How to Make Money on Facebook Marketplace (Complete Guide)
As a writer, you have an unfair advantage
I’ve always loved to thrift.
Truthfully, it’s been one of the only two hobbies I’ve had throughout my life — writing, being the second.
So, naturally, re-selling goods has always appealed to me. And, has been a staple practice of mine when I need to make money fast.
But, I never thought of re-selling goods as a writing practice. 📝💰
That is, until quite recently.
Here’s how Facebook Marketplace is secretly a writing platform. And, how even basic writing skills will give you an unfair advantage.
Facebook Marketplace is a writing platform.
Since running my first garage sale at age 7, re-selling used goods has always been a hobby of mine.
When I was a teenager, the concept of buying low and selling high fascinated me. As I got older, I began looking at it as a sustainability practice. And, as I continue to pursue my passion for words, today, I’ve fallen in love with the people who owned the items.
More specifically, their stories.
As Marie Kondo writes in her book, “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up”,
“The question of what you want to own is actually the question of how you want to live your life.”
Everything we own tells a story. And, when we sell it, that story continues.
But, it’s not what makes Facebook Marketplace a writing platform.
What does, is much more tangible.
For one, people pay with their wallets — but, buy with their hearts. And, the success of a listing comes down to these 3 things:
Title
Description
Telling a story
Sound familiar?
Everything from your headline to your description and what imagery you choose to accompany your listing determines whether your item gets bought or sold. Not to mention, responding to inquiries is oddly similar to responding to comments.
Here’s how you can leverage your linguistic prowess to make money flipping household goods…
How to make money on Facebook Marketplace.
If you’ve never heard of Facebook Marketplace, it’s a subset of Facebook where you can buy and sell local goods in a variety of categories.
Everything from trading cards to vehicles to books to meal prep. Anything you can own or create, you can sell. And, best of all, it’s free and super easy to use.
If you already have a Facebook account, tab over to Facebook Marketplace to start browsing items — or, list your own. If you’re not on Facebook, you can create an account for free.
I used to sell items on Craigslist and eBay, but now sell items almost exclusively on Facebook Marketplace. And, it’s become one of my favourite side hustles.
This year alone, I’ve moved over $20,000 in goods.
And, often outearn my writing income in single weekends.
It’s always been my get-out-of-jail-free card. If the rent is due or you need some extra money, Facebook Marketplace is one of the fastest ways to put cash in the palm of your hand.
Plus, as someone who works from home, I’ve begun to appreciate some of its lesser-known benefits:
People
Stories
Community
Here’s a complete beginner’s guide to making money on Facebook Marketplace — with the first step being… having stuff to sell.
How to find items to sell:
I often correlate writing to life. This is because… well, writing is a reflection of life.
As Will Durant famously said,
“You are what you repeatedly do.”
Similarly, your writing is a reflection of your experiences. And, if you work from home (like me), your experiences may become limited. So, getting out of the house is a great way to get inspired.
Every item has a story to tell.
And, I liken the process of sourcing/buying items to reading.
Selling items is more like writing. And, truthfully, selling a product online is almost identical to writing an article:
Your headline captures your reader’s (or buyer’s) attention
Your listing description accurately tells the story of your item
Your call to action determines whether your item will actually sell
The only difference is that on Facebook Marketplace, you must exchange a physical product for cold-hard cash. Unfortunately, simply reading your listing will not put money in your bank account.
So, here’s how to find physical products to sell for cheap — or, if you get a little creative, for free…
1. Sell stuff you already have:
This is the most obvious one.
Every year, we accumulate things we don’t need. Maybe you have a box of extension cords you’ll never use. Or, a blender set you thought would help you eat healthier.
Whatever it is, we are constantly cycling through different phases of life. And, to healthily move forward, it’s important to let go of items that no longer serve us. So, if you have a hard time throwing things out, instead of looking at these items as trash, start thinking of them as business investments.
As the age-old expression goes, ‘One person’s trash is another’s treasure.’
So, collect everything in your house you no longer need and put it in one spot. Then, start thinking of creative ways to churn your trash into treasure. More on that later.
2. Sell stuff for friends/family:
Dating back to when I was a kid, selling Pokemon cards, I’ve always found the process of re-selling goods exciting. But, as I get older, I realize not everyone shares my enthusiasm for re-homing items.
