How Can I Sell on Facebook Marketplace?

When Mark Zuckerberg first blessed the world with Facebook in 2004, no one knew how big it would become. Today, Facebook is worth over $545 billion and is the largest social network in the world. But that’s not all! Facebook has introduced multiple features over the years that have helped both large and small businesses alike generate greater revenue and get wider exposure to relevant audiences using various forms of Facebook marketing.

One of its most popular features is the Facebook Marketplace. As the name suggests, Facebook Marketplace is an online marketplace that gives small business owners and consumers an alternate way to buy and sell items (products and services) outside of their immediate network of friends and social connections. What this means is that anyone from around the world can find and buy from your business.

Facebook Marketplace is an excellent way for businesses to bring their offerings in front of more people because of its high-traffic space. Here, people are already looking for what you’re selling – some are bargain buyers looking for the lowest prices, while others want to support local businesses and buy from those who share their values.

So, if you’re ready to sell on Marketplace, here’s how you can get started.

How to Get Facebook Marketplace 

In a nutshell, Facebook Marketplace is a platform for buyers and sellers to conduct eCommerce transactions. Here’s how to get Facebook Marketplace and activate it for your business:

1. Go to the Marketplace icon on the top left of your screen and select “Sell something”
2. Add photos of what you’re selling, and fill out the item details, including price, name, description, and category
3. Add your location and choose whether you want to offer shipping or pickup as a delivery option
4. Click “Post”, and your listing will go live

Doing this will help you list your offerings in this online marketplace, and users will be able to search for specific goods or browse listings by category to buy and sell items they wish to purchase. And when someone clicks on your listing, they’ll be able to see where you’re located and can inquire about payment and pickup through Messenger.

Why Facebook Marketplace?

Facebook is an important tool for brands interested in selling their products to targeted audiences. And with over 2.912 billion monthly active users, any business that does not leverage this powerful social media platform to improve their bottom line doesn’t truly understand digital marketing in 2022.

Previously only available as a peer-to-peer online shopping option, Facebook Marketplace has now expanded to include merchant selling. As the retail world becomes increasingly omnichannel, Facebook Marketplace has also evolved to give brands and businesses a chance to capitalise on the interactions already taking place on Facebook.

Here are some of the top benefits of using Facebook Marketplace:

1. There’s no fee to list items on the Marketplace, meaning you can take advantage of this channel without paying anything extra.
2. Facebook Marketplace is very easy to use, and you don’t have to learn about any new software or interface since it’s all part of a site you already know how to use well.
3. It’s much faster for buyers and sellers alike to browse for items and make transactions in Facebook Marketplace than on other sites such as eBay or Craigslist.

Payments on Facebook Marketplace

With Facebook Marketplace, the seller chooses the payment method, but Facebook itself suggests using Messenger or PayPal to receive payments. However, you can communicate with the buyer via Messenger to discuss what payment option is most suitable for both parties – for example, if you prefer PayPal but the buyer would like to pay in cash and lives in the same city, you can discuss a cash handover when they come to pick up their goods.

The only foreseeable issue with payments in an online marketplace is that there’s no way for sellers to get reimbursed if something goes wrong. The only way would be through Facebook’s community standards – and even then, there’s no guarantee that sellers would be able to recoup their money. So, it’s important to vet buyers before confirming an order and making a transaction.

Shipping and Return Options

If you’re listed as a shop on Facebook Marketplace, you can only use the shipping option. That means you’ll also have to pay a 5% selling charge for every shipment or a flat price of $0.40 for orders of $8.00 or less.

After each transaction, you’ll have a specified length of time to ship the item to the customer if you’ve signed up for online checkout and shipping – otherwise, Facebook will remove or cancel the order. You have the choice of covering the shipping fee yourself or have the customer do so. And to be paid for products that employ the shipping option, you must include tracking information and designate the shipment as sent.

If a customer demands a refund, you will have two business days to react and try to fix the problem. Any reimbursements must also be provided within two business days after receiving the returned products.

Tips to Sell on Marketplace 

Because there are so many sellers on the Marketplace, it’s crucial to stand out. Here are some tips to help you get started:

• Research the competition and set competitive prices for your products
• Use appropriate lighting to take high-quality photos
• Respond to inquiries as soon as possible
• In the item description, include as many details as possible
• Declare that you’re open to proposals and willing to bargain
• Tag your listings to make them simpler to locate
• Leverage Facebook marketing features to help push your listing above the competition

Since the pandemic, fewer and fewer shoppers now spend their money in-person, opting instead for online purchases. That’s why it’s crucial to stay one step ahead of your competition when it comes to quality, pricing, customer service, and marketing.

