The Facebook Marketplace buyer’s guide

Facebook Marketplace is the biggest second-hand shop most of us will ever use, and it was built for scrolling, not for finding. These guides are for buyers. Each one answers a single question, shows the way that works on the Facebook app and on a computer first, and says plainly when there is no fix.

How to buy on Facebook Marketplace, step by step

The same eight steps work for a $20 lamp and a $2,000 bike. The higher the price, the more each step matters.

1. Find it. Open Marketplace (the shop icon in the Facebook app, or facebook.com/marketplace on a computer) and search. Try the other names for what you want: “sofa” and “couch”, “dresser” and “chest of drawers”, and common misspellings. Searches that don’t return what you typed usually need fewer words, not more.
2. Filter it. Set a price range, condition and Date listed, and set Delivery method to Local pickup if you want to collect it yourself. Some filters quietly stop working between searches, so check them each time.
3. Check the price. Look at five or six similar listings, then at eBay sold listings for the same model. A price far below both is either a deal or bait. Our price history guide shows how to see what a listing used to cost.
4. Check the seller. Open their profile: how long they’ve been on Facebook, their other listings and their seller ratings. Ten copies of the same item in different cities is a warning sign.
5. Message well. “Is this still available?” is the default, and sellers get dozens. A specific question and a pickup time gets answered first: “Is it still available? I could come by at 6 tonight, does the drawer close properly?”
6. Agree where to meet. Somewhere public and well lit, in daylight. Many police stations have exchange zones with cameras. For furniture at someone’s home, bring a friend.
7. Inspect it. Test anything with a plug or a battery. Check serial numbers on electronics, frames on bikes, and the papers on anything with an engine. Walk away if the price, place or item changes at the last minute.
8. Pay at pickup. Cash or an e-transfer once you have seen the item, not before. For things that ship, use Facebook’s checkout, the only route covered by Facebook’s buyer protection.

The app or a computer?

Use both. The app is best for messages and for notifications from sellers. The website on a computer is better for working through a search: bigger photos, more listings on screen, several listings open in tabs, and browser extensions that add what Marketplace leaves out. Most of the fixes in these guides work on either; where one only works on a computer, the guide says so.

Buying something specific?

Cards, LEGO, bikes, phones and cars each need their own checks: a set number, a serial, an IMEI or a VIN, and the right price guide for that kind of item. The buying guides by category cover what to check and what to pay for Pokémon and trading cards, LEGO, bikes, phones and devices, vehicles, and home and electronics.