Welcome to this new lesson on a truly important topic: how to sell on Facebook. Selling on Facebook has been possible for a few years now, and it lets anyone sell both used and new items directly on Mark Zuckerberg’s platform. There’s no need for complicated external tools: the only things you obviously need to get started are being signed up for Facebook and knowing how to use Facebook.
In the lesson you’re about to read, we’ll cover:
- What Facebook Marketplace is and how to use it
- How to activate Facebook Marketplace
- How to sell on Facebook from desktop
- How to sell on Facebook from mobile
- What you can and can’t sell on Facebook
Before you start reading, we invite you to check out the other articles in our Facebook Academy. You’ll find plenty of interesting posts, like deep dives into Facebook Ads, Facebook Stories, and much more.
But let’s not waste any more time — let’s dive into this lesson on how to sell on Facebook!
Need a list of Facebook tools?
Looking for a tool to schedule your Facebook posts in advance?
Need a tool to create quizzes and contests?
Want to use an analytics tool and discover the best ones?
No problem, we’ll give you the complete list. FREE!
Get the free Facebook tools list
Selling on Facebook: How to Sell on Facebook Marketplace
Let’s start by saying that you can sell items and products using Facebook Marketplace from both desktop and mobile: in a moment we’ll walk you through both procedures step by step to make everything easier. First, though, we want to explain what Facebook Marketplace is and how it works.
Facebook Marketplace is simply an online market where you can get in touch directly with sellers (if you want to buy) and customers (if you want to sell). In Facebook’s own words, it’s “a convenient place to discover, buy and sell items with people in your community.” The selling platform was born precisely from the realization that over 450 million users were regularly using Facebook groups to trade, sell, and buy items of every kind.
The real strength of Facebook Marketplace is that both sellers’ and buyers’ profiles are immediately accessible, which makes the buying and selling process safer than on other platforms where anonymity often reigns.
At this point you might be wondering: “But in practice, how do I sell my products on Facebook?”
Facebook Marketplace works through listings: this means that if, say, you want to sell an old smartphone that still works perfectly, all you need to do is create a written listing with one or more original photos of your product, upload everything, and wait for a potential buyer to contact you. Easy, right?
Free image from Pixabay
Selling on Facebook from Desktop
Now let’s see how to activate Facebook Marketplace from desktop. Once you’re on the Facebook homepage (here), click the little storefront-shaped button in the left-hand section, labeled “Marketplace”. You’ll land on a screen full of dozens of images of items of every kind, along with each product’s price and name.
Since you’re interested in selling on Facebook, you’ll need to click the “Sell Something” button on the left and fill in the fields of the form that opens, where you’ll be asked to enter:
- What you want to sell
- Price
- Location
- A category
- A description of the item (optional)
- Images
After filling in the various fields, click “Next” and then “Post”: your listing is now officially published and visible on the Facebook Marketplace feed. If you’re wondering “how do I manage my Facebook listing after it’s already published”, don’t worry: just click “Selling” and then one of the two available options, “Mark as Sold” or “Mark as Pending”. In the first case we’re telling Facebook that we’ve sold our product and it’s no longer available; in the second we’re temporarily pausing the sale.
Great — now that we’ve seen how to activate Marketplace on Facebook from desktop and how to manage listings, let’s look at how to do the same thing from a phone or tablet.
Need a list of Facebook tools?
Looking for a tool to schedule your Facebook posts in advance?
Need a tool to create quizzes and contests?
Want to use an analytics tool and discover the best ones?
No problem, we’ll give you the complete list. FREE!
Get the free Facebook tools list
Selling on Facebook from Mobile
Selling on Facebook from mobile is actually very similar to what we just saw. First, make sure you’ve installed the Facebook app (iOS, Android). Tap the store icon and then “Sell”. Select the type of item you want to sell from the following options:
- Items
- Vehicles
- Housing
- Job openings
Come up with a nice catchy title, set the price that seems most appropriate, and add at least one good-quality photo of your product. Then choose the specific category your offer falls into, enter the location, and write a short description (this isn’t required, but we recommend it). Now tap “Next” and choose the publishing option you prefer.
