The Banana Holder That Started It All
I was browsing Facebook Marketplace the other day, and I saw this listing for a banana holder and I looked at it for a few seconds and thought maybe it’s time for another Facebook Marketplace video. Facebook Marketplace is an ever-changing place—it’s full of scammers, but it is also full of genuine people who are trying to sell their quality items. This platform truly has the full spectrum, and sometimes you just don’t know what to expect.
Why You Should Trust My Tips
I am by no means an expert on Facebook Marketplace; however, I have sold every single listing that I have put on the platform. Items have ranged from my used jacket to my dad’s snowblower to even some old used Crocs. Even my old iPhone—I’ve listed such a wide variety of items, probably some of the largest variety of items on the platform, so I have just a little bit of knowledge in all of it.
Welcome to the Riley Reform Channel!
What is going on, everyone? This is Riley with the Riley Reform Channel, and today we’re diving deep into the art of selling items faster on Facebook Marketplace. Whether you’re a seasoned seller or you’re just starting, stick around for some game-changing insights. Now, let’s get started.
The #1 Rule: Communication Is Key
Over the last few years of Facebook listings, one of the biggest things that I have come to expect is solid communication between both parties. If you’re selling something, you better be responsive to all of the people who message you, not just quick responses, but also thoughtful responses. This is not the area to be short. Someone who is hard to get a hold of or gives short, not very thoughtful responses is a big turnoff for me.
If I am selling to someone, I may pick the person with just the better communication skills, and it may be a big turnoff for a buyer if you do not take the time for thoughtful responses. We all know the person to whom you type an entire essay to and all you receive back is a simple “yes” or “yeah” in response. I tend to kind of roll my eyes at this and think twice about whether I want to sell to that person.
A Real-World Example of Better Communication
A great example of when you’re selling to somebody is when somebody will ask, “Hey Riley, is this item still available?” A common response to that would likely be “yes” or “yeah.” But how about this response? What if your response was:
“Yes, Susan, this item is still available. Please let me know if you need any additional info or pictures about this.”
I don’t know if some people realize what sort of difference this change makes in the goal to ultimately sell your product. While both responses are “yes,” one acts like you are annoyed with somebody asking you if this is still available, and the other is an inviting response and encourages them to respond. So this is something you should try next time you sell.
Timeliness Matters Too
Communication is a critical aspect of successfully selling a product. Timeliness plays hand in hand with communication. When a potential buyer reaches out, aim to respond promptly. The online Marketplace is a very fast-paced area, and a delayed response might lead to losing out on a potential sale.
Often, when I’m searching for a product, I will make my search and message maybe the top five people that pop up in my area. If someone responds first, you’re more likely to go with that person. As a seller, you want to check your messages regularly, set up notifications, and do whatever it takes to be on top of those inquiries.
Politeness Goes a Long Way
And finally, my last tip for communication would be that just general politeness goes a long way in online transactions. It may sound cringy, but remember—you’re not just selling an item, you’re also trying to build up a brand and sort of a reputation online. If you’re polite and just respectful to a potential buyer, this can lead to positive reviews.
And so far, I’m up to 18. I just got my last perfect five-star rating while I was recording this video.
The Power of Reviews (And How to Get More)
One of the first things to do—and I suspect many of you do this now when buying on Facebook Marketplace—is to check the seller’s reviews. If I see anything less than a four-star rating, I instantly think something is wrong, and I am turned off by that seller. So, try to keep those reviews up.
Whenever I finish a successful transaction, there is an option to request a rating from the buyer. People generally forget to leave reviews without explicitly being notified in their messages, so this is a very useful feature. And I’m going to show you how to do this right now.
How to Request a Rating
Open the Facebook app and then go to the Marketplace tab. So you’re going to go to “Sell,” and then at the top, you want to click “Chats to Answer.” Right now, I don’t have any listings available, so it says zero, but that doesn’t matter. So you click “Chats to Answer,” and then you will see the very top thing is when I just sold my winter jacket. So I will click this.
