I often talk about buying secondhand items on Facebook Marketplace, but I rarely give advice on how to sell your items.
Maybe you scooped up something from a stranger that’s not working in your home. You searched, conversed, drove, found, reconsidered, realized it’s just not working…and now it’s time to re-sell.
Or maybe you’ve accumulated all the fancy things and you must rid your home of some treasures – not to meet your spouse’s request to reduce the hoarding – but to make room for new fancy things.
Come hell or high water, I will find a place for new treasures in this house.
Personally, I don’t enjoy selling items on MP. I’ve found that I encounter a lot of people wasting my time. For example, right now I’m selling this West Elm side table for $50. New, it costs around $120.
So far, I’ve received 23 messages over the last 7 days about this table.
14 of the messages were “is this available?” and never replied when I confirmed that it was available.
2 of the messages were people who were less than verbose and fired off a price that they wanted to pay without even asking if it was available/negotiable. Just “$25.” Rude.
6 of the messages were people expressing interest, saying they would let me know when they could pick up, but never replied when I followed up.
1 person set a day/time and never showed up.
Is the $50 really worth all the hassle and wasted time? To me, no. For higher priced items, yes.
I’d rather spend time scouring the Shop Rite circular for coupons to see how I can save $50 on my next food shopping order.
But I suppose purging your items to make room for new ones helps the world go ’round, so here are some tips based on my own experience for selling your goodies on Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, eBay…wherever you do your secondhand shopping.
First thing’s first, here are some common acronyms you may see thrown around. I don’t use these terms, but thought it would be useful to share here in case you want to include in your listing description or when interacting with a potential buyer.
- NIL: next in line
- PM: personal message(i.e. PM” me if interested)
- OBO: or best offer
- PUP: pickup pending
- FIRM: price is not negotiable
.01 // TAKE PHOTOS IN NATURAL SUNLIGHT (NO FLASH OR LIGHTS ON)!
You can’t see the true color/details of something at night or with the flash on, so taking photos in natural sunlight is super important. It’s just clear what you’re selling.
You don’t have to be a professional photographer, just place the item in a well-lit room and take a few photos, making sure you get multiple angles and close-ups of any flaws.
Good photos will help your item sell faster (and you’ll probably get fewer questions/requests for photos from a potential buyer).
I often see people using only stock imagery instead of photos of the actual item in their own home, which drives me nuts. How would a buyer know what it actually looks like/how used it is?! If you can find the link to the original retail item, you can link it in the description so a buyer can view more details.
.02 // DETAILS & DIMENSIONS
If I had a dollar for every “what are the dimensions?” message I sent, I’d be a very wealthy woman.
A few days ago, I messaged a guy about the height of a side table he was selling. He had the length and width, but I wanted to be sure the height wasn’t too tall for our loveseat.
His response?
“average height of a side table.”
I get responses like this so often that I made a meme for this outlandish behavior
It will make your life so much easier if you just list the dimensions. Someone is going to come along and ask, and you’re going to have to give it to them anyway.
Provide a detailed description and be honest – don’t mislead anyone. Include any flaws, dings, scratches, tears, etc. in the listing.
If the item is heavy and you can’t help them carry to their car, you should mention that in the description too.
.03 // USE THE CORRECT KEYWORDS
I talk about the importance of using keywords to search items in this post, but if you want your listing to be seen, use the right keywords so others can find it. Put keywords in the description too!
I see items like this listed often and they’re usually described inaccurately:
Something like:
“beautiful small old couch”
when it should be:
“Vintage (insert brand if you know it) French Country Style floral loveseat”
The key is to be as specific and detailed as possible. Some things to think about when considering keywords:
- What type of item is it? For example – “couch” is too vague. Is it a sofa, a loveseat, settee, or a sectional?
- What style is it? Mid century modern? French country? Traditional? Boho?
- Is it upholstered? If so, what type of fabric?
- Material – Wood? Glass? Cane? Solid brass?
- What’s the brand?
- TIP: if you’re unsure, you may be able to find the brand of an item looking underneath it or checking around/under cushions if it’s a sofa.
The view from underneath my (Baker) coffee table
.04 // HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU LIST SOMETHING FOR?
Well to that I ask…what’s the resale value of your item?
In my opinion, there are 2 types of items that don’t have a high resale value.
- Modern-made items
- i.e. anything from Wayfair, Home Goods, etc.
- Upholstered items (no matter how new)
Often times I’ll see people list “BRAND NEW WEST ELM CHAIRS NEVER USED” for basically the same price they paid for it (you can go online and find out because it’s a retail brand).
