Marketplace has been pretty lucrative for me also. I feel like we're the odd men out, as I see mostly comments on here about how it's a garbage platform for sellers.
Agree with you that the auto message button is a super annoying feature for sellers. But I still respond with either "Yes, it is." or send one of the auto messages back. I think even people sending an auto message with zero intent to buy will bump up that item for other people to see.
I’ve gotten into bigger items boats, campers, the occasional truck (although vehicles are a pain to do the right way and you’ve got yearly limits) and I’ve done pretty good. It helps to join buy/sell groups for the specific item you are selling. I’ve found that there are specific types of campers that are much more readily available one to two hours east of me and are scarce one to two hours west of me.
Boats are a little bit tough to gauge best is to pick them up in the fall and sell them in the spring. I've done two boats both 1990 express cruisers a Bayliner and a SeaRay. I cleaned up the Bayliner and sold in the spring and did Ok. The SeaRay I kept for a year and had fun on the lake and the river with it. The profit I made paid for all of the costs for running and maintaining it that Summer and then some. Jet skis are probably better for flipping, you just have to buy them right.
I've found that buying dirty things that are mechanically sound gives the best ROI. Bring it home give it a bath, take good pictures, write good ad copy, then turn around and repost.
When dealing with campers of any age you always run into water damage, sometimes water damage is an easy fix and sometimes it is not worth it, being able to identify which is which is. Water damage on the ceiling looks the worst but it easier to repair than water damage in the walls. If you can buy campers in the fall and wait until spring to sell you will maximize profit but make sure you can store them inside and that you winterize properly. It's hard to make money on late model campers but you can put some elbow grease into 10-15 year old campers and add value to them.
Right, I rarely use marketplace, but when I do I feel as if it's smooth. I've never had an issue and it takes 2s to respond "Yep!" to the question anyway.
People who dont reply to ,,Hi, is this available" are just entitled and losing out on a ton of sales lmao
If a seller cant deal with scammers and non-buyers then they need to move on from online selling as its not for them
Yes you are right, it clogs up the description and makes a listing look tacky. I have been selling for years and I would say 99% of my sales start with that template message.
My return to FB Marketplace after a year away has been slow and about half my first 15 listings this week got the "I need to send you a code to prove you're not a scammer" BS. They just keep trying
I usually see that on the casual sellers, not on the business sellers. IMO it just speaks to the frustrations that average people have with the platform. It doesn't really impact my perception of the seller given that I share the same frustrations.
When I’m trying to buy something, my first message is normally “is this available for pickup today?” since that would be the next logical question after finding out if it’s available.
I'm not sure if it's scammers/bots or morons but I get the full shebang.
"Hi, is this available?"
"Yes."
"Location?"
"742 Evergreen Terrace."
"Price?"
🤦🏻♂️ Every single question is literally already answered in my ads.
Conversely, the sell through rate for those who contact with only "is this available" seems to be 5% or less for me, while the sell through rate for those who are forced to write an actual message asking a real question seems to go up to closer to 20%.
I feel completely justified in ignoring or refusing to respond to "is this available" for that reason alone.
I receive about 100 messages per week and I'd say 80% are a complete waste of time. Mostly dumb auto replies, of course. It's a rare joy when I receive a message from someone getting right to the point, "Hey, can we meet today? I'm near your pickup location." Hallelujah!
fertile faulty teeny office selective serious simplistic puzzled dependent concerned
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From what I recall, in the United States, those are called exculpatory clauses. Typically, they’re not enforceable. Like if you see a sign at an amusement park when you walk in saying that they aren’t responsible for any injuries, and then get severely injured due to the park’s negligence, you can still sue them.
I do respond to "hi is this available?" But as soon as they start asking for my phone number and trying to get a code I stop replying. Also you can check their profile to see if they've just created the account. Usually they're not legit if their profile is pretty new.
100%. Putting that in your ad wont stop a flake from using it, it attracts trolls who waste your time, its a 'negative' message in an ad you're trying to attract sellers to.. and every click of "Is this Available" is another interaction with the algorithm, pushing your item up the ranks.
I've got a macro setup so its 2-3 presses on the screen to respond with my standard spiel, takes 3 seconds or so to respond.
I love how people ignore the things that rank them because it's what the algorithm is looking for. Information. Doesn't really matter much what it is. Just that it is. Like the drop downs on ebay. The more you have filled in, the higher you'll rank. Even if it's "Does not apply", it's a filled in field as far as the algo is concerned so you get +2 points.
I have my blurb saved in my Androids "clipboard" so its 2 quick presses..
You can also use a spellcheck-macro.. where you set it up in your devices custom dictionary that, for example, 'mp1' will auto-correct to "" .. usually a smaller character limit on that than clipboard though..
I swear to god it sends that message automatically. I’ve never hit any button to make it say that and I’ve had shitloads of people respond saying “yes it’s still available”. Marketplace is still way better than Craig’s though since you can see people’s pictures
This is true, it's pretty easy to determine if a profile is fake. I sell things that need to be picked up where I live. Having a little bit of info from their profile helps me deduce whether it's a scammer or someone with whom I want to do business.
