Become A Marketplace Tycoon
Facebook Marketplace has become a major staple in online selling over the past few years, to the point where it’s comparable to eBay, Kijiji, Craigslist, and similar platforms. However, many folks still haven’t mastered the art of creating a perfect Facebook Marketplace ad, which can lead to frustration and deceit if you’re not careful. Check out this list to make sure you’re prepped the next time you’re getting rid of some home décor.
1. High-Quality Photos
Nobody will want to buy what you’re selling if they can’t really tell what the thing is. In fact, decent photos are the absolute baseline for making sure an item sells.
2. Good Lighting
If you’re taking a photo of something backlit, or in a dark garage, you’re not going to have as many people biting at your ad. It’s important to take photos under the sun, bright lights, or with flash on to ensure your potential customers can see what they’re buying.
3. Be Descriptive
Don’t leave anything out. The more information people have, the less they need to ask you about. This also includes using Facebook’s predetermined filter settings, so people know exactly what they’re getting.
4. Set A Competitive Price
Before setting up your own ad, it’s a good idea to take a look at what similar items are going for. That way, you can set your price a little bit cheaper than your Marketplace competitors, and hopefully get your item sold faster.
5. List In Buy & Sell Groups
Don’t stop at the Marketplace ad; the real heat is in Facebook’s many, many buy & sell groups. It feels a bit more intimate than just putting your item out into the ether, and communication can happen in a comment section, so interested parties can already see what questions were answered.
Photo By: Kaboompics.com on Pexels
6. Post Your Listing To Your Page
Like a buy & sell group, putting your listing on your page allows your friends and family to see what you’re selling. This can cut selling time in half, and you’ll have a much more comfortable conversation with someone you know than a random stranger.
7. More Is More
Take at least 10 photos of whatever it is you’re selling. We don’t care if it’s a hairbrush or a movie or whatever, don’t underestimate the power of having “too many” photos.
8. Get Its Good Side
You can take plenty of non-blurry photos, in good lighting, but if they’re all extremely close up, it doesn’t even matter. Think of yourself like an advertising aficionado. Your old dresser is your muse, and you’ve just had a stroke of inspiration.
9. Have A Clean Background
We get it - things get busy! However, nothing turns a potential customer away like seeing your dirty dishes or dusty shelves. Take your photo somewhere neutral, like a hallway or even on your bedsheets, to allow all the focus to be on your item.
10. Use Bullet Points
Being descriptive is important, but it is also very long. The best way to make your information more readable to potential customers is to break it down into bullet points. This way, your clients can scan your listing more easily.
Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash
11. Don’t Be Afraid Of A Super Duper Long Title
Thanks to a little thing called Search Engine Optimization, long titles have become the way of the world when selling products online. Don’t be afraid to follow the crowd on this one, and use any descriptive word you can think of to maximize the item’s outreach on the Marketplace.
12. Include Measurements
Please, please, please include measurements in your listing. It will save you and your potential client time, instead of going back and forth in Messenger. It also ensures that the people coming to pick up your item will have proper space to transport it.
13. Boost Your Listing
If you’re getting desperate to get your item out of the house, boosting your listing is a great option. Boosting on the Marketplace shows your listing as a paid advertisement, instead of just a regular post, which can increase how many people see your item. Just be prepared to fork out a few dollars to get this advertisement up and running.
14. Time Your Posts
If you put your item up for sale at 10 AM on a Tuesday, it’s likely not going to get many bites. Many studies indicate that the best times to post your items on the Marketplace are Fridays or weekends, and between the hours of 7-9 AM, 11 AM - 1 PM, or after 6 PM.
15. Be Honest
Don’t try to trick someone into paying for something broken. If you’re selling something that’s broken, just say so! Someone might be interested in it anyway. Aside from a touch of bad karma, you’ll get potential return customers if you tell the truth from the jump.
16. Respond Quickly
Don’t “come back to that message later” - If someone wants your item, you should jump right on it! If you decide to wait to respond, your potential client might’ve already found another item.
17. Make A Seller Profile
Making a seller profile helps establish your credibility in the Marketplace, which can help you look and feel more trustworthy. Alongside that, Facebook seller profiles offer different Messenger communication options, as well as shipping options across the country.
18. Post Your Positive Reviews
Creating a seller profile also allows you to post ratings, past listings, and positive reviews from previous buyers. If you do this, you’ll be able to boost your credibility even more than just through word of mouth.
19. Renew Your Listing
If your item isn’t selling, it might be time to renew your listing. Doing this will essentially refresh your post and move it back to the top of Marketplace search results, and it is typically done at least seven days after the listing was first posted. This is also a good time to knock the price down a little bit.
20. Be Open To Negotiation
Unless the item you’re selling is something of very high quality, don’t be a stickler. If someone reaches out to you offering to pay $10 less than what you have it listed for, it might be worth it to cut your losses.
