How to sell and promote your product with Facebook marketplace

January 13, 2012 · 77 comments

If you are reading this post, chances are you’re interested in making money using the Facebook Marketplace. Facebook offers several ways to buy and sell your wares within the Facebook Platform with assorted third- party applications (apps).

In this post, I will introduce you to the most widely used Facebook Marketplace application. We will discuss and dive into selling in the Marketplace from posting and managing a listing to complying with the Marketplace guidelines.

Getting To Know The Facebook Marketplace

The official Facebook Marketplace application is a fully integrated package powered by Oodle, a third-party software manufacturer, the Marketplace offers an easy to use Home page. The predecessor to this Marketplace was owned and operated by Facebook itself, but was not as elegant as the new solution. By enlisting the help of Oodle, Facebook has supercharged this part of its platform and opened it up to over 200 local and national sites that Oodle is affiliated with.

Oodle is also a standalone Web site and is considered one of the fastest growing classifieds networks. Oodle powers other companies’ classifieds Web sites including: The Sun, The San Diego Union-Tribune, the New York Post, Lycos, Local.com, and MySpace. Therefore, when you post something on the Marketplace through Oodle, your listing appears on hundreds of leading media and publishing sites, which is good news for you.

The Marketplace is truly different from other popular sites like eBay or Craigslist because it integrates into the fabric of Facebook. Items that you post to the Marketplace appear on your Wall, thus allowing you to take advantage of the viral aspect of Facebook. Facebook lets you view listings according to your default geographic location plus some distance from your location and that gives you some unique views on the Marketplace that you typically don’t get with eBay. Also, you don’t see features like Giving It Away on a site like eBay that needs to charge for listings. Unlike eBay, however, the cost of posting a listing on the Marketplace is always free.

Viewing The Marketplace Home Page

The Marketplace lets you buy, sell, give things away, or ask for anything you want — from people you know in Facebook to anyone on the Oodle network.

Facebook Marketplace URL: http://apps.facebook.com/marketplace/

Post A Listing On Facebook Marketplace

Entering a listing in the Marketplace is fun because it’s so easy. The design of the page has been simplified so that it should only take you a few minutes to enter a listing. Best of all, every listing is free for Facebook members.

Go to Facebook Marketplace homepage: http://apps.facebook.com/marketplace/

Click on ” Post Lising to Marketplace”

1- Type a title in the box. Be sure to keep your headline short and to the point by putting the name of the product or service at the beginning.

2-Type the price that you are asking. Price is not a mandatory field. Unlike eBay, you have no way of gauging a market price for your item, especially if it’s used. So consider doing a search on either a search engine or a Web site, such as eBay or Craigslist to determine fair market value of your item.

3- Check the Free option to give it away for free. Using Give It Away listings might make a great advertisement for your business if you sell products or services. Why not give away a free sample or a free assessment to those near your office.

4- Your location, derived from your profile, is filled in automatically. You can change the location like I did, if you are selling something remotely or from a network different from where you are now.

5- Choose a Category from the drop-down menu. Choices range from Baby & Kid Stuff to Everything Else. If you can’t find a category that best describes your item, you can always use the catch all Everything Else.

6- Type why you are selling the item. Many people write practical descriptions, such as, “I just need the money,” but consider a more provocative answer, something that will get your listing noticed. Because this space is visible in any search results, think of it as an extension to your headline although it isn’t a mandatory field.

7- Type a description. While the box looks like it takes about two to four lines of type, it takes well more than that, so don’t feel constrained.

8- Choose weather you want your listing to be display to your friends only or all Oolde networks.

9- Add up to two photos although only one is required. Example, If you are selling an ebook you could add the front and back cover. You can even add more photos later. Be sure to certify that you have the right to distribute the photos.

10- Click on ” Post” to post you listing. It should be approved and LIVE immediately.

Promoting Your Listing

After you list an item in the Marketplace, it’s time to promote your listing to some friends and put the viral aspect of Facebook to work for you.

1- Share your listing with your social networks. Your listing will get your friends engaged and promote your item for you. Check out the “Share button ” below your item image. There are 3 social share buttons to help you share your listing to your Facebook wall, Twitter followers and +1 for Google+.

2- Send Emails. You can also share a listing with a friend using the traditional method of sharing via e-mail. To share your listing, go to the same “share button ” below your listing picture. From there you can click “EMAIL “, then type the Emails you want to send them your listing. Add a short message about your listing and click Send.

3- Paid ways. You can promote your listing through Facebook Advertising use your listing link as the destination link.

Editing A Listing

After you publish your listing, editing that listing is as easy as clicking the Edit link in the listing page ( see the image below) or located under any of the listings on your My Listings page.

You can make changes to the same details screen that you used to enter the listing. You can also added photos, if you wish. Initially, you limited your upload to just two photos, but now you can add as many as you want.

The more complex the listing, the more photos you should use to help sell it. After you tweak your listing with the changes you desire, click Submit to make them go live. You are then directed to publish this listing to your profile. I feel like there is nothing to lose by promoting a listing on your personal profile.

Facebook Marketplace Guidelines

As you might imagine, the Facebook members who use the Marketplace are very protective of the content. Poor content reflects poorly on all of the members so it is up to everyone to police it.

When looking at an individual listing, you will find at the bottom of every listing the Report link, which gives you the ability to report it to Facebook based on whether you believe the listing to be miscategorized, fraudulent, illegal, inappropriate, spam, or unavailable.

Click on the link below to read the full guidelines for facebook marketplace:
http://apps.facebook.com/marketplace/info/terms/

Below are some guidelines on what I feel are the most important things to keep in mind when using the Marketplace.

1- Listings must be accurate. Be sure that your listing is as accurate as possible. Put disclaimers on a product or warnings if there is something you need to call the buyer’s attention to. You don’t want to be accused of fraud with your listing.

2- Only one listing of an item allowed. Use only using one listing at a time for any given item, if you don’t want to be reported for spam. If you do enter a listing twice by accident, be sure to delete one in a timely fashion.

3- Must have right to sell, lease, or rent item. Be sure that you have the right to rent the space; otherwise, you might be reported. Remember the old saying, “I’ve got a bridge I can sell you”? Well, if it’s not your bridge, you can’t sell it on Facebook. One of the more popular categories is Housing – For Rent, which accounts for almost a third of all listings.

4- May not post inappropriate items. Don’t even think about posting a listing that is threatening to a group or individual, violent, obscene, or contains copyrighted material as inappropriate content is not tolerated. Marketplace members will report you quickly.

5- Must not promote illegal activity. Do not promote illegal activity, such as pornography, prostitution, or drug-related activity. Marketplace members will report you.

6- All real estate listings must comply with the Fair Housing Act. Know that the Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of dwellings, and in other housing-related transactions, based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status (including children under the age of 18 living with parents or legal custodians, pregnant women, and people securing custody of children under the age of 18), and disability.

7- Certain items prohibited. Don’t post any item related to any of the following: nudity, pornography, drugs, threats to a group or individual, violence, obscenity, and copyrighted material, as they are strictly prohibited.

8- Parties are solely responsible. Be responsible for your own listings and activity on the Marketplace. Every listing can be traced back to its owner, so don’t publish anything you wouldn’t want to see on the cover of the newspaper.

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Tagged as: facebook marketing, facebook marketplace, sell on facebook

Article by Faissal Alhaithami

Entrepreneur, Social Media Specialist @Kataraqatar, gladly the founder of Fansbridge. Trainer and Keynote Speaker and the Author of Facebook marketing for smart people.

Faissal has written 53 awesome articles for us at Fans bridge blog

Twitter: @alhaithami | Facebook | Google+