Important Considerations for Selling on Facebook Marketplace

Here are some things you need to consider when trying to buy and sell items on Facebook Marketplace:

1. All orders must be dispatched within three days and received seven days after being placed. For businesses that manufacture handcrafted items, it’s important to adjust the inventory to account for any supply and demand concerns.
2. Not all eCommerce platforms are compatible with Facebook Marketplace. Some of the main partnerships are:
   1. BigCommerce
   2. ChannelAdvisor
   3. ShipStation
   4. Shopify
   5. Zentail
   6. Quipt
   7. CommerceHub

Leveraging Facebook Ads for Marketplace

The practice of promoting a brand and maintaining its presence on Facebook is known as Facebook marketing. Facebook marketing includes both organic (free) posts and interactions, as well as sponsored or “boosted” posts.

Facebook is one of the most significant platforms for increasing brand recognition and offers a variety of tools for advertisers including robust targeting features, massive data collection and analysis capabilities, and advanced ad formats that allow you to create ads that are just as unique as your brand.

Facebook (Meta) ads created using Ads Manager can also be run on Facebook Marketplace in order to reach more people. While this may just be an attempt to maintain visitors on the social network and not redirect to other non-native sites (and especially not other social media platforms), there’s no doubt that this Facebook marketing feature really helps brands and businesses boost engagement and increase revenue.

Facebook Ads and Instagram ads are now available in a variety of formats such as pictures, videos, carousels (multiple images), instant experiences, and collections. Users are targeted with Facebook ads based on their location, demographics, interests, past activities, and other parameters. 

To activate an ad, you have to select a budget and bid for each click or thousand impressions that your ad receives after producing it. Users will then see your ads on the Facebook sidebar or their newsfeed.

The Elements of a Facebook Ad that Converts

There’s no doubt that Facebook ads are an excellent marketing tool, but there are still some elements you need to add to the mix to have an effective, well-performing, and ROI-driven ad campaign.

According to multiple studies, there are 6 specific elements of a successful Facebook ad that can make all the difference between being remembered by customers and being forgotten immediately:

1. Headline: Make a promise about what your product will do for them
2. Ad Copy: Use curiosity-building copy that makes customers want to know more about your offer (but doesn’t give away too much)
3. Visuals: Use high-quality photos that match your brand’s standards and make people feel something when they see them
4. Value Proposition: Tell people what added value they’ll get out of buying from you, such as free shipping
5. Call-To-Action: Tell people exactly what they need to do next (e.g. Shop Now)
6. Urgency: Give customers a limited amount of time to make the decision

The Different Types of Ads

Facebook ads are customisable, which means that they work in a tailored fashion for your overall business goals. There are many options when it comes to marketing your business on Facebook, but here’s a quick guide to the kinds of Facebook ads you can choose from:

Video Ads

You can share your story with video! Most users say that they feel more connected to a brand after watching the brand’s representatives in action. You can leverage this connection to encourage people to take specific actions such as downloading an app, buying a product, or even simply clicking like on your content.

Image Ads

Image ads are the most common type of Facebook ads, and they typically consist of text and an image (or photo). They can be used to raise awareness about your brand or promote your products, services, and offers. You can also use image ads to reach people based on their interests and location. However, to have a greater impact and increase conversions, make sure your photos are clear and striking.

Collection Ads

You can also showcase your products in action with collections. Collections are full-screen experiences that make it easy for people to browse through multiple products and see what they look like in real life to make more informed decisions about what they want to buy.

The Benefits of Facebook Marketing for Your Business

There are numerous benefits to marketing on the largest social network in the world! Using Facebook marketing, you can effectively and efficiently reach the audience that matters the most for your business. And as mentioned before, you can even customise your target audience using location, demographics, and interests to boost conversions and at a lower cost.

Reach new customers, reconnect with old ones, generate greater brand awareness, boost engagements – all using an online marketplace that’s designed to help you! You can also customise your ads to reach customers at different stages of the buying journey. For example, use video ads to show new customers how your products function or use images to get old customers excited about a new product launch

And because it’s targeted advertising, you’ll only have to pay when someone clicks on your ad – what more could you ask for?

Tips to Improve Facebook Marketing

Even if you’re not a marketing expert, there are certain simple and effective tricks you can use to improve the performance of your Facebook marketing (whether organic or sponsored).

1. Post at a time when most of your audience is online – you can use Facebook’s analysis tools to help with this
2. Share when there’s less competition for attention
3. Post about topics relevant to your audience
4. Keep your post text short and sweet (under 250 characters)

Conclusion

Facebook Marketplace is a great way to expand your business to more channels. However, as with any other platform for making transactions, it’s important to consider the associated risks and figure out whether this is the place to get the best bang for your buck. 

But hopefully, this guide will have given you some insight into Facebook marketing, how to get Facebook Marketplace, and how to leverage it for your business.