How to negotiate on Facebook Marketplace without getting ignored

First messages that get replies

Sellers decide in a second whether a message is worth answering. The ones that get replies show you read the listing, say when you can come, and, if you are making an offer, give a number and a reason. Five you can copy and change:

1. A question and a time

Hi, are all the drawers solid and running smoothly? I could pick it up Saturday morning.

Best for a fairly priced listing you want at the asking price. No offer, so nothing to say no to.

2. An offer with a reason

Hi, I’m interested in the desk. Similar ones have sold for about CA$150, and I can see a scratch on the top. Would you take CA$140 if I pick it up tomorrow evening?

A reason turns a lowball into a conversation. Work the number out first with the five-minute price check.

3. A bundle

Would you do CA$200 for the table and all four chairs? I can take everything in one trip on Sunday.

Sellers with several things listed are often happier to clear them at once than to hold out for full price on each.

4. Cash and today

I can come today after 5 with cash. Would you take CA$80?

Speed and certainty are worth money to a seller who has had three no-shows. Only offer “today” if you mean it.

5. A car

Hi, I’m interested in the Civic. Do you have service records, and is there anything owing on it? If it checks out with my mechanic on Saturday, I can buy that day.

You don’t make an offer on a car until it has been inspected. This message shows you are serious and sets that up. More below.

Why “Is this still available?” gets ignored

Facebook offers it as a one-tap message on every listing, so sellers receive it constantly, mostly from people who never write back. Some come from accounts the seller suspects are bots. The phrase is so common that scammers now use it as bait: in October 2026, Malwarebytes reported a phishing text that pairs “Is this still available?” with a fake Marketplace listing under the recipient’s own name.

None of that makes the question wrong. It just doesn’t stand out. Add one line that proves a person read the listing, and give a time.

How much to offer

There is no percentage that works for everything. The right offer depends on how the asking price compares with what the same thing actually sells for, and how keen the seller is to be rid of it.

1. Work out a fair range. Three to five recent eBay sold prices for the same model, plus a look at similar local listings. Our price check guide walks through it.
2. Place the listing. Is the asking price inside the range, above it or below it?
3. Read the listing’s age. A fresh listing at a fair price will sell; a listing that has sat for weeks, already dropped or been reposted won’t sell at its current price.
4. Pick one number. Fresh and fair: offer the asking price or close to it, with a quick pickup. Stale, reduced or overpriced: offer near the bottom of your range and say why.
5. Leave yourself one step. If they counter, you can meet in the middle once. More rounds than that and it starts to feel like haggling over a car.

Only ever offer a number you would be happy to have accepted. Offering CA$100, hearing yes and then backing out is worse than not offering.

Bargaining points that are real

Sellers respond to facts, not to “what’s your lowest?”. These are the ones that carry weight:

• How long it has been listed. The listing page shows when it went up. Three weeks without a sale is a reason.
• Price drops. A listing that has already been cut once is likely to be cut again. Marketplace shows the last old price crossed out; see how to see a listing’s price history for the rest.
• Reposts. The same item deleted and listed again means it didn’t sell the first time.
• Faults you can see in the photos. A stain, a chip, a missing shelf. Name it once, politely.
• Doing the work. You bring the truck, you carry it down the stairs, you come at the seller’s time.
• Season. A snowblower in April or an air conditioner in October has fewer buyers.

Marketplace etiquette

• “Firm” means firm. Pay the price or move on. An offer on a firm listing usually gets no reply.
• Don’t renegotiate at the door. The exception is an item that isn’t as described. Then say so and offer what it is worth, or leave.
• Turn up when you said. If you are going to be late, message before, not after.
• Back out politely. “Thanks for getting back to me. I’ve decided to pass. Good luck with the sale.” It takes ten seconds and sellers remember.
• Don’t ask them to hold it. And never send a deposit to hold an item you haven’t seen. Meta’s advice is never to pay in advance, and a request for a deposit to hold an item is one of the most common scams on Marketplace. See deposits on Facebook Marketplace.
• Pay the way you agreed. Cash or an instant transfer at pickup, once you have checked the item. The US Federal Trade Commission warns that scammers ask for payment methods that make it “tough to get your money back”.

The same rules hold on Kijiji. Messages work the same way, and sellers there respond to the same things: a real question, a time and a reason.

Negotiating on a car

A car is the one purchase where most of your bargaining comes after the first message.

1. Ask the questions first. Service records, accidents, anything owing, why they are selling.
2. Get a history report for accidents, branded titles and odometer readings.
3. Book an independent inspection. A mechanic’s written list of what needs doing is the strongest bargaining point you will ever have: “It needs front brakes and two tires, about CA$900 at the shop.”
4. Offer once, with the list. Take the repair estimate off a fair private-sale value from a guide such as Canadian Black Book, and show the seller how you got there.

Our used car guide covers the inspection, the paperwork and the scams that target car buyers.

Bring the receipts

The hard part of the above is knowing a listing’s story: how long it has really been up, what it used to cost, whether it was reposted. On a computer, Sift, a free browser extension for Facebook Marketplace and Kijiji, puts that on the photo.

• Price drops show as a badge (↓ 25%), and hovering it shows the dated history: “Sep 12 CA$600 → CA$450 −25%”, “Tracked since Sep 3 · lowest CA$400”.
• Reposts get a ↻ Reposted badge with when the item was first listed and at what price, even if the seller deleted the old listing.
• Listing age shows as 3h, 2d or 1w, and for a repost it counts from the first listing Sift saw.
• A fair-price verdict labels each listing Below typical, Typical or Above typical against the rest of the page, with one click to eBay sold prices.

That is the seller’s own price, history and timing, which is the hardest thing to argue with. Sift runs in Chrome, Edge and Brave on a computer, not in the Facebook app.