I have already requested a rating, but to do this, all you would do is at the top, where there is “More Options.” So you click “More Options,” and then instead of “Report Buyer,” there is an option to “Request Rating.” I clicked that, it requested a rating a few days ago, and I already saw that he just gave me a five-star rating. So that is how I’m able to maintain five-star ratings on Facebook.
Timing & Frequency: When to List for Maximum Sales
The next big topic of discussion for selling items on Facebook Marketplace is timing and frequency. It’s not just about what you’re selling, but it is also when you are selling that item.
Seasonality Matters
So, firstly, understanding the optimal times to post your listing is crucial. And no, I’m not talking about the time of day. I found that time of day doesn’t make a significant difference in posting an item because I rarely get responses right away after posting something.
I’m more talking about the time of year that you choose to post your product. Like, do you think that posting a snowblower in the middle of July is going to get a lot of traction? Uh, I don’t know if anyone shops for snowblowers in the middle of the summer.
Some items have the concept of seasonality. If you did not have good luck selling that snowblower in the middle of July, that doesn’t mean you should give up. List it again when it gets closer to the season when people are actively going to be thinking about that item.
Holidays = Higher Sales
This concept can also be applied to the holidays. I feel like everything can be better sold around the holiday season, so definitely the last quarter of the year, when people are trying to get good deals for the holidays and save some money.
When I recently sold my iPhone, I was told that they were looking for a Christmas gift for a friend, which is a great Christmas gift. Hence, good time to list the product in October when the holidays will soon be upon us. If you’re looking to sell something that you think would be just overall a great gift, do not ignore this time of the year.
Keeping Your Listings Fresh
So now I’m going to talk about the concept of frequency. Facebook’s algorithm tends to favor more up-to-date content, so if your listing has been hanging around for a while without much action and you start to wonder if you’re ever going to be able to sell the same thing, well, it might start slipping down the search results.
There are a few things you can do—like regularly updating the price, you can renew the listing, and maybe even adding newer pictures may certainly help your old listing that has been hanging around for a while.
Pricing Strategically
Price is a hard one because everybody wants to get the most money for the item they sell, but I can assure you, if you’re not getting any messages and an item has been around for a long time, you will need to take a look at your pricing.
A good way to do this is to compare your listing to other similar ones. If you’re charging more, well, it’s no wonder you’re not getting any action. Price is something that you cannot be stubborn with—some money in the end is better than no money.
How to Renew a Listing
Updating your listings in this fashion and also making sure you renew your listing not only keeps the listing visible but also signals to the Facebook algorithm that your item is still relevant.
Facebook Marketplace is not as easy as listing something and then forgetting you ever listed it. You need to remain active. So now I’m going to show how to renew a Facebook Marketplace listing.
After we clicked “Sell,” there was an option for “Listings to Renew.” So this pushes it back up into the Facebook algorithm. So every time you see this option available, you’re going to want to renew it.
To renew—I don’t have any—all this menu is is it shows you a list of everything that you can renew, you check it, and then click “Renew,” and then it’s as simple as that.
Leveraging Facebook Groups for More Sales
The next area for things I wanted to discuss is community engagement on the platform. Your success isn’t just about the items that you sell, but it’s also about the relationships that you can build in the Facebook community.
And to do this, if you’re not familiar with the concept of groups on Facebook, it’s definitely about time you become familiar because, in the end, they can help you make more money.
Finding the Right Groups
So first off, you’ll want to explore and join local groups related to your niche or the items you’re selling. These groups are honestly goldmines for potential buyers who are already interested in what you have to offer. Participate actively and don’t hesitate to showcase your listings while you are in these groups.
How to Join a Selling Group
So I will showcase how to join a relevant group on Facebook. The last thing I wanted to show in the Facebook app was how to join a group because joining groups can drive community engagement.
