Just like eBay and Gumtree, Facebook has extended its business model to include an online marketplace feature that lets you discover, buy, and sell items within your area or community. The platform is similar to eBay but with an added touch of social interaction. You can chat with the other party through Facebook Messenger and also view their Facebook profile.
How to Buy on Facebook Marketplace
Once you’ve accessed Marketplace, you’ll see listings organized into categories such as Entertainment, Vehicles, Housing, and Hobbies. You can either browse by category or search for a specific item using the Marketplace search bar. Once you find an item you’d like to buy, you can send a message to the seller to negotiate.
How to Sell on Facebook Marketplace
Almost anything (except restricted items like firearms and drugs), whether new or used, can be listed for sale on Facebook Marketplace. To create a listing:
-
Click the + Sell Something button.
-
Select Item for Sale.
-
Enter the title, price, location, and category of the listing.
-
Click + 10 Photos and upload photos of your item.
-
Click Post.
How to Renew Your Listing on Marketplace
Sometimes, an item may remain unsold after seven days. In such cases, you can either remove the listing or renew it.
To renew your listing:
-
Tap on Your Items.
-
Select the listing you want to renew and tap Manage.
-
From the menu, select Renew in Marketplace.
Why Facebook Marketplace?
The user data Facebook already had wasn’t enough to sustain revenue generation through ads. The company wanted advertisements to be more targeted, and Marketplace helped make that possible.
How Marketplace Helps Facebook Generate More Revenue
This feature encourages users to spend more time on Facebook—browsing, posting items to sell, searching for products, and chatting with sellers or buyers. All of this also increases Messenger usage and interaction with Facebook ads.
When Marketplace was launched, there were already around 450 million users active in buy-and-sell groups. These groups, however, were privately owned and diverse, meaning Facebook had limited control over the offers posted. Some items (such as guns and drugs) violated Facebook’s policies. By introducing Marketplace, Facebook created a central, controlled platform for buying and selling, while also ensuring restricted products could be monitored more effectively.
How Facebook Marketplace Works
You can access Marketplace on Facebook by:
-
Clicking the white storefront icon at the bottom of the app on iOS or at the top of the app on Android.
-
Clicking the white storefront icon in the left sidebar on desktop.