In fact, many people despise it.
Many of my friends and family members would rather pay someone to come pick up their trash rather than go through the process of churning it into treasure.
So, in my circle, I’ve been appointed the “selling stuff guy”.
If anyone in my life has stuff to sell, they contact me. Sometimes we work out a commission or split the profits. Others, they just give me the stuff for free.
So, if you don’t have treasure to sell, start with trash.
3. Find free items:
One of the best resources for finding free stuff to sell is actually Facebook Marketplace itself.
If you simply search for the word ‘free’, you’ll find all sorts of free products in your local area.
Often, they’re large items people don’t want to move themselves. But, if you check these listings consistently, you can find hidden gems. For example, the person below clearly wants to share their love of words with the world.
If you listed each book separately, this lot would be worth thousands of dollars. 💡💸
People are constantly moving and buying new things. So, if you don’t want to spend money to get started, start looking for free stuff to sell.
4. Re-sell items:
Lastly, you can re-sell items.
Much like playing the stock market, this involves buying low and selling high. So, if you’re a beginner, I wouldn’t recommend this method. But, if you have a good idea of what sells, you can find tons of valuable items on Facebook Marketplace for cheap.
In addition, you can search local:
Auctions
Liquidation sales
Wholesale events
And, while it takes a special individual, dumpster diving has become a popular way to source items on social media. 💡
Regardless of how you find items to sell, once you have them, it’s time to sell them…
How to create attractive listings:
Here’s where your writing skills will begin to pay off.
You don’t need to be an expert linguist to excel on Facebook Marketplace. But, being a clear communicator is an asset. And, if you have any experience writing headlines, blogs, or articles, you can separate yourself from 99% of sellers.
Just like any piece of writing, a great listing starts with a great headline.
Headline & photos:
You don’t need to get fancy, but clearly communicating what is for sale and using the right keywords is the first phase of building intrigue.
Think about what keywords buyers will be searching for. And, what words will stop their scroll.
Just like any piece of writing you post online, the image-headline combo is what entices readers (or buyers) to click on your product.
The one distinction being, when buying and selling, the picture is the most important aspect.
Here are some best practices when taking pictures:
Leverage open space
Lightly edit (on your phone)
Use good lighting (natural light is best)
Take multiple pictures from different angles
The majority of human behaviour is unconscious. So, the more effort you put into taking pictures, the more perceived value you will create for your items.
And, the more money you can get for them.
It’s also a great idea to clean your items before taking pictures — a little water and paper towel go a long way. Most people have already decided whether they want an item or not before coming to meet you. So, the picture is really where you sell the item.
And, truthfully, it’s the most time-consuming portion of the listing process.
Description:
Once you’ve taken your pictures, it’s time to write the listing. Personally, I do everything on my phone because it’s quicker than sitting down at my computer.
Write your listing like you would any piece of writing:
Be clear
Nail the introduction
Provide a call to action at the end
I follow a similar script for every one of my posts:
[1st paragraph]: what I’m selling & why
[2nd paragraph]: the condition of the item
[3rd paragraph]: important details and next steps
Here’s an example:
The final steps are to price your item and add tags…
Pricing:
Just like any storefront, selling items online requires a delicate balance of:
Pricing
Marketing
Merchandising
In my early twenties, I worked at a furniture store — starting in the warehouse and eventually becoming a store manager. During my tenure, I learned how each part of the business is equally important when closing sales.
Products must be staged in an attractive manner, priced to sell, and marketed correctly. If any one of these pillars falters, the whole business falls flat on its face.
So, the first thing I do when pricing items is to find out how much similar items are selling for. You can do this on Facebook Marketplace, on a desktop computer, by adjusting the ‘Availability’ setting to ‘Sold.’
This will show you exactly how much people in your area have paid for similar items. This search feature is not available on mobile. So, to find sold prices from your phone, you can download the eBay mobile app. 💡
Always price items a little higher than you will be willing to take as it leaves room for negotiation. But, don’t price them too high that they will scare off potential buyers.
If you list them at a reasonable price with attractive pictures and a descriptive listing, you should get hits within the first few hours… or even minutes.