Managing your listings from mobile is pretty simple: inside the Marketplace screen, just tap “You”, then “Selling”. Tap the three-dot icon to edit the listing or delete it.
Selling on Facebook: the Facebook Shop Section
The second option for selling is to use the Facebook Shop section — in other words, to create a shop on Facebook. First, make sure to activate the shop section on your Facebook page: to do this, just go to “Settings”, click “Edit Page” and select one of the preset templates Facebook makes available to you.
At the bottom of the templates tab you’ll find a menu that includes the “Shop”. Click “Add Tab” and you’re all set. We recommend placing the Facebook Shop section in a highly visible area of the page, such as near the top.
Once the shop section is activated, you’ll need to configure it. Here are the steps to set up your Facebook Shop:
- Accept Facebook’s terms and click “Continue”
- Select a checkout method
- Choose your currency
Great — at this point the shop is active and properly configured, but it’s still empty. The next step is to add one or more products. To do that, all you need to do is click “Add Product” and enter the following details:
- Name
- Description
- Price
- Link to a purchase page
- Product image
We also recommend adding a short but effective description of your store at the top of your Facebook Shop, to build trust with your audience.
If you’re planning to add lots of products, the “Collections” feature comes to your rescue, letting you organize them in a coherent way and making the whole experience easier for the user as well.
We also suggest tagging your shop products in your posts: when you create a new post, you’ll find a new shopping-bag icon in the toolbar at the bottom, which corresponds to the “Tag Products” feature. Click the icon and choose from the various products you’ve added to your shop. Once the post is published, you’ll see at the bottom — right under the image — one or more small boxes with the image, title, and price of your products (based on the number of products you selected).
Free image from Pixabay
How to Sell on Facebook Using Facebook Groups
As a third option for selling on Facebook, let’s look at Groups. Let’s say it right away: if you want to sell on Facebook through a group, you first need to make sure the group’s “Buy and Sell” option is enabled. Only group admins can turn this feature on and off.
Once you’ve confirmed the Group has it enabled, proceed as follows:
- Click Groups in the left-hand menu of your Facebook feed
- Click “What are you selling?”
- Enter all the details about your product, then click “Post”
There’s a list of items you’re not allowed to sell on Facebook, including weapons, animals, drugs, and anything that violates intellectual property.
There’s an academy lesson on Facebook groups — click through to learn more.
Is It Legal to Sell on Facebook?
Yes, it’s legal to sell on Facebook, as long as the transaction complies with current regulations. In other words, the sale needs to be invoiced: to do this you can use a payment system like PayPal (learn more), which guarantees the transfer of the item is tracked.
Another thing to keep in mind is that there’s a series of items Facebook doesn’t allow you to sell. Here’s the list:
- Non-existent items — anything that isn’t considered an actual product, such as “news”, “jokes”, “posts”, etc.
- Services and event tickets: to sell this kind of product you need to request written permission directly from Facebook.
- Items where the description doesn’t match the photo.
- Animals: you can’t sell animals or offer them for adoption on Marketplace.
- Healthcare items, such as thermometers, first-aid kits, etc.
- “Before and after” images: if the item for sale features a before-and-after image — for example, a photo of a person before and after losing weight — it’s not considered acceptable by the social network.
Free image from Pixabay
Conclusion
In this lesson we covered how to sell on Facebook using Facebook Marketplace, the Facebook Shop section, and Facebook Groups. We showed you how to put the items you no longer use up for sale on Facebook — and maybe make a decent amount of money from them. We also explained that it’s perfectly legal to sell on Facebook, as long as you follow the right rules.
In the next lessons we’ll cover other specific Facebook topics. Stay tuned and keep following your favorite Facebook Academy!
Want a consultation on selling on Facebook or on managing your page? Contact us! We’ll design the best Facebook strategy to do whatever it takes to reach your goal.
Want to improve your Facebook skills? Contact us! We’ll find the right course for you.
Want to ask us for info or talk to us? Contact us! That’s what we’re here for.
- Readers Rating
- Rated 5 stars
5 / 5 (8 Reviewers) - Spectacular
- Your Rating