The best way to earn money by selling on Facebook Marketplace is to list items that are relevant to the current season. Pay attention to what people are buying, and sell to their needs! Make sure your items are priced low, and that you re-evaluate them regularly to improve the image, description, and price. Finally, make sure you have excellent communication with the buyers to optimize selling potential.

I bet right now you are sitting on a hundred dollars.

You don’t believe me? Keep reading!

Right now in 2020, the whole world is reeling from a crazy economic crisis because of a single virus. Millions have lost their jobs. Millions of business have closed.

Do you know what is still alive? The American dream. The American drive. The desire to start from scratch and earn a living.

Facebook Marketplace is the perfect picture of that. People selling items they no longer need. Old furniture. Clothing. Household items. Turning items into cash – and helping people out at the same time.

Let me tell you my story!

My Facebook Marketplace Story

I have sold stuff on Facebook Marketplace for years – usually for larger items that I needed to sell. A car. A dining room table. A side table.

But, several months ago I started selling smaller items on Facebook Marketplace.

You see, we just moved and were finally sorting through everything.

Vases. Paper organizers. Shower curtain rods. Pillows. Old handbags. Stationery. Everything.

And, on a whim I tried to see if an old wooden shoe organizer would sell on Facebook Marketplace.

Within 2 hours someone picked it up for $5.

So I tried again with some lamps. And they sold.

And some old purses. And they sold.

And I kept going! In the last eight months, I have sold over $2500 worth of small items. Most of what I have sold has been sold for less than $10.

Now, you probably wonder why I have so much junk around my house. I wonder that too. But, I do.

And I bet you do too! Just look around.

Do you love that basket in the corner? Do you need that pile of old magazines? What about that purse you haven’t used in two years?

All of those can be sold. Let me show you how!

The best way to make money online

Are you ready? Let’s do this.

For your first assignment, find 10 items that you don’t need. They can be household items. Old candle holders. Tools. Lamps. Desk organizers. Old gifts you don’t need. Extra refills you no longer will use.

To find the best price, do a little research and go to Facebook Marketplace on your phone. Type in the item and see what price your item will go for.

To have success, price your item less than half of its new price. I often sell items for ⅓ or ¼ of their new price. Think garage sale prices.

If you sell 10 items at $5 apiece, that is $50 in your pocket!

Now, what are people buying now during a Quarantine?

Sell stuff online during a Quarantine

Right now during the 2020 Quarantine, I have been selling a lot of essential items. Just think about what you are needing now that you are stuck at home. These are some items that are selling really well right now:

Puzzles and Games – Right now people are ITCHING to play games and build puzzles. My husband brought about 20 puzzles into our marriage that neither of us has put together a second time. We assembled the the puzzles beforehand to prove there were no missing pieces and took photos. We sold all of them within 24 hours. And now I have an empty closet shelf!

We also listed several puzzles for free that had missing pieces. A sweet lady picked these up for her roommate that needed some distractions during a hard week. I was so happy to help her out!

Cleaning items and Household Refills – I have sold some full bottles of cleaners that I don’t love. I have sold some extra lightbulbs.

Tip: if you are selling lamps, include a lightbulb and make your buyer happy!

Kid Toys and Gift Ideas – Right now parents need all the toys and distractions for the kids. Do you have any unused coloring books? Used toys that are no longer being played with? One mom asked if I had any toys that she could give her daughter for her birthday because money was tight. Check out your kids closets and see if it’s time to rotate some items!

Household items – People are still decorating and setting up their houses! It is so hard to find things now in stores, so people are shopping used items. I have sold so many household items.

I haven’t had a lot of luck selling clothing or shoes. But, maybe they will sell well in your area!

Now, how to sell on Facebook Marketplace during a Pandemic

First, make sure you stay safe. I now only do porch pickup and put items on the front step (no more personal hand-offs) and lysol down all items that are outgoing.

Also, I include an envelope for cash that they can put under the mat. If you prefer Venmo or Paypal, this is a perfect time to use those platforms. Personally, I prefer cash and people are totally ok with that!

