7 Secrets to Finding Amazing Deals on the Facebook Marketplace

“You paid what ???”

My friend Alex could hardly believe my luck – and to be honest, I couldn’t either.

In front of us lay the latest treasure I discovered on the Facebook Marketplace: $ 3,500 ultra-high-end speakers.

Why was Alex unfaithful? Well, I paid $ 100 for them, all thanks to a kind suburban mom who wanted to get them out of her house.

“It’s not fair! How do you keep getting them crazy agreements? “

He started gesturing indignantly at some of my other Facebook Marketplace treasures from the last five years, including:

• An Italian leather piece for $ 4,500, for which I paid $ 300.
• Keurig for $ 200, for which I paid $ 10.
• My TV for $ 2,000, which cost me $ 500.

“Not to mention what’s on your damn driveway.” By that, I assume he meant my $ 10,000 Miato … for which I paid $ 1,000.

Finding amazing deals on the Facebook Marketplace has become my weird superpower and I’m willing to share my secrets.

1. Search with different keyword combinations

Unlike Amazon, searching on the Facebook Marketplace can sometimes require a little precision.

There are product lists on Amazon packed with keywords to make them easier to find. So we get short, attractive product names like this:

However, ads on Facebook can only contain one or two keywords, making them harder to find:

Hell, my $ 3,500 speakers were listed as just “surround sound speakers” – no brand, no model.

So how do you find these amazing “ghost lists”?

Simple: throw a wide net!

I found these speakers by searching for several keywords and phrases. Although I especially wanted Paradigm brand speakers, I did all five of these searches for days:

1. Mini Monitor Speakers Paradigm.
2. Paradigmatic speakers.
3. 5.1 Speakers.
4. Home theater speakers.
5. Surround speakers.

Finally, in attempt number five, bingo – my dream speakers have appeared!

2. Filter out unwanted lists

Unfortunately, Facebook Marketplace still has some “junk lists” that have completely overtaken Craigslist.

What are trash lists? Well, these are shadow lists, from sketchy online stores that sell $ 200 headphones for $ 55 (yes, right):

Fortunately, these lists are easy to spot visually, as they typically use stock, while good ads use photos taken with someone’s phone.

However, you can filter immediately most spam lists simply by filtering by “Local Download”.

Just above that, you can set the radius of how far you’re willing to drive to meet the vendor (I still recommend meeting somewhere in public, preferably at a police station).

Finally, actually me no filter by “Used” as many people list unopened gifts or things in good condition as “New!”

Read more: Forget Craigslist: 7 Safer Alternatives to Online Shopping and Sales

3. Watch for signs of fraud

In the five years of passionate job search on the Facebook Marketplace, I’ve only been cheated once. An Xbox Series X salesman told me she received it more offers and wanted me to give $ 25 to prove I was a serious buyer before she met me.

Blinded by enthusiasm, I Cash application and $ 25. Then, to my surprise, she blocked me.

A sigh.

I put on my hat, I retroactively reviewed her profile through my cheat checklist. That’s when I started seeing red flags:

Facebook Marketplace Scam Checklist:

• Does the seller’s Facebook profile seem fake or incomplete?
• Does their Facebook profile have a lot of random photos with almost no outside collaboration?
• Do they have 0 seller ratings?
• Did they refuse to state their general location or say they were from “out of town”?
• Was there anything “wrong” in the way Facebook Chat was communicated?
• Did the deal seem too good to be real?
• Did they require an advance or a deposit?

Of course she checked everything of these boxes.

If the seller doesn’t show red flags, but you still think something is wrong, try it with the following moves:

1. Ask for more photos.
2. Ask for more details on the condition of the item.
3. Ask if you would be willing to meet at the police station.

If they reject any three of these for no good reason, run away. Another deal will come.

4. Ask vendors what else they have

Facebook Marketplace is a magnet for selling garages and properties – so the seller may have listed only 5 or 6 of the 179 things he really wants to sell.

The first thing is first: you can check other ads from the seller by simply clicking on their name in the list:

If the seller has things related whatever you want, go ahead and ask what they have!

For example, I noticed that speaker Lisa has a lot of furniture for sale, so I asked if she had a TV stand. Yes!

Similarly, I like car models, so I will often ask sellers, “Do you have other cars for sale besides these?”

Darrin, shown in the screenshot above, sent this back when I asked him the same question:

“Hundreds,” he replied.

So for a penny on the dollar, I scored a bunch of rare cars.

Don’t be shy to ask vendors what else they have – you’ll do them a favor and save them from the tedious half-day of creating product lists!

5. Be patient and check often

One “warning” when shopping on the Facebook Marketplace is that amazing deals come and go quickly. When her list was an hour old, I sent a message to “Speaker Lisa,” and there was already a customer in front of me.

Therefore, it can take days or weeks of searching until a 10/10 business occurs.

I also live in a city of six million; if you live in a smaller city, you may need to be even more patient (and set a wider search radius).

If you can’t find the job you want today, be patient. The good news is that finding business on the Facebook Marketplace becomes like a game: you never know what an amazing offer will soon appear, and the 90% discount on an espresso machine you’ve been craving for months gives you more than any other.

6. Know how to break the ice

When you open a dialogue with a “merchant”, centuries of tradition dictate that:

1. Put on your best poker face.
2. Come low and offer 50% of the starting price.

While this approach can work in yard sales doesn’t get you anywhere on the Facebook Marketplace.

This is because Facebook Marketplace is a vendor market. Unlike other sites, sellers on Facebook do not to have sell to the first interested buyer or even the highest bidder. Instead, they come to select their customer.

This is usually the person they think will be easiest to deal with.

I communicate to sellers that I can easily deal with:

1. The question is whether the item is still available.
2. Cash supply.
3. Determining the time.

Everything inside two messages.

Here’s an example from one night where I bought a chrome trunk for $ 514 for my Miata:

Just like that, he made a deal. Happy seller, happy buyer. 90% discount. So break the ice simply by being kind, offering money and making a plan – all as efficiently as possible.

7. Negotiate about right way

Because prices are already so low, I rarely negotiate on the Facebook Marketplace. But when I am to do, I give a good reason, I offer comfort or both.

Sometimes I will point out a missing part or component:

Second, I simply offer to pick up the item as soon as possible. This works especially well on ads that are a few weeks old, as sellers are usually more willing to get rid of the product by then:

Anecdotally speaking, I would say that I negotiate and act 25% of the time pol of that time.

Summary

As with martial arts, finding offers on the Facebook Marketplace requires patience, skill and precision. Learning these skills, however, pays off and is the best way to get beautiful things without pay nice prices for things.

Follow these tips along the way and your Facebook Marketplace experience is sure to be positive.

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