How To Sell On Facebook Marketplace – A New 2021 Growth Channel

Facebook Marketplace Guide for Your Brand: A New Channel For Growth

Imagine relaxing on your couch and turning on your TV after a day at work to find that it only shows one channel.

You would have been puzzled, angry, and disappointed.

When they have choices, people react better, and it’s even better when those options match with things they already do.

Blockbuster was around in the day; when picking out a flick, we would grab our popcorn and candy. This makes sense.

• Order Uber Eats while in an Uber? Sure.
• Are you booking an Airbnb experience while in your Airbnb? Of course.
• Are you pairing your car and hotel rentals? So easy.

It’s only the same to decide your sales channel strategy: it’s necessary to offer a balance of choices to your shoppers.

Fewer and fewer shoppers are spending their money in person instead of online transactions, according to the BigCommerce 2018 Omnichannel Study.

From a demographic standpoint, only 9.6 percent of Gen Z respondents bought an item in a physical store in six months. This is considerably less than the buying of products in a physical store by older generations, substantially less than their older generations (Millennials at 31.04 percent, Gen X at 27.5 percent, and Baby Boomers at 31.9 percent respectively).

Why Facebook Marketplace?

For brands interested in marketing their goods to targeted customers, Facebook is a valuable tool.

Facebook Marketplace, previously only available as a peer-to-peer shopping marketplace, has grown to include merchant selling.

Facebook Marketplace provides brands a chance to capitalize on the conversations already taking place on Facebook. The retail landscape becomes increasingly omnichannel with more and more possibilities to sell in different areas.

Each month, more than 800 million individuals worldwide use Marketplace to search, purchase or sell goods as of October 2018, offering distributors the ability to drive discovery and sales of essential products in a location where their customers are already shopping.

Do keep in mind that Facebook Marketplace is currently only available for US merchants. 

To take advantage of the Facebook marketplace now, here’s what you need to know.

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What is Facebook Marketplace?

For individuals to search, purchase and sell goods, the Marketplace is a convenient destination.

By filtering their results by location, category, and price.

You will hit customers where they are already by selling on the Marketplace.

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Facebook Marketplace Categories

People and brands may list items in the following categories:

• Classifieds.
• Clothing & Accessories.
• Deals.
• Electronics.
• Entertainment.
• Family.
• Hobbies.
• Home & Garden.
• Housing.
• Vehicles.

Shoppers are permitted to select those categories, view all sorts, or search for a specific product.

Things To Consider When Selling on Facebook Marketplace

Orders must be shipped within three days and received within seven days. It is necessary to change the amount you have available for brands that make handmade products to solve supply and demand problems.

1. Not all e-commerce platforms sync with Facebook Marketplace.

Below are examples of e-commerce platforms Facebook Marketplace is partnered with.

• BigCommerce.
• ChannelAdvisor.
• ShipStation.
• Shopify.
• Zentail.
• Quipt.
• CommerceHub.

2. There will be lots of communication/messages from buyers.

As with any sales platform, you will receive questions on Marketplace from individuals interested in buying your product or individuals who have already purchased the item and organize how they will receive it.

For pre-and post-purchase inquiries, you’ll want to perfect the sound and contact models for clients quickly.

Customer support interactions are an often underused way of letting your company’s voice shine and genuinely satisfy consumers.

The Benefits of Selling on Facebook Marketplace

Facebook Marketplace offers an easy way to help increase the discovery of a brand and its products.

1. Extended reach.

Retailers on Marketplace will be able to get their brand and products into the Marketplace.

2. We have a personalized customer experience.

Facebook Marketplace offers consumer-relevant items that help the company find the right customers.

This helps ensure that the right audience sees the product, eventually resulting in an improved likelihood that the interaction will lead to a purchase.

How to Sell on Marketplace

It’s an easy process to sell on Facebook Marketplace, but it is different for merchants versus individuals. Here, we’ll dig into both of them.

For BigCommerce merchants:

According to Danette Martin, owner of Sweetums Signatures, integrating the Facebook marketplace into your BigCommerce store is fast. It’s effortless, and it could take 10 minutes, maybe. You set up your account, sync your shop, and with instant sales, you have an instant presence.

Ensure you ready your store for the sync before you get started by ensuring your inventory is up-to-date and precise.

Navigate to your Channel Manager from your BigCommerce store control panel and choose the Facebook icon.

From there, you’ll see a box detailing the Marketplace Rules. Here, you will have the possibility to click on a button to indicate that you are interested.

You’re all set after tapping.

You will now be in the Marketplace evaluation process for Facebook, which allows them time to decide whether the goods are appropriate for marketplace sales.

