How to find Facebook Marketplace listings near you

Open Facebook Marketplace near you

There is no separate “near me” page to look for, because Marketplace already is one. Every way in opens on listings around a single location, the one Facebook has on file for you, and the work is making sure that location and its radius actually match where you live.

On a computer, go to facebook.com/marketplace, or click Marketplace in the left menu of your Facebook feed (it may be under See more). The left column holds your location and radius, then the filters and categories. The grid to the right is what’s for sale around you, starting with a section called Today’s picks.

In the Facebook app, tap Marketplace, the shop icon in the row of tabs. Where the row sits depends on your phone and app version; if you don’t see the icon at all, open Menu and tap Marketplace there. Your location shows near the top of Marketplace, close to the search bar.

In a phone’s web browser, Marketplace loads with fewer controls. If a filter you need is missing, use the app.

City pages, and browsing without an account

Each city has its own Marketplace page. Some use the city’s name in the address, like facebook.com/marketplace/toronto/, and others a number: facebook.com/marketplace/104159746287644/ is titled “Buy and Sell in New Alexandria, Virginia”. On a computer these pages work without signing in. Opened signed out, it showed live listings, a Today’s picks section, categories including Vehicles, Property Rentals, Electronics, Free Stuff and Toys & Games, and a location line reading “New Alexandria, Virginia” with “Within 40 mi” beside it. How-To Geek also notes that facebook.com/marketplace can be browsed without an account.

City pages are handy for checking prices in a town you’re moving to. What you can’t do signed out is act: messaging a seller, saving a listing or a search, and getting notifications all need a Facebook account.

What “near me” means on Marketplace

“Near me” on Marketplace is a circle: one point, and a radius drawn around it. The point is whatever location Marketplace holds for you, and it is often less precise than people assume. Type a city and the point lands somewhere inside it, typically its centre, which in Toronto, Houston or Sydney can be a long way from your street. A ZIP code doesn’t pin you down much better. CarSnipe found that Facebook turns a ZIP code into a city-level coordinate, so two ZIP codes in the same city return the same results.

Meta’s ranking explainer adds two useful details. Your Marketplace location can be different from the one on your Facebook profile, so moving your profile to a new city doesn’t move Marketplace. And the circle decides which listings are eligible, not the order they appear in. Unless you change Sort by, Marketplace uses its Suggested order, which scores each listing on signals that may include its location, category, condition and price, the distance between the item and you, and your activity on Facebook and Marketplace. Distance is one input among several. That is why a lamp 40 km away can sit above an identical one 3 km away, and why “near me” isn’t sorted by distance unless you ask for it.

Some listings skip the circle altogether. “Ships to you” items and partner listings from eBay have no pickup spot, so there is nothing for the radius to measure. Our guide on why Marketplace shows listings outside your radius covers every leak and the fix for each.

Set your area and radius

Setting your area takes under a minute on any device. On a computer:

1. Open facebook.com/marketplace and sign in.
2. Click your location at the top of the left column. It reads as a place and a distance, such as “New Alexandria, Virginia” and “Within 40 mi”.
3. Type your postal or ZIP code rather than your city, and pick the match from the list.
4. Choose a radius, then click Apply. The grid reloads for the new area.

In the Facebook app:

1. Tap Marketplace, then tap your location near the top of the screen.
2. Type a place or postal code, or drag the map pin to where you are.
3. Set the radius and tap Apply.

Our guide to changing your Marketplace location has the full steps for every device. If the location keeps jumping back to another city after you set it, Facebook Marketplace location wrong walks through the causes, from a VPN to an old setting on your phone.

How big a radius to choose

CarSnipe reports that Marketplace lets you set a radius anywhere from 1 to 500 miles, and suggests 20 to 40 miles for most metro areas and 60 to 100 for rural ones.

Two habits make the radius work better. Size it for how far you will actually drive for this item: a $40 side table isn’t worth two hours in traffic, while a $3,000 used car might be. And remember the circle is a straight line. Roads, rivers, bridges and tolls aren’t, so a 15 km circle in Vancouver or the Bay Area can include pickups that take an hour.

Only show things you can pick up

Even with a tight radius, Marketplace mixes in items you can’t collect. Sellers can offer shipping (Meta describes it as a way to buy from sellers across the continental United States, not only near you), and since 2025 eBay listings have appeared on Marketplace too. eBay says only its listings that offer shipping are shown, and checkout happens on eBay. These cards say “Ships to you” where the town would be.

To clear them out, open Filters in the app or look in the left column on a computer, and set Delivery method to Local pickup. The filter can reset when you start a new search, so check it each time. Our guide to making Marketplace local only has the full steps, and what “Ships to you” means explains when a shipped listing is worth the risk.

Local pickup matters most for the big, heavy and easily faked: used furniture, appliances, a mattress or exercise equipment. Collecting in person means you see it, test it and pay at the handover, instead of judging it from photos after the money has gone.

Sort by what’s closest, or what’s newest

Meta’s help page for the desktop site puts it plainly: search for something, then click Sort by, and choose from options that include Suggested, Distance and Date listed. In the app, the same choice is under Filters on the search results.

Which one to pick depends on what you’re buying:

• Distance puts the closest listings first. Use it for bulky items, anything you want today, and searches with only a few results.
• Date listed puts the newest first. Use it when good listings go fast: free stuff, underpriced bikes and electronics, popular furniture.
• Suggested is Facebook’s own ranking, which weighs distance alongside price, category and your activity. It is fine for idle browsing and the worst choice for catching a deal.

