Facebook Marketplace 101: Selling Furniture for Maximum Profit

Once you start buying and selling furniture and decor on Facebook Marketplace (FBMP), you won't be able to stop. Some people get addicted to gambling apps, I'm addicted to shopping secondhand while sitting on my couch. Its all the best parts of thrifting (the cheap prices) and all the best parts of an antique mall (the variety).

In this series, I will teach you how to sell for maximum profit, find the best furniture and decor, AND stay alive doing it.

How to List Your Furniture

As an "experiment" (read: I was feeling lazy), I listed a nightstand on FBMP from an old crappy screenshot of a video because I was too lazy to get it out of storage. It was listed for an entire week and I did not get a single message. I begrudgingly got the nightstand out, styled it, and re-listed it, and it was sold within an hour. Same nightstand, same price, the difference was in the photo.

Which of these would you be more likely to click on?

The Secret to the Perfect Photo

1. Clean off the piece of furniture, and place it up against a blank wall. Clean any cobwebs or dog fur off the feet (I have been poorly rated before because I didn't do this!) Try to avoid taking photos in unfinished spaces like garages or basements.

2. Style it! If it is a dresser or table, use a vase of flowers, a plant, a stack of books, or a lamp. For couches or chairs, use pillows or throw blankets. If you need styling inpso, search Pinterest!

3. Crouch down to the furniture's level to take the photo. Try and make sure the lines of the floor/ walls/ ceiling all line up. I like to turn the grid on my camera when I take photos. If it's not perfectly lined up, you can edit the photo afterward.

4. Take photographs of all sides and photograph any imperfections. This will be important when it comes to pricing and negotiating.

5. List 4-5 photos, and make sure the first photo is a zoomed out photo of the entire item.
   

What to Put in the Description

1. List the name of the item and as many keywords as possible. (ie. solid pine dresser, chest of drawers) If it is a desirable name brand, include that also.

2. Put the area of town you are in and whether or not you will do delivery/shipping or local pickup only (ie. local pickup only in Marietta, GA)

3. Include the dimensions and include the words height, width, and depth because people often don't know the order they are supposed to go in (ie. 19 tall x 13 wide x 10 deep instead of 19x13x10)

4. Include whether or not you allow holds and whether or not you take any online payment (I HIGHLY recommend doing cash only to avoid being scammed).

5. Optional: many people include smoke-free home and dog free home in their description.

6. For larger furniture items, include how many people will be needed to lift the item and whether or not you can help (ie. takes two people to lift and I cannot assist).
   

How to Set the Pricing

Check what price similar items sold for

1. Go on FBMP and search the item you want to list. When the filters pop up below the search bar, scroll to {availability} and select {sold}. You will now be able to see what similar items sold for. Keep in mind that this will not take into account any haggling that may have occurred in DMs or in person.

2. Once you have determined the price range, decide what is more important to you: selling quickly or selling it for the most money possible, and list accordingly. If you are getting 5-8 messages per day, you listed it in a good range. If you are getting less than 5 messages a day, you probably listed it too high. 10 or more and you listed it too low.

How to Negotiate

1. When someone messages "Is this available," I always respond "Yes! Can you come today?" (or tomorrow if its after dark). Putting a time and date to it gets people moving!

2. If people immediately message and try to haggle, my go-to responses are "Sorry, I only listed this yesterday, so I'm not going any lower yet!" or "I've had a lot of messages about this so I'm not lowering my price."

3. If after a week (or however long you decide to wait) no one has bought it, delete the listing and re-list with a new price. If you just lower the price on the original listing, everyone can see that information, and you lose your bargaining chip when it comes to haggling. You don't want people to know you're having a hard time selling! I usually lower by $25 or $50 at a time depending on how expensive the item is.

4. When the person arrives to view the item, they may try to haggle. Stay strong because you have the upper hand here. Most people won't walk away after they have already driven to meet you. If they ask you to lower their price, I usually reply with "Sorry I have x number of people waiting for this item so I can't go lower."

5. Often people will try and negotiate lower if they notice imperfections upon arrival, and thats why it's really important to include that in the listing!

6. If you are asking for an unusual price, like $75, be sure to have $5 or $10 on hand so that they you are able to give change for $20s.
   

BONUS TIP: Join your community's local buy/sell groups, and cross-post your listings there!

In tomorrow's post, I will be sharing all about how to stay safe when selling, so tune in tomorrow!

Drop any questions in the comments below!

xoxo,

Melissa