Usually, this step takes less than a week.

Access by BigCommerce merchants to the Facebook Marketplace is currently limited to sale in the following categories:

• Accessories.
• Apparel (Men & Women).
• Baby & Kids.
• Bags & Luggage.
• Beauty (Women).
• Home Furnishings.

These Merchants Grew with Facebook Marketplace

By using Facebook Marketplace as a new platform for sales, merchants around the US have an opportunity to expand their scope, get more purchases, and develop their brand.

Facebook Marketplace’s addition is simple for BigCommerce merchants, with built-in help and growth coaching available to assist with implementation. Learn two tales of success below.

1. Sweetums Signatures.

Sweetums Signatures, a family-owned company since 2007, offers custom-made, inexpensive vinyl stickers and decals for all forms of houseware. BigCommerce approached her about possibly listing Sweetums goods on Facebook Marketplace as owner Danette Martin was setting out her 2019 marketing plans.

Sweetums was immediately able to make her inventory available for purchase after merging Facebook Marketplace with the BigCommerce store. It saw success instantly, including a 33 percent rise in revenue year-over-year.

She will soon extend her product offering to include engraving as she continues to see progress in her business.

2. Hats Unlimited.

Hats Unlimited has sold a wide range of hats since opening up a store in 1994 with seven Southern California locations.

It chose to begin selling on Facebook Marketplace after looking for a new platform to add attention to the brand.

The owner of Hats Unlimited, Libero Gruppioni, claims that they have had great success ever since.

3. Spearmint LOVE

What began as a niche brand of “Made in the USA” blankets, Spearmint LOVE rapidly grew into a brand offering a range of delicate items for babies and children.

To learn more about Spearmint LOVE’s Facebook Marketplace tour, please visit our webinar.

Facebook Marketplace Q&A

It’s a big decision to start selling your goods on the Facebook Marketplace, so it’s essential to make sure that you know all the platform’s ins-and-outs and how it interacts with your e-commerce provider.

1. Does Facebook charge for Marketplace?

Oh, no. Facebook Marketplace charges no listing fees, unlike other marketplaces.

2. How do you download Facebook Marketplace?

The Facebook Marketplace is already incorporated into your Facebook app or website on Facebook.com.

For BigCommerce merchants, via the Channel Manager, you can track your Facebook activity.

3. How do I increase marketplace sales on Facebook?

To draw more sellers, there are many ways you can edit your Marketplace listing. Try one of these strategies or more to see how it works.

• Optimize your listing by including more keywords in the title and description.
• Write a longer story with more details about the item.
• Hire a professional photographer to take pictures of your merchandise.

Facebook Marketplace Rules

See the Facebook Marketplace Commerce Policy to learn more about the Marketplace, like what kinds of goods are approved and prohibited.

Marketplace, buy and sell parties, page stores, and Instagram Shopping refer to the Commerce Policies.

1. Certain items cannot be sold.

Facebook maintains a list of products in the Marketplace that are not allowed to be sold. Such things shall include:

• Adult products or services.
• Alcohol.
• Animals.
• Digital media and electronic devices.
• Event tickets.
• Gift Cards.
• Healthcare items (thermometers, first-aid kits, etc.).
• Illegal, prescription, or recreational drugs.
• Tobacco products or tobacco paraphernalia.
• Unsafe supplements.
• Weapons, ammunition, or explosives.

2. You must sell a physical item.

Anything that isn’t a physical product for sale cannot be sold. For example:

• “in search of” posts.
• Lost and found posts.
• Jokes.
• News.

Only by collaboration with one of Facebook’s partners are services such as housekeeping and event tickets available on the market.

3. The description of the item must match the image.

The photos of the item you upload must match the title and description that you give it.

4. Before-and-after pictures are prohibited.

Objects on Facebook for sale can not display an image before and after (example: a photo showing weight loss).

To ensure that a marketplace is a secure place for individuals to buy and sell online, Facebook has gone to great lengths.

You will appeal the decision, and Facebook will take another look if your item is de-listed and you do not think you have violated the Commerce Policies.

You can report the item and the seller if you come across an article for sale that you believe violates the Commerce Policies or the Community Standards of Facebook.

Summary

More than 800 million individuals worldwide use the Marketplace each month to browse, purchase or sell goods as of October 2018.

Merchants are looking for new ways to diversify their distribution channels as competition grows and omnichannel strategies come into play, including tapping into existing networks and online platforms.

The Facebook Marketplace is a platform for individuals to search, purchase and sell goods. You will hit customers where they are already by trading on the Marketplace.