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Several years ago Facebook started its own marketplace similar to Amazon and eBay. This service works in line with the popular online stores as its main function is allowing users to buy and sell goods to each other. When you try to grasp the meaning of Facebook marketplace for your business, you have to understand that it works like a traditional online store, but with some specific features:
- It is available to Android and iPhone users who are 18+ old and are from English speaking communities, including the USA, UK, Australia, and New Zealand
- It provides complete information about buyers and sellers, including their location, profile pictures and amount of time spent on Facebook
- It allows selling only physical products
- It lists items and lets buyers and sellers negotiate the sales themselves
- It does allow returning the items that don’t fit
- It does not have a feedback system, therefore, it is not possible to choose the buyer or seller according to his rating like on eBay for example
- It offers the possibility to report any illegal activities to Facebook directly
- It charges listing fees
How can one use marketplace on Facebook?
The application is very simple and you do not require any specific skills to master it. As a seller, you have to create your items listing using the images from your online store or making new photos with the camera function within the application. Each item has also to include a short description to provide the buyer with full information concerning the product.
Marketplace on Facebook can be beneficial for your business in a number of ways:
- Unique customer experience – you can sell your products to relevant customers using the Facebook targeting features and increase the possibility of a potential sale
- Sales growth – you can define Facebook marketplace as your new selling platform that can bring you customers and grow your brand’s popularity
- No listing fees – as we discussed earlier, Facebook does not charge your for selling through its store, hence it is a free service to use.
Important tips to streamline your sales through Facebook marketplace
Businesses have an outstanding opportunity to develop a new channel for their customer reach. However, they are to follow certain recommendations to get the most from this marketplace:
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- Build trust among potential buyers – include in your item’s description your address, phone, and email. Include as many details as possible to limit additional questions from the purchaser side and streamline the buying decision.
- Perform sales through individual profile – for example, if you are a business owner you can include your personal email within the item description and allow the potential buyer to get in touch with you directly. Such an approach will boost your sales as people finally trust other people, not companies.
- Conduct some research to figure out potential demand – whenever you start a new business, the market research is a good place to start. Marketplace on Facebook is not different from other selling channels in this respect. Investigate, which products sell better and how firms present these popular items for sale.
- Perform testing to define your selling strategy – you have to make some experiments with images, items’ descriptions and headlines to define the most attractive elements for your target customers. Use some stunning posts to stand out among other sellers’ profiles and track their performance with the help of a specialized posting tool to determine the ones streamlining your sales.
- Answer immediately – the sellers who respond quickly are the ones who get the most customers. Automate your responses in the marketplace and make the sequence of messages to stimulate purchasing decisions. You can do this through the application of chatbots in your Facebook Messenger.
- Do not forget to follow up – if any person expressed the interest to your product it does not mean he has to buy it right now. Your role as a seller is to follow up with him in a short time and remind him of your product.