Sorting by Distance still measures from Marketplace’s point, not your door, and it doesn’t pull in anything outside your radius. Like the delivery filter, the sort can go back to Suggested on a new search. Our guide to sorting Marketplace by newest covers how to make it stick on a computer.

Local categories people look for

Where to start for the local things people search for most, and what to read before you go.

Free items move fastest. The first person to message with a specific pickup time usually gets them, so sort by Date listed and keep the radius small enough that you can actually go. Our curbsiders guide covers the etiquette of grabbing what people leave at the curb.

Vehicles reward the opposite approach. A wider radius, often 40 to 100 miles, turns up far more private sellers, and a long drive is worth it for the right car. Rentals are where local scams cluster: a “landlord” who can’t show the unit and wants a deposit first is the pattern to walk away from.

Garage and yard sales are seasonal, busiest on spring and summer weekends. Many are announced in local buy-and-sell groups rather than as Marketplace listings, so join the groups for your town and search Marketplace with your radius set.

Get alerts for new listings near you

The best local listings rarely last a day. Facebook’s own alerts come from saved searches in the app: search for the item, set your location, radius and filters, then save the search or tap Notify me and make sure its notifications are on. Facebook decides when those alerts arrive, and many buyers find them late or patchy, especially if they shop on a computer. Our guide to Facebook Marketplace notifications covers setting them up and fixing them when they stop.

On a computer, Sift watches a local search for you. Open the search with your area set and press Watch in Sift. Sift checks it in the background and sends a desktop notification when something new appears that passes your filters, distance limit included. With Sift Pro, the alert goes to your phone by Telegram, ntfy or email.

Watch the searches you care about, like a sofa, a bike or free stuff, on Facebook and on Kijiji once you switch on Kijiji in Sift. Sift Pro watches 5 searches and Sift Max up to 25. Each search gets its own notification, so you can message the seller while the listing is still fresh. The new listing alerts page has more.

Facebook Marketplace in your area isn’t showing local items

If the grid is full of other towns or nothing at all, it is nearly always one of these:

• The location is wrong. Marketplace may be using a city centre, an old address or the city your VPN or work network appears to be in. Set it by hand with your postal or ZIP code.
• The Local pickup filter reset with a new search, so “Ships to you” and eBay cards are back near the top.
• The sort is on Suggested, which mixes distance with everything else. Switch it to Distance.

For an empty or broken Marketplace rather than a far-away one, see Facebook Marketplace not showing up. For a location that won’t stay put, see Marketplace location wrong.

Meeting up near you, safely

A local deal ends with two strangers meeting, so choose the place with that in mind. Meet in public, in daylight, and bring someone if you can. Tell someone else where you are going and when you expect to be back.

The best spot is a police safe exchange zone, where your local police offer one. These are marked spots at or beside police stations, well lit and usually covered by cameras. Officers don’t watch the deal or check the item, but few people planning a robbery want to do it in a police parking lot. Calgary police invite people to use the parking lots of their district offices for online sales, and Toronto police set up an exchange zone at a downtown division, as CBC reported. In the US, many city police and county sheriff departments run similar zones. To find one near you, search your police service’s website for “exchange zone” or “safe trade”. Our safe exchange zones guide has more on how they work.

For a sofa or a fridge you will have to collect from a home. Bring a second person, keep your phone charged and leave if the seller changes the price, the address or the item when you arrive.

Never pay ahead for a local pickup. A seller who wants a deposit to “hold” an item you haven’t seen, even a small one, is running one of the oldest setups on Marketplace, described in our deposit scam guide. Pay at the handover, once you’re satisfied, with cash or an instant transfer. Is Facebook Marketplace safe? covers the rest, and payment methods on Marketplace explains which ways to pay protect you.

Near-me alternatives

Marketplace isn’t the only local market worth checking. In Canada, Kijiji is still strong for cars, rentals and Quebec, and it can search the whole country at once (our Canada guide compares the two). In the US, Craigslist still carries plenty of local listings, and OfferUp is built around buying near you. In the UK and Australia, Gumtree fills the same role; see our guides for the UK and Australia. Our roundup of Facebook Marketplace alternatives compares them side by side. For anything you really want, search two of them: the same item is often listed on both.

Keep it near on a computer with Sift

Facebook draws its circle around its own point, and the circle leaks. On a computer, Sift draws yours. It is a free browser extension for Facebook Marketplace. There is no account to make, it works right in Chrome (and in Edge and Brave), and setting it up takes about a minute.

1. Set your home once in Sift, by picking your town or using your current location.
2. Choose how far you’ll travel, in kilometres or miles.
3. Search Marketplace as usual. Every listing past your line is hidden as the page loads, and each local listing shows how far away it is, like “12 km”.

The same settings handle the other things that make “near me” feel far:

• Hide shipped and partner listings clears every “Ships to you” and eBay card, on every search, without touching Facebook’s filters.
• Sift opens every search newest first, so you see fresh local listings before the Suggested mix.

The pill in the corner counts what was hidden, and a click shows each listing with its reason, so you can bring back anything you want.

A few things are worth knowing. Listings without a place Sift can recognise are shown, dimmed or hidden, as you choose. Sift works on the listings Facebook shows you, so keep Facebook’s own radius at least as wide as Sift’s. And it runs in Chrome, Edge and Brave on a computer, with alerts for your watched searches on your phone with Sift Pro. See the distance filter for more.