Facebook Marketplace: sell locally, keep all the money

The point of Marketplace

About a billion people browse Facebook Marketplace monthly. The main draw: no fees on local pickup sales.

When someone picks up your item and hands you cash, Facebook takes nothing. No listing fees, no transaction fees. That's genuinely unusual.

How it works

Listing: Marketplace icon → Create listing → Photos (up to 10) → Title, price, category, description → Publish

Communication: Buyers message you through Messenger. You can see their profile, which helps figure out if they're legit. Real-time chat makes coordinating meetups easy.

Payment options:

• Cash at pickup: Free
• Facebook Checkout for shipping: 5% fee (or $0.40 minimum)
• Venmo/PayPal: Whatever you arrange privately

Fee comparison

Platform	Local sale	Shipped sale
FB Marketplace	0%	5%
eBay	13.25%	13.25%
Craigslist	0%	Not offered
Poshmark	N/A	20%

For local, Marketplace is hard to beat.

What sells locally

Furniture - Couches, tables, dressers. Heavy stuff nobody wants to ship.

Large appliances - Washers, fridges, stoves. Buyers want to see them work.

Vehicles - Cars, motorcycles, boats. Obvious reasons.

Baby stuff - Strollers, car seats, cribs. Parents like inspecting condition.

Sports equipment - Bikes, gym equipment, camping gear. Too bulky to ship economically.

Cheaper electronics - Old phones, gaming systems, small appliances. Quick cash deals work well.

Pricing

Build in negotiation room. Most buyers will try to negotiate. If you want $80, list at $90-95.

Check what others are listing. But remember: listed prices aren't sold prices. Something listed at $200 for three weeks isn't worth $200.

"OBO" attracts more messages. Also more lowball offers. Use it if you want volume, skip it if you're firm on price.

Need to sell fast? Price 20-30% below market and say "moving, must go" or similar. Works.

Safety (actually important)

Where to meet

• Police station parking lots. Many have designated exchange spots.
• Bank lobbies during business hours
• Busy store parking lots
• Inside a coffee shop

Don't meet at your home unless you're selling furniture that can't be moved. Don't meet in secluded areas. Don't meet at night.

Other basics

• Bring someone for high-value sales
• Count cash before handing over the item
• For large amounts, meet at a bank where you can verify bills
• If something feels off, cancel. No sale is worth your safety.

Check the buyer's profile

• How old is the account?
• Do they have friends, posts, a real presence?
• New accounts with nothing on them are sketchy

Local vs shipping

Local pickup has obvious advantages: no fees, instant cash, no packaging, no returns. The buyer sees exactly what they're getting.

Shipping makes sense when:

• You have something valuable that local buyers won't pay enough for
• It's small and easy to ship
• Local demand is low
• You're willing to pay the 5% fee for more reach

What actually helps you sell

Good photos. Natural light, multiple angles, show the flaws. Include something for scale if size matters.

Fast responses. Facebook shows buyers your typical response time. Slow sellers lose buyers.

Honesty about condition. Nobody wants to drive 20 minutes to discover damage you didn't mention.

Cross-post to local groups. Most towns have Buy/Sell groups. Same listing, more eyeballs.

Relist if it's stale. Delete and recreate the listing to bump it back up. Marketplace rewards fresh listings.

Scams to know about

"I'll send a check" - The check is fake. Always.

Overpayment - They send more than asking, want you to refund the difference. The original payment bounces.

"Can you ship it?" - Often combined with fake payment screenshots.

"My assistant will pick up" - Sometimes a setup for robbery or a scam.

The rule: cash in hand for local. If someone sends digital payment, wait until it actually clears before handing over the item.

Marketplace vs the others

	FB Marketplace	Craigslist	OfferUp
Buyer profiles	Yes	No	Yes
Messaging	In-app	Email	In-app
Shipping	Yes	No	Yes
Local fees	0%	0%	0%
Audience	Huge	Large	Growing

Marketplace wins on audience size. Being able to see buyer profiles makes vetting easier than Craigslist's anonymous emails.

Bottom line

FB Marketplace works best for local sales of bulky items that are annoying to ship. Zero fees means you keep everything. The tradeoff is dealing with flaky buyers and meeting strangers in parking lots.

Use CostBuddy to figure out fair prices before listing - helps you price competitively without leaving money on the table.