I get it, people want to recover the same amount they paid, but here’s my opinion on selling upholstered goods…
Upholstery is like a car.
As soon as you drive a car off the lot, it depreciates in value.
As soon as your ass hits a chair, it depreciates in value.
And even if a seller is being honest and they are in fact right out of the box, no one actually believes that the chairs have never been used no matter how immaculate they are.
I never buy upholstered goods at retail/brand new because:
1. It’s probably made poorly. And if it’s not, it’s definitely out of my price range
2. I know the resale value is terrible
Modern-made furniture is tricky because it also depends on the brand. I often see Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware items sell at high prices and crazy fast, but it really comes down to the item, how desirable it is, and the condition of it.
Here’s an example of a listing with a good description, good photos, and priced a smidge too low. If something like this is in excellent condition and from a brand like Henredon, I’d probably try and get $250 from this (that’s what I’ve seen similar items go for at auction):
But it’s a not-so-desirable color, so maybeeee I’d list for $200 and go from there.
If you have a higher-end, vintage/antique item to sell at a high price (say, over $2,000), I’m not sure Facebook Marketplace is the place to sell it. You can certainly list it for the price you want it for and see if you get any bites, but Chairish, 1stDibs, eBay, or an auction may be best to get the most $ for what it’s worth.
Here are some things I think about when I’m selling my items:
- how much did I pay for it (if purchased new/retail)?
- how used is it? is this in good condition, any major flaws?
- how much do I think this is worth?
- how much are similar items going for?
- if it’s a vintage/antique, I’d see the average price of what similar items are going for on Chairish and start the listing around that
I personally list my items slightly higher knowing that someone will make me an offer. A reasonable offer (to me) is one that is no more than 25% off my asking price and consider offers beyond that a lowball offer. But it doesn’t mean we can’t negotiate and meet somewhere in the middle.
If you’re unsure what price to list it as, start higher. This leads me to my next thought…
.05 // HOW FREQUENTLY SHOULD YOU DROP THE PRICE ON SOMETHING & RENEW IN MP?
This depends on how badly you want to sell it. If it’s something you are willing to take less $ for and really just want it out of your house, then consider dropping the price for a quick sale.
But if you’re willing to wait and can deal with the extra space an item is taking up, then I’d personally drop the price 5-10% and renew every 2 weeks or so. Renewing will help bump your item up to the top of the FB MP feed, helping with visibility.
Example – I had six Chippendale dining chairs for sale. I paid $750 for all six of them, and I listed them on FB MP 5 weeks ago for $700. Based on how much these chairs go for on Chairish, I think I paid a fair price but maybe slightly overpaid, hence why I listed for $700.
After 3 weeks, I dropped the price to $650, and I just sold them a few days ago to a woman who paid full price for them. I’m glad I waited for the right buyer rather than drop the price to say, $550 for a quick sale and lose more money.
.06 // WHO DO I SELL IT TO FIRST IF MORE THAN ONE PERSON IS INTERESTED?
This is tricky because everyone has their own way of going about it. Some have told me they sell to the first person who can pick it up, no holds. I personally don’t do this, but it would probably prevent the hassle that I’ve been going through to sell the damn $50 side table.
I go by whoever messages me first. If I reply to them and they take a while to respond, I’ll let them know that I’m moving on to the next person if they don’t reply within the hour. And then I go down the chain until someone eventually commits.
.07 // SOMEONE IS READY TO BUY YOUR ITEM. NOW, WHAT?
This depends on comfortable you are with someone coming to your house, or if you’re not at all. I don’t mind going to pick up an item alone, but I never let anyone come to our house without Angelo being home.
You can meet the buyer in a busy parking lot or police station during the day. Some towns have local meetup spots for things like this.
You can also offer to drive the item to them for a fee and bring someone with you for safety.
Or you can do a porch pickup, which is my personal fav. Since Covid, there’s an option when creating a listing to include this so buyers know you don’t want to interact with them in-person. If someone pays with Venmo/PayPal beforehand, I’ll bring the item outside so they can scoop it up and leave. If it’s a larger item, Angelo or I usually go out to help them carry it to their car.
When it comes to buying and selling, always follow your gut. If something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t right.
Phew, that was a long one. If you have any insight or tips on selling, feel free to share below.
Have a great rest of your weekend!
