If you follow me on Life At 59, you’ll know I’m a big fan of Facebook Marketplace.
I don’t use Facebook for anything other than the marketplace now and you can get some absolute steals on there.
With the likes of eBay and ETSY, people are looking to get as much money as they can for what they’re selling. On Facebook Marketplace, it’s all about the convinience.
You just take a picture, post it to the site, write a couple of lines of description and watch the offers fly in.
You might be selling (or trying to get rid of – you can put items on there for free, too) something for convinience, but there are plenty of ways to post something quickly and maximise the profits you’re making.
Here are my quick and easy tips:
Start with a lifestyle shot
When it comes to our houses, we like inspiration. If you can see a product in situ, it makes it a lot easier to imagine it in your own home.
If you don’t believe me, check out Not On The High Street. When we were contemplating putting Maya Rey on there, they said all our images needed to be lifestyle images because that’s what sells.
It doesn’t take a minute to put a light on, tidy the area and take a picture. It could be the difference between £20 or £75.
Make sure you still include all the other (less glamorous pictures) in the post. People still want to see the scratches and the closeups, but they won’t be immediately drawn in by those shots.
Write how much you paid for it
It’s important to be transparent with people. Let them know how much you paid for it originally so they know how much of a discount they’re getting.
You might notice that a lot of vintage and second-hand sellers trawl Facebook Marketplace for products, by giving them this information, they can make a decsion about whether or not it’s worth it.
“Needs to be ironed”
The other day, my friend text me a picture on Depop of a very, very creased top. In the description it said “needs to be ironed”.
Here’s a radacal idea: iron it then.
The same goes for “it needs to be cleaned”. Sure, if you’re putting something on there for free, it doesn’t really matter. But, if you want to maximise your profits on Facebook Marketplace then you need to put in the little extra effort.
The photos above are from A Bohemian’s Attic on ETSY. I think this is a real masterclass on how to lay out products. Of course, these have surely come from years of experience, but we can learn a lot from there.
They’re simple, centred, but eye-catching.
The key information to include
Being honest is very important. Not only is it a good life skill to have anyway, but it’ll also save you a lot of time on Facebook Marketplace.
If you aren’t honest from the offset, when somebody comes to pick it up they’re going to leave without it. Don’t waste your time and other people’s by trying to make it look better than it is.
Here’s what you should include to stop people sending you messages asking loads of questions:
- The sizes (PLEASE include sizes). If you don’t you will get hundreds of messages from people asking you for the sizes and you’ll waste your own time telling them.
- Any scratches, broken bits etc.
- Colour. Don’t edit the photo to within an inch of its life so nobody can see what it actually looks like.
- If you’re selling multiple items of the same thing (i.e. 4 dining chairs) then give a price for all four. Don’t trick people by putting £25 when you actually mean £100 for all four. It’s annoying.
Price it higher than you will accept
People are going to try to cut a deal on Facebook Marketplace.
If you want to sell something for £75, then put it on for £100. Then, if somebody loves it enough to pay £100 for it, that’s a bonus for you.
Also, you don’t have to accept a lower offer. I very rarely will accept lower than what I put it on for unless I’m desperate to get rid of it and have put it on there just to get it out of the house.
I find it hard to part with things, especially because I spend a lot of time finding things and a lot of the homeware in my house is vintage or one of a kind. This is just a personal thing, you might not care so much about dropping the price a bit to get something out of your house.