If you receive zero messages within the first 3 days, I would make at least one of the following adjustments:👇
Retake the photos
Reduce/change the price
Adjust the listing description
Package or unpackage items*
Just like anything on the internet, it’s often not about the items you sell but rather how you package them.*
For example, I’m currently selling a batch of furniture for a family member of mine. Originally, I posted a bedroom set for $250 — a great deal. But, after receiving zero messages in the first 3 days, I reduced the listing to $200 and eventually $150.
Still, crickets.
Eventually, I took pictures of each item and listed them separately. And, everything sold within 4 days to 4 different buyers for a total of $250.
The items didn’t change — nor, did the price. But, the packaging did. 💡
On the other side of this same concept, I had listed a pair of boxing gloves for $40 last year. But, no one was interested. So, this year, I relisted them as a $60 “boxing package” and it sold instantly.
The buyer even remarked how “the boxing gloves alone were worth $60”.
So, if you’re having trouble selling items, try packaging or unpackaging them to appeal to different buyers.
In addition, you can make sure you’re showing up in these buyers’ search results by adding relevant tags to your listings…
Adding tags:
Just like any algorithm, Facebook automatically detects what you are selling from your picture/description and does its best to link you up with interested buyers. To help Facebook’s AI pair you up with the right buyers, you can add tags to your listings.
Here’s a trick I use:
Create the listing and publish it without adding tags or a category, first. This will allow Facebook to autoassign a category — which, is often much more specific than adding them yourself.
Then, edit your listing once it’s been published and add as many relevant tags as you can think of. Don’t overthink it, 5-7 is plenty.
Communicating with buyers.
Now, the final piece of the puzzle.
If you’ve followed the steps correctly thus far, your inbox should be flooded with interested buyers. Now, it’s time to set up viewings and… well, actually sell your items.
What you’ll notice first is many messages with the same question:
“Is this available?”
This is the auto-message buyers can send through Facebook.
Now, some people do not respond to these messages because they feel they could be from spammy individuals who are not serious about buying. Personally, I respond to every message and have made many sales from people who start the conversation off with this generic message.
Usually, with my own generic message:
Communicating with buyers on Facebook can get repetitive. So, I store a series of generic responses in my Notion notetaking app. More on that later. 💡
Some people merely don’t know how to start a conversation. But, will show interest when prompted.
In the name of transparency…🫠💬
Messaging buyers can be frustrating at times — mainly because the human brain wasn’t designed to field numerous conversations at once. Plus, truthfully, some people are downright unreasonable.
But, communicating with buyers is a necessary evil. And, if you give people the chance, most people are kind and respectful.
So, try your best to be patient and respectful yourself — while standing your ground against low-ball offers or unreasonable requests with a polite, “No, sorry.”
If someone is being rude or disrespectful, you are well within your rights to block them. This is often necessary, as the most unreasonable people are the ones who will leave negative feedback on your profile.
With that said, 99% of my interactions have been positive. And, if you look for the good in people, you’ll usually find it. ❤️🙌
If you’re uncomfortable with having strangers know your home address, you can set up meetings at a nearby public place. Just make sure to proceed with caution. As a general rule of thumb, I don’t like to set up meetings after dark.
If you have an enticing item, it can be a little overwhelming to respond to messages. So, it can be helpful to copy and paste generic answers to questions and keep them on your phone. For example:
“Hi there. Yes, it’s still available. 👍”
“We can meet at _______ near my house. Here is the address: ______.”
“Someone is coming to take a look, but if they don’t take it I’ll let you know. 🙌”
Personally, I keep all of my responses on a custom page in a notetaking app called Notion.
Final thoughts: you must have a ‘why’.
Like anything in life, your desire must be fueled with a strong ‘why’.
Personally, money alone isn’t enough for me to do… well, anything. So, I choose side hustles that help me develop in multiple ways.
For example, re-selling allows me to:
Meet new people
Learn new things
Hear new stories
All of which, are incredibly helpful for writing stories (like this one). Plus, it makes me feel good to add a new chapter to the life of various items.
So, find your ‘why’, discover what you’re really interested in, and enjoy the process. Often, the fastest way to make money is when you stop focusing on it.
Happy selling!
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🎬 This voiceover was edited using Capcut Pro
Love a good side hustle, especially when it's related to writing.
Many years ago I used to do something similar with Amazon and eBay but this is better. I'm going to start browsing the Facebook Marketplace, maybe I can turn it into a new income source.