How to get started by selling on Facebook Marketplace

Let’s get selling!

Facebook Marketplace is available in the Facebook app – or you can just access Facebook in your internet browser.

But, definitely make sure you have the Facebook Messenger app – you will need this to chat with all the potential buyers!

My biggest tip is to post items quickly. Don’t spend a lot of time taking professional photos and writing long descriptions.

How to list items on Facebook Marketplace:

NEW: Facebook Marketplace Updates for 2020

Facebook recently released a new interface for editing your listings on a desktop computer. I’m loving this new design! Let me tell you about it:

Tagging items in Facebook Marketplace

In this desktop interface, you can see that now you can list Decor Style – and even tag your items. For more detailed categories, there are other tag/categorization options.

Also, on the desktop interface, it requires a Condition (new, used, etc.). If you save your item on your mobile device – and then revisit it on a desktop – you will be required to add a condition.

Seeing views in Facebook Marketplace

Also, on desktop you can see how many views an item has received.

This isn’t necessarily a new feature, but it was missing for a lot of this year. Now, you should be able to see the views it has received in the last 14 days.

TIP: If an item is not receiving a lot of views, change the category! I often change items from “household” to “miscellaneous”, and they receive more views and sell faster.

If you don’t want to change an item’s category, create two listings – one for each category for the same item. I’ve heard this works great!

Mark as Pending in Facebook Marketplace

Facebook recently moved their “Mark as Pending” option to just desktop. I hate this!

I used to be able to switch an item to pending inside of the Facebook Messenger app. This is super helpful when a buyer claims an item – and you can just set it to pending on you phone.

Now, to switch an item to pending, you need to edit the item on desktop and set it up there.

This is super helpful if you have an item that is receiving a ton of traction, and you want to block incoming requests while it’s pending.

If you aren’t able to mark as pending on your desktop, just respond to a buyer by saying “This is pending. I’ll let you know if the deal falls through!” to keep promising buyers in the loop.

Facebook Marketplace Tips

Now, here are some of my favorite Facebook Marketplace tips!

• Renew your items every week. Every week, your items will expire. Set one time every week to do a quick audit, lower prices, and renew!
• Audit items that aren’t selling.
  • To do this, check out your items on a desktop computer. This information won’t be available on your phone. On a desktop, you can see how many people have seen the listing. If it is a low number, change the item category and test out a different category.
  • You can also edit the images on a desktop! Facebook Marketplace has image filters, and it really helps to add a filter, crop the photo, add some text, and improve your photos.
• Lower prices until items sell. I have found everything has a selling price. Even if it is $1. If you lower the price enough, it will sell. Just keep lowering until you each that price!
• Offer items for free! Instead of taking items to a consignment store, I have offered so many items for free! I have given away old books, half-opened packages of stationery, used pots and pans that were damaged…so many items. And I get so much pleasure knowing someone will really use those items!

Communication tips for talking to buyers

When someone messages you to check out an item and says, “Is this available?”, respond with more than just a “Yes!”

I usually say:

“Yes this is available! I live in _ and am available all week. I can’t hold it for you, but if you want to schedule a time to check it out, I can give you priority. Just let me know!”

This answers a lot of questions at once, and often weeds out non-serious inquiries.

Here are some questions I ask myself when deciding if I want to list something.

“Have I used this in a year?”

“Would I rather have this, or that item I have been saving up for?”

“If I got rid of this, would I replace it, or not need a replacement?”

“What is a future scenario I might need to use this?”

“If I saved this, what the happiest it would make me? If the best case scenario is just that I would have another tabletop decoration, is that worth it?”

Selling items removes a lot of guilt.

Do you have any items that you feel an obligation to keep? High-priced things you regret buying? Gifts you never use? Old favorites that have a lot of memories attached?

I have found that if I sell guilt-presents – and give those items to a new owner – removes so much guilt and gives so much pleasure!

Check out these awesome Facebook Marketplace tips here!

And that’s it!

Just start with 10 items. Price low. And see how it goes!

If you have any additional tips, please leave them below! I’d love to hear all of your success stories!

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