So to do this, you’re going to open up Facebook, go to the homepage, and then click “Search.” So I happen to live in Stevens Point, so I’m going to just search “Stevens Point,” and then at the top, there are different criteria to search, and you’ll see—actually, this is when I posted my last iPhone—so I’ll go to “Groups” at the top.
So, click “Groups,” and then this shows you groups that you can join. So, a lot of times, there are groups specific to the city that you live in, but specific to selling items. So I’m going to scroll through this list until I find something related to buying or selling.
This is a perfect one—it’s a private group for 23,000 members. 23,000 people are a lot of people, and it’s not just people in the main town, it’s probably also people in the surrounding area. So it is as simple as just clicking it, reading the description, and making sure that you’re following the guidelines, which, for this one, I believe exist to just post what you want to sell.
This sounds great, so I’m going to click “Join,” and then after I click join, there is now a pending approval request that goes out to the admin. It looks like there were a few questions that came up—it doesn’t look like I have to answer these, but I might fill them out just in case. And that’s it—my request is now pending.
So hopefully, I can join the “Stuff for Sale in Stevens Point, Wisconsin” group and sell even more listings in the future.
Why Groups Boost Your Sales
After you successfully join a Facebook group (as I just showed), when listing an item on Facebook Marketplace, it will ask if you want to post this Marketplace listing in that group. Now, this is key because it will create an additional post with no extra effort on your end, except simply clicking the check box.
A post on Facebook is important because this allows fellow members in the group to like, comment, and share with other people on the platform.
I have personally received a comment from one of my last listings where I listed my old iPhone. I listed my old iPhone in a group, somebody commented on it, and tagged another person to check it out because they thought that person may be interested in the iPhone.
Now, this is great for a few reasons:
- It drives engagement to your profile, which Facebook just loves. If there is engagement, it will recommend it to more people and put your listing out there more frequently.
- Another reason is that because the person tagged another person, they’re almost 100% likely to see it because every time you open Facebook, you have the badge icons in the notification section in the bottom right, and I don’t know anybody who can ignore that.
If that person is tagged, they’re going to click and see that they were tagged in a product.
Posts in groups are great because you know not only have Facebook pushing your items out to people (which, since Facebook just collects so much data, it does a rreat job at recommending items), but then you also have the community sharing it to people who they think may be interested in your product. And that can lead to the sale of your product.
So really, it’s a win-win all around for everybody.
Stay Active in Groups
Once you are in the group, make sure to use the same communication skills that I mentioned before in this video. Respond promptly to comments and different inquiries within the groups. Being an active and helpful member can turn your potential group members into loyal customers.
Plus, the more engaged you are, the more likely your listings will be available and visible to others in the group.
Final Thoughts & Call to Action
And that wraps up my comprehensive guide on how to sell items faster on Facebook Marketplace. We’ve covered everything from optimizing your listings to mastering your communication skills and understanding the nuances of timing and frequency.
We also showed how to utilize Facebook Marketplace features and the power of community engagement. I hope you found these insights valuable and actionable for your selling journey.
If you enjoyed this video and found the tips helpful, don’t forget to give it a thumbs up and share it with your fellow sellers. If you haven’t already, hit that subscribe button and ring the notification bell so you never miss out on any future guides and tips that I may upload to my channel.
All in all, Facebook Marketplace has kind of become my thing, so you know more videos like this will be available in the future.
Remember—selling on Facebook Marketplace is not just about the transactions, but it’s also about building those relationships. So with that, I hope you apply all these strategies, stay engaged, and watch your sales soar higher than they ever have before.
The engagement is usually pretty high on these types of videos, so if you have any questions or want to share your own experiences, feel free to comment below. I love hearing from eeverybody whocomments.
But thank you guys so much for watching—this has been Riley with the Riley Reform Channel. Hope to see you in the next video, and I hope your day is as pleasant as you are!