I am glad you shared examples, I find myself completely clueless when it comes to pricing. Thanks for sharing
The one thing you I’d add is that I’ve read that usually on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist we need to price items lower than any site or resale place does, as they have put money into a larger business, have more inventory, advertise, etc., and thus can command higher prices generally. Not always, of course. But I see lots of people say things like “I see these selling for xxx on Replacements.com” or “online these sell for a lot, so don’t expect a lower price” when their expectations are unrealistic.
Great tips!! I always cross post on FB Marketplace and OfferUp!
So helpful! Also, does anyone actually buy anything from 1stdibs or chairish???? The prices are ridiculously high. I only go on there to find what brands/styles I like and then go to FB MP to hunt them down for normal human prices. There was a pair of velvet button tufted MCM barrel chairs that the decorator I was using chose as a “good deal” and they were $900 for the pair. Everybody’s grandma had chairs like that in the 60s and I ended up finding the exact chairs (in an even nicer color) for $50 each. I have a super high end sofa on chairish (got it off FB MP for $300) and I listed it for something like $2k with no bites. One other thing in the super long post – Etsy is another good source for furniture and decor, and is about halfway between FB MP and Chairish in terms of price. We bought an amazing Art Deco chandelier from the 20s on Etsy for $500. Anyway, thanks for another great post. Your blog has become my absolute favorite. 🙂
I ask for a cell number of the buyer before I meet them or they come to my house. Seems to help with no shows.
Wish MA were closer to NJ as I would buy that table in a heartbeat but price of gas doesn’t justify ????
Thank you for sharing! I was kind of hoping maybe to read to sell for 25% -40% percent depending on the condition of the items. Although I do know some items do very like real wood vs That crap they sale these days. But over all Thank you. I do feel lately I have people straight up low balling me. Something for example I listed says on ebay used for $65 (it was a portable tv) I had post for $55 finally lowered it to $40. A hundred questions later, several no shows (which I msg them stating how r8de that was all they had to say is was to far, they changed their mind, etc… I had someone offer me $35 ‘then they asked about the car charger so I sent a pic (which was already with the other pics) bc it didnt have a car charger (which didnt even come with one when bought) they said that changes my offer. But I was patient and at least got the $40. I completely agree with you it wasnt even worth the time and energy for the $40 2 months later. I do absolutely love porch pick ups. I sale things on line to help with Bill’s so I just do it. More times then all the BS I ens up making a nice amount of money while at work with porch pick ups. Now or course like you said heavier items I’ll be here or Something over 40 bucks. Electronics I like to be home so I can show them it works as I bring an electric cord outside. Long story on why I started that! Anyway thank you. Great read!
Sorry what guy offered me $25 not $35
Great tips! I used to sell furniture on Craigslist, but stopped when it started getting weird. I remember one woman saying she really wanted something, she said she would come on a certain day, but never showed. I gave her a second and third chance, but then I said forget it. I still have that item in a bedroom and am now happy that it didn’t sell. A neighbor has a booth at an antique store here in Chattanooga and she also sells on Market Place. She does very well with her booth (sells mid-century furniture) but she has the same exact issues as you do with Market Place.
Two tips I learned from my sister: first, list it as “Pick up only,” if you do not want to deliver the item. And, since we usually sell items for less than $100, I put “Cash only.” This helps to eliminate much discussion. Another tip, once she has a buyer, is to ask the buyer to text her when they are about 10 minutes away from her home. She does give them the name of her town, so they are close. Then she is able to give them her exact address. That way, she is not waiting around for the buyer, but can be busy doing other things close or in her home. Hope this helps!
1997. Fleetwood. PaceArrow. Motorhome
Haha. Try listing something for Free! We had a $50 Walmart white Christmas tree, that we wanted to get rid of. I listed it for free. And the frenzy started. At least 50 inquiries!!! In the end I still have the damn tree! One lady asked me to deliver it 1.5 hours away (3 hour trip for me) people said they’d come get it but never did. One lady strung me along for 3 days, “I’m waiting for my husband, I need a ride…..” some the requests were delirious. After 40-50 attempts I pulled the ad and gave the tree to a local donation place.
I use FB MP regularity, and agree with your article, 1/2 of the responses to “is this available” end there. But since you can’t tell which ones are a waste of time, you have to answer each one with a yes. I’ve also been quite surprised by the ones you thought were a waste of time, and then end up buying.
Thanks for the article.
Precisely my experience and I sold a lot on FB MP. I live in Australia! People are all the same, all over the world.
Hello, your post is really profitable for me and I hope for other. Because you are sharing a knowledgeable content.
