Facebook Marketplace - Now without the Meetups

by: Sierra

Will shipping be calculated on buyer's address? Or will it be fixed price? Since Etsy is dropping stand-alone PayPal soon, I will seriously consider selling anywhere that allows me to receive payment via PayPal ... that's my online shopping money! :-)

by: Ina

@Sierra - I was under the assumption Facebook would not allow sellers to use their own PayPal account for its new checkout - I'll check, thanks!

by: Sierra

@Ina - Oh, so it would be operated like Etsy Payments where the customer can pay with PayPal, but the seller gets their money from Facebook?

I've just recently started accepting payments thru FB Messenger for things I sell on FB. The 1st payment gave me the choice of having it deposit to PayPal or my bank account (I chose PayPal). The next payment required me to provide a debit card number (NOT a credit card) and the payments have gone to my bank; I've not been offered a choice since that 1st payment. I don't know how my customers are paying.

by: toolguy

This sounds interesting since I spend a lot of my time on facebook.

I was also thinking about trying Youtube for sales

I had some bad news on my Seller Hub

Sales are down 40% from last year :-(

by: pace306

Less reliance on eBay and Amazon are ALWAYS a good thing.

Im ready to go if/when FB gets it all working !

by: NoMoreEbay

Oh hael yes I'd pay fees to sell on FB as I'm sure millions of sellers would. Hopefully it will grow and flourish leaving ebay with nothing left but the Chinese and scammers.

I actually got excited when I read this. I may actually source inventory again and sell again. Looking forward to updates.  

by: julie

Just updated my Facebook Shop and there was this blurb on one of the pages:

Starting May 13, the selling fee will be 5% per transaction. If a transaction is $8.00 or less, you'll be charged a flat fee of $0.40.

So, there's that for the Shop so thinking the Marketplace fee will be similar?

by: Whatever

I can't think of another site on the planet that had a bigger opportunity to knock eBay off it's little pedestal. What the hell are they waiting for? What they are attempting to do is child's play. Get serious Facebook - you can afford to put the effort out - ? is do you want to?  

by: pfft!!

Facebook would have to make a LOT of changes if they ever wanted to take it to the next level.  For ONE thing (and it's MAJOR)......they'd have to finally offer some sort of customer service.  They have absolutely NONE right now.  That alone is a non-starter.

They'd also have to do SOMETHING to get their "bots" under control.  As it is, they flag some of the dumbest stuff.  I have a friend in Idaho that sells old used western tack (like spurs, reigns, bits, etc) and she's constantly getting her stuff flagged and removed.   She has no idea WHY and of course there's no "real" person to talk to.  So she fills out the little "appeal" form.  Sometimes it gets approved and other times they just ignore it until she gives up and starts all over with a new listing.  Last summer she listed a concrete garden turtle and it got flagged and removed under their "live animals" policy.....lol.  So yeah......if they're serious they MIGHT wanna hire some people who actually know a bit about online sales.  Because the haphazard and inconsistent way they're running it right now is somewhat of a joke.    

by: kazaly

Well with eBay heading south in a hurry it's good to see a big, well funded challenger appear on the scene.
FB have some pretty serious talent in the engine room so I'm sure that, with some good direction, they should be able to give online retail a damn good shake.
I'll be watching this space with great interest.

by: Chicago48

@Toolguy: I was also thinking about trying Youtube for salesI had some bad news on my Seller Hub
Sales are down 40% from last year :-(
(how do you sell through Youtube?  Unless you make a video and advertise on the site, you cannot sell on Youtube).
My sales on EB was down 50-70% and I finally left that abusive relationship.

by: Chicago48

Anywho, I hate FB because of all the privacy issues.  And I think the interface is ugly.  It's very very hard to navigate.  It's marketplace will have to allow Everyone - EVERYONE! access and not just members of Facebook.  When you go to a FB page, you can't scroll through unless you signup with FB.  Insane.  I don't think Zuckerberg knows how to run a Marketplace, but we shall see.
I'm happy where I am (AMZ, Merc and Posh).

by: hawk

i would love to sell on a honest , friendly , and a site with some seller protections. there was mention of buyer protection , but i must have missed the one word about seller protection.

let's pray they don't become just like ebay and etsy , by stealing fees on shipping , phony fees , stolen fees on taxing fees and so on , so on , and so on. facebook and it's owners and ceo's are already wealthy , why not just have one honest place to sell and have piece of mind on the internet.

by: wellspring

I’ve sold items on FB Marketplace, accepted payment through Messenger (debit cards only per messenger) and mailed out of state. No fees, love that.
My biggest beef is the many accidental “Is this item still available?” that occurs as people are just scrolling through the listings. Very annoying. It is rare that someone acknowledges that it happened by accident, most just don’t reply to my “yes.”
Also, as said above, anyone making an inquiry can see everything on my personal Facebook page just like I can see theirs, photos, posts, etc. privacy can be an issue but it does tell you a lot about a person should they want to meet up.
To me, selling online already exists on the marketplace. If only they could fix the “no shows” for arranged meet-ups! Such a waste of time and effort plus I remove the item from all my selling venues so it won’t sell out from under them, incurring the using up of a relisting on eBay.
I had a women’s top flagged and removed for the words “animal print” and an older  women’s top, Tommy Hilfiger” removed for not being authentic when it was. Their bots and removal system does need work.
Overall, had a flurry of sales around Christmas last year, then crickets. Rarely post there now.  

by: wellspring

I forgot to mention that most buyers on the marketplace want garage sale or flea market prices. I can make much more elsewhere for what I sell most, which is clothing,  

by: eastwestphoto

This will seriously hurt the eBay strangle hold on the internet sales volume and a giant flashing red light that the eBay Board needs to pay attention to. Once Facebook allows international sales, ebay will be in serious hot water and run in the red! Wall street are you paying attention? eBay board are you paying attention? Can eBay be saved from bad management?  

by: VV

LOL - you think ebay buyers are crazy? Good lord. I sell items in FB garage sale groups and they are certified nuts. No way I would do the marketplace with fees involved with those nutjobs. Makes ebay look wholesome

by: Steve D

I would welcome a FB shipping option, I been on Marketplace making some serious money, (Thats where all the big items go. IF I could sell the smaller things and ship them at least to the US and pay less than eBay (Notice the wording LESS than eBay) would definitely consider. Oh and in response to someone on here. it is very EASY to sell on youtube.. Just put a link to the item being sold in the description (can be to ANY site) and SHOW the item in action in the video.. Sold many items this way and very easy...as long as people VIEW your channel LOL.. ALSO, to the person  with the "Bots" flagging their friends items.. Never had a problem with that.. nor has anyone else i know,USUALLY the item is flagged by a real person then the bots take over, at least that was what I was told by FB for my personal page, my business page has never been flagged. SO maybe your friend has ticked someone off or there are many trolls on FB THAT is for SURE!! lol..  

by: Sierra

Since Facebook claims to be putting more emphasis on GROUPS, perhaps they will stop limiting us to just 10 groups on the left side? I have more than 10 groups which I'd like to keep tabs on!  

by: Sierra

wellspring wrote ''I had a women’s top flagged and removed for the words “animal print'' ...

I made some stuffed rabbit dolls this Spring and made the mistake of calling them ''Baby Bunnies.'' FB flagged several (but not all!) of those posts saying that animals can't be sold on FB. I had the option to reply so I just said they're STUFFED ANIMALS. Sheesh.