Here’s How I Made $500 Selling on Facebook Marketplace
Selling on Facebook Marketplace is a great way to get cash for stuff you don’t want, but it takes a good listing and patience.
Many, or all, of the products featured on this page are from our advertising partners who compensate us when you take certain actions on our website or click to take an action on their website. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money.
Some people flip items on Facebook for profit, but I don’t have time to paint a dresser. I’m a 40-something with a full-time job and little kids.
With the end of summer in sight, you may have outdoor items or ill-advised Amazon purchases you want to get rid of.
Facebook Marketplace is a great tool to sell stuff around the house. It helps me clear the clutter and get back some of what I paid on past purchases. I call it my sustainable side hustle.
What sells well on Facebook Marketplace?
Vehicles, furniture, electronics and even men’s and women’s clothes are among the top categories to sell on Facebook. I’ve had success selling older iPhones, bicycles, strollers, desks and couches. I even sold my 2015 Volkswagen GTI on the Marketplace a few years back — and still miss it.
How much does Facebook charge to sell on Marketplace?
There is a 10% selling fee for selling with shipping on Facebook Marketplace. I sell locally to avoid shipping costs and fees, which requires meeting buyers in person and exchanging cash.
How to get Facebook Marketplace
If you have a Facebook account, it’s easy to list and sell on Marketplace. With more than 3 billion active users according to Statista, Facebook is an easy way to get eyes on your stuff. Look for the Marketplace icon in the Facebook app and start listing.
How to sell on Facebook Marketplace
Listing an item on Facebook Marketplace is almost as easy as making a social media post. These are the steps in a nutshell.
Go to the “sell” section of Marketplace in the Facebook app and tap “create a listing.”
Select either “one item” (if you’re selling a single thing, like a couch or TV) or “multiple items” (if you’re listing a collection of things you want to group, like a set of tools).
Add clear photos and/or a video of what you’re selling.
Fill out the listing details: item title, price, condition, description and your meetup preferences (e.g., door pickup or public meetup).
Publish the listing.
Respond to potential buyers in the Messenger app
How I sell
I recently offloaded three items over the course of a couple months and made just over $500.
I know baby/kid stuff does well on Marketplace, so I listed our like-new Halo bassinet and a well-used Melissa & Doug art easel.
And I'm a mediocre musician who buys too much guitar stuff, so I listed my classic Vox guitar amp to make room for another.
The amp sold for $340, the bassinet made me $150 and I got $20 for the smudged up easel.
Here’s what I do to get stuff sold.
Showcase what you’re selling with several photos
As a shopper, I roll my eyes at listings with only one pic. You can add up to 10, and even include a short video. Why wouldn’t you if you want to sell the thing? You can even slap a screenshot of the item as listed on Amazon to show price and dimensions.
The bassinet was awkward to photograph, so I staged it in front of a window for good lighting. I shoved all the stuff that was on the floor out of the frame and shot it from all angles. I also took a pic of the plush mattress we included with it.
Cozy bassinet for sale.
Upgraded mattress.
The easel was sturdy, but kind of a mess. I wiped down both sides and cleaned the kid scribbles as best I could before snapping some pics. It looked good enough to go for cheap.
The before.
Look at the transformation.
People searching for a good guitar amp know what they want, so my photo goal was simply to convey how pristine I kept my Vox. In hindsight, I should have added a video with sound to sell it quicker.
Classic and pristine.
Very loud.
Price items to sell, then negotiate
A good price gets people’s attention (i.e., make it cheap). You can do your market research right on Facebook Marketplace. Search for the same or similar items and filter by “sold” to get a sense for the going rate. Build room for negotiation into your price, but don’t try to get top dollar. Part of the fun of shopping for used stuff is to haggle on price and get a deal.
We paid $299 for the Halo bassinet (called a BassiNest) when new and bought an upgraded Halo mattress for $80. I went with $175 for my gently used price — then lowered it to $150 after little interest. I priced the easel at $40. It goes for around $70 new. It sold for $20.
I wanted $400 for the couple-year-old amp, which retails at $599, but settled for an offer of $340 after it sat for more than a month.
It can take time for the right buyer to come across a niche item. I like to list my items in local buy, sell and trade community groups to increase the chances. You can join local and neighborhood groups relevant to what you’re selling and use the “list in more places” option for a wider reach.
Title and describe items well
Keep your title simple and add a few notes. Put the name of well-known brands in the title to garner more interest (e.g., 'Fisher-Price' or 'Halo').
Concise-but-clear descriptions attract buyers. I always compose a couple sentences about the item and use good grammar and punctuation.
I harp on the condition (if it’s good), put any potential issues out there and end with a catch phrase of sorts. Here’s how I described the easel:
If writing isn’t your thing, you can ask AI for assistance.
Always be adjusting the listing
Don’t set it and forget it. The Halo bassinet didn’t have many clicks or listing saves early on (Facebook shows this data on each active listing). I tried a new title on a Tuesday and had the first message from an interested buyer the next day. Still, it sat for another month.
I lowered the price, and if that didn’t work, was ready to take and upload new photos. I also considered reposting it from my wife’s account (since a dude selling a bassinet may be a turn off to some). Luckily, $150 was the magic number.
As a Marketplace master (if I do say so myself), I know patience is a virtue.
How to safely close the deal
Being overeager to sell can make you more susceptible to scams, says Ian Bednowitz, general manager of LifeLock.
Take the time to read messages and look for signs of sketchiness — like poorly written communication and an eagerness to exchange funds online — before agreeing to a sale.
Watch for Facebook Marketplace scams
Bednowitz says overpayment scams are common and can be hard to spot. It’s a situation where a supposed buyer makes it look like they’ve sent you money online.
“They say, ‘I sent you a payment on Zelle, Cash App or Venmo and I overpaid you. Can you refund me the difference,’” he says. “When in fact, it’s just a fake email and they haven’t paid anything.”
They may even make a real payment and then reverse it after you’ve refunded the portion overpaid, he says.
“Scammers prey on scarcity and urgency," he says
His advice is to breathe, take a close look at the offer, and pay attention to how people are behaving in their communication.
“Never be too trusting right away with someone you just met online,” Ryan Wilbur, a spokesperson for the Stafford County, Virginia Sheriff’s Office, said in an email interview.
“If a deal seems too good to be true, it normally is,” he said.
Select a safe meetup place
I tell buyers I prefer cash and suggest we meet in a public place.
I really wanted to close the deal on my guitar amp, but the buyer was pressed for time. I took a bit of a risk by agreeing to bring it to his work. It turned out fine, but I had a pit in my stomach as I drove down a rural backroad.
Wilbur recommends using a “safe exchange zone” for transactions. That can be a busy retail area or even the local sheriff's office or police headquarters, which is what his department recommends.
I’ll do that next time. I want my practical side hustle to be a safe one.