Ever have any problems with people stopping payment with Venmo or Paypal? I have heard that they can stop payment just like with a credit card. Thanks for your article. Very informative and helpful.
I should say that you can make your life on facebook MP a lot easier if you use some automation tool to answer those messages. For example, Cucomm browser extension. It can send multiple messages, so you will save much time and nerves.
MP already has an auto reply
Please change the text color it is so difficult to read you must consider the variations of your visitors and not just the looks of your blog I am interested to read your blog but I couldn’t because of the color of the text.
I’m sorry you had trouble reading. I have never received a comment like this before about the color of the font but I will look into addressing it.
I have vision problems but I read the article very easily. Lol I don’t normally comment on stuff like this but my goodness people just complain because they have too much time in their hands and would rather complain than make a compliment. I loved your article and I know this is what, 10 months later lol
I have vision problems but I read the article very easily. Lol I don’t normally comment on stuff like this but my goodness people just complain because they have too much time in their hands and would rather complain than make a compliment. I loved your article and I know this is what, 10 months later lol
Has anyone on here ever had a problem with people messaging them about purchasing their item and then asking you to give a name and email for your PayPal account to pay you for the item. After you give them the information they then tell you to check your email spam/junk folder for an email to accept payment. I have listed alot of items on marketplace but just recently listed a new wedding dress that is worth $975. for $500. And as soon as I listed the item I started receiving messages that claimed they were interested in purchasing it but all of them were offering asking price plus $100. for shipping and all of them were just scams trying to get me to open an email that was supposedly from PayPal saying I had received payment. Of course I know that if I had actually received a payment I could find it in my PayPal account. On one of these offers it was from a person claiming they lived in Miami Florida and it said they had messaged me from messanger while not on Facebook. When I looked up this person on Facebook she was actually from Texas. I messaged her on Facebook and she had no idea what I was talking about. So I asked the person who had messaged me what the address was I would be shipping to and they gave me an address in Miami florida but when I looked up the address it was a huge house that was listed online for sale. I just wanted to warn people about this happening. It was a huge waste of time because like someone mentioned earlier you never know if the person messaging you is really interested or if its another scam.
that sounds like a scam. To be honest I’ve heard of it happening to others but it doesn’t seem common. I think just being aware and having the sense to recognize something may be a scam is important!
Great info. Old guy who needs help. Please send info.
Haven’t seen that one, but beware of buyers asking for your phone number right away explaining that they’ll send you a code to verify that YOUR’RE real but that you shouldn’t click on the link. This is a common scam now for them to get Google numbers. I check the profiles to make sure they are more than 17 minutes old AND I keep communications to Messenger. Fool me once…
Thank you. If you don’t know how to price it can you do a low price and ask for best offer. Also being new to this I put something on obviouslyway way below price I should have asked. Will I get I trouble if just raise the price. Thank you
Great article. What payment options do you suggest? Am listing my first few items and with porch pickup an worried about someone grabbing and going without paying.
thanks! I usually request them to pay ahead of time or on their way if they’re doing porch pickup. then I can leave the item outside without worrying.
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Great tips. The only thing I would provide a differing opinion on is pricing. The default on MP seems to be to list it for new prices. For me all used items should be listed at 50% of new, unless it’s an open box sale (basically new). I see greedy ppl day in/out asking retail prices for well used goods. Sure they may not get the full asking price, but they also lose a lot of business, and have to deal with a ton of losers, if they ever manage to sell it at all. Why do you want my business? B/c when I say I’ll show up I do, with the agree purchase price in hand. You don’t like the non-commital buyers wasting your time? Don’t waste the deal hunters time by pricing unreasonably in the first place.
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I would like to ask that if you do end up selling items on fb, would you recommend providing a receipt for the items they purchased? Just a list of things bought and the amount paid. Nothing fancy. I would like to sell a few household items but am thinking what if people accuse me of not giving them everything they have paid for. What evidence would I have against the accuser?
I have a brown and cream marble top marble top for sale
Do you ever get anyone asking to just come look at the item? I’ve gotten that a few times and usually say no, and that I will send additional pictures. Should I let people come out to my house to just look?
I do, and it annoys me lol. The few times I’ve let someone do that, they aren’t really serious about buying. At least in my experience. I just move on to the next person
Thanks for the info my favourite on your list its west Elm their product are really good.
I just feel I made my article price too low. Can I change it now? It is on fb mp. I do have 4 people interested. I looked on eBay at similar ones and I have short myself about $50. What can I do?
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