retailer selling weight loss products. You are not allowed to use before-and-after photos showing weight loss.
- Items description must match the image: The title and description that you give to your items must match the item's display photos.
Related post: How to ship on Etsy
Should You Consider Facebook Marketplace for Your eCommerce Business?
Every marketplace has its ups and downs. As you figure out how to sell on Facebook Marketplace, it is vital to know what you will be up to so that you can make the right decision on whether the platform is ideal for your eCommerce store. We will help you establish exactly that in this section.
Things To Consider When Selling on Facebook Marketplace
- Communication: Communication is the word of the game when it comes to selling on Facebook Marketplace. Since some consumers are still getting familiar with Marketplace, expect to receive lots of messages from buyers. Therefore, you should be ready to educate your buyers and answer any questions they may have about your products or their purchases in a professional and timely manner.
- eCommerce platforms: You need to check and see whether the platform housing your eCommerce business syncs with Facebook Marketplace before taking the plunge. BigCommerce, Shopify, CommerceHub, ChannelAdvisor, Zentail and Quipt are some of the eCommerce platforms that Facebook Marketplace has partnered with.
- Shipping: Orders must be shipped within three days and received within seven days. This is important to know so that you can maintain the right inventory levels to avoid any issues with the supply and demand of your products. Easyship can help you get items to your buyers without delays.
5 Benefits of Facebook Marketplace for eCommerce Business
Selling on Facebook Marketplace has a lot of benefits. They include:
- Extended reach: Facebook has over 2.5 billion monthly active users. That means retailers have a real chance to sell to their users on the same platform where they unwind, hence extending their market reach.
- Personalized customer experience: Audience targeting is a leading benefit when it comes to selling on Facebook Marketplace. Your products are placed before the relevant customers, helping brands find the right customers with ease.
- Increased conversions: Through the targeted placement of products you remove a lot of the guesswork out of your selling. That means customers who see your products have a high chance of purchasing them. This leads to more sales.
- Sell directly from Facebook: Your customers don't have to leave the site to complete the purchase. Customers checkout directly from Facebook.
- Setting a Facebook Shop is free: It is absolutely free to set up a Facebook shop and list your items for sale. You are only charged a fee when you make a sale.
What are the risks?
Facebook Marketplace has its share of downsides. They include:
- Facebook Marketplace is only available for US merchants
- If your products fall under the prohibited list, you can't sell on Marketplace
- Not all eCommerce platforms sync with Facebook Marketplace
- If you are an individual seller, you won't enjoy the Checkout on Facebook features
- You can only sell physical items, not services
Facebook Marketplace Payments and Selling Fees
Another thing that you need to be aware of as you figure out how to sell on Facebook Marketplace is the fees you will face. First, selling on Facebook Marketplace is absolutely free. That means setting up a Facebook Shop is free, and you can list unlimited items and start selling from the marketplace at no cost.
That said, you will incur two types of fees when selling on Facebook Marketplace.
They include:
- Selling Fees: Every time you make a sale, Facebook levies a charge. Any sale of $8 or less attracts a selling fee of $0.40. The charge is 5% of the shipping amount for any sale above $8. All Checkout transactions are also subject to taxes and payment processing costs.
- Chargeback Fee: This applies when unsatisfied customers dispute any transactions charged on their credit/debit cards. If the customer is right and the charges were unauthorized, the transaction amount plus an additional charge of $20 is deducted from your account. Otherwise, the money is released into your account without any charges.
Driving Sales with Facebook Marketplace for Your eCommerce Business
As you can see, there are lots of benefits of selling on Facebook Marketplace. But how can you drive sales for your eCommerce business selling on Facebook Marketplace? We will help you figure that out in this section.
Best Selling Items on Facebook Marketplace
Every marketplace has its bestsellers. To drive sales for your eCommerce business selling on Facebook Marketplace, you need to find the best selling items on Marketplace and present them with quality photos at great prices.
Here are some of the best selling items on Facebook Marketplace:
- Laptops
- Vehicles
- Home goods
- Collectibles
- Pet supplies
- Jewelry
- Baby products
- Furniture
- Yard tools
- Video games
- Outdoor recreation items
7 Tips for Selling On Facebook Marketplace
Here are some helpful tips that will help you drive sales on Facebook Marketplace.
- Display your products with high-quality product photos. You can do this using a high res camera, or hire a professional photographer to ensure that your product photography is on point. Product pictures taken in a plain background without any clutter work well.
- Write clear descriptions that detail the benefits of your products to the buyer. Don't just list features, tell the buyer how the item will solve their pain points. Be honest and kind in your descriptions.
- Make sure you include more keywords relevant to the products you are selling in the title and description to optimize your listings.
- Take time to respond to your buyers' messages, questions, and concerns. That is how you build trust and customer loyalty.
- Show pictures of your products in use. Also, make sure you display several pictures showcasing your product at different angles to give your buyers a feel of how the product looks.
- Take advantage of relevant "Buy and Sell" groups so that more people can see your items
- Boost your sales via Facebook Ads
Integrating Your Store and Selling on Facebook Marketplace
Selling on Facebook Marketplace is easy for eCommerce merchants. All you need to do is integrate the Facebook Marketplace into your eCommerce store. Here is how to do it.
- Check to see if your eCommerce platform syncs with Facebook Marketplace. Not all platforms are supported.
- Prepare your store for the sync by ensuring that your inventory is accurate and up-to-date.
- From Your eCommerce store's control panel, locate the Channel Manager and select the Facebook icon
- From the box that outlines the Marketplace rules, click on the "Yes, I'm Interested" button.
And you are all done! Your store will undergo a Facebook's Marketplace review process. This is meant to ensure that your products are suitable for sale on the Marketplace. After that, your product catalog will go live on Facebook Marketplace and you will be ready to start selling your merchandise where your shoppers are.
The Bottomline and How Easyship Can Help
That is how you sell on Facebook Marketplace. Remember that orders have to be shipped within three days. The easiest way to up your shipping game on Facebook Marketplace is to partner with a top 3PL and shipping company like Easyship.
Easyship helps you automate much of the shipping process so that you can get orders to your customers without delays. With an extensive network of 250+ couriers and fulfillment partners in different locations, we help you dwarf shipping time and access the best shipping rates with up to 70% in discounts.
Sign up for a free Easyship account to get started!
Facebook Marketplace FAQ
What are the eligibility requirements for Facebook Marketplace?
Facebook Marketplace is currently eligible for only US merchants and automotive companies. To qualify, you need to sell physical products, following the Facebook Marketplace policies.
What happens if you get scammed on Facebook Marketplace?
You can initiate a chargeback with Facebook or your credit card issuer. If your claim is valid, Facebook will reverse the transaction.
How much does it cost to advertise?
That depends on your Ads budget. You can set a daily budget for your Facebook ads. Facebook will then optimize your budget to make sure that your Ads are placed in front of the right audience at the lowest cost possible. You only pay when a user clicks on your ads.