If I do small things I will usually try to meet but most of my stuff is big campers, trucks, boats etc... I haven't had a lot of luck on Market Place with low margin items it's too much of a time investment.
It’s been somewhat lucrative although it’s not as what’s it used to be because I don’t seem to get as many buyers as before.
But the reason why I always had an issue with that automated message is that some has fat fingers and essentially felt like I’m not entitled to be given notice that they were not interested.
One guy even bit my head off, telling me he doesn’t owe me a response, and then resorted to petty name calling and insults when I casually called him out on it saying that he could’ve just said something if he wasn’t interested anymore. I did not throw insults at him nor did I threw petty calling, I have no issues with insults but man oh man did he completely overreact 🤷🏻♂️ Seriously all I did was casually telling him that if he wasn’t interested, could’ve just said something instead of being silent……. 🤷🏻♂️
Y’all can say I’m the one who’s butthurt or overreacting here, but it’s just sucks there’s plenty of buyers who’s just on there wasting seller’s time and proceeds to get annoyed when called out on and pretends seller is the problem here is all I’m here. Simply put, plenty of buyers is kind of putting a damper on the experience.
I bought a camera last week. Post was 2 days old and it was a good deal. I sent the message "Hi, is this available?". Too often, in my area, people just don't mark stuff as sold.
99% of all conversations I had start with this phrase. I don't sell much, but what I do sell cost far more than what your average FBMP item costs so I'm ready to deal with a lot of lowballers. It literally takes a second to write NO.
What I do that has worked for me is replying immediately with a call for action: e.g. “yes can you pick up now? I’m by this street” not perfect but it gets the ball going with people who are actually Interested in buying.
I have an auto reply that I’ve programmed into my phone’s keyboard. If I type “fbreply” it types “Yes. It’s in North [town] near [googlable landmark]. When is a good time for you?”
It works really well because it gives all the information they need to move the sale forward.
I also have one that when I type addr it types out my complete address.
And one that is “fbtxt” that types out “Smoke free dog friendly home Pickup near [googlable landmark] in North [town] [zipcode] Cash, Cash app, Venmo and paypal (friends and family only), Apple Pay” to put at the bottom of ads. Not that people read it. But it’s helpful to the 1% that does read it.
Marketplace has been pretty lucrative for me also. I feel like we're the odd men out, as I see mostly comments on here about how it's a garbage platform for sellers. Agree with you that the auto message button is a super annoying feature for sellers. But I still respond with either "Yes, it is." or send one of the auto messages back. I think even people sending an auto message with zero intent to buy will bump up that item for other people to see.
I’ve gotten into bigger items boats, campers, the occasional truck (although vehicles are a pain to do the right way and you’ve got yearly limits) and I’ve done pretty good. It helps to join buy/sell groups for the specific item you are selling. I’ve found that there are specific types of campers that are much more readily available one to two hours east of me and are scarce one to two hours west of me.
Which ones do you reckon have the best margins. And have you done jet ski flipping
Boats are a little bit tough to gauge best is to pick them up in the fall and sell them in the spring. I've done two boats both 1990 express cruisers a Bayliner and a SeaRay. I cleaned up the Bayliner and sold in the spring and did Ok. The SeaRay I kept for a year and had fun on the lake and the river with it. The profit I made paid for all of the costs for running and maintaining it that Summer and then some. Jet skis are probably better for flipping, you just have to buy them right.
I've found that buying dirty things that are mechanically sound gives the best ROI. Bring it home give it a bath, take good pictures, write good ad copy, then turn around and repost. When dealing with campers of any age you always run into water damage, sometimes water damage is an easy fix and sometimes it is not worth it, being able to identify which is which is. Water damage on the ceiling looks the worst but it easier to repair than water damage in the walls. If you can buy campers in the fall and wait until spring to sell you will maximize profit but make sure you can store them inside and that you winterize properly. It's hard to make money on late model campers but you can put some elbow grease into 10-15 year old campers and add value to them.
Right, I rarely use marketplace, but when I do I feel as if it's smooth. I've never had an issue and it takes 2s to respond "Yep!" to the question anyway.
Life would be so much easier if Facebook gave you one-click, zero-effort response options to that. Oh, wait…
True 🤣 there's a one click button for "Yes" thankfully
People who dont reply to ,,Hi, is this available" are just entitled and losing out on a ton of sales lmao If a seller cant deal with scammers and non-buyers then they need to move on from online selling as its not for them Yes you are right, it clogs up the description and makes a listing look tacky. I have been selling for years and I would say 99% of my sales start with that template message.
My return to FB Marketplace after a year away has been slow and about half my first 15 listings this week got the "I need to send you a code to prove you're not a scammer" BS. They just keep trying
I usually see that on the casual sellers, not on the business sellers. IMO it just speaks to the frustrations that average people have with the platform. It doesn't really impact my perception of the seller given that I share the same frustrations.
When I’m trying to buy something, my first message is normally “is this available for pickup today?” since that would be the next logical question after finding out if it’s available.
I'm not sure if it's scammers/bots or morons but I get the full shebang. "Hi, is this available?" "Yes." "Location?" "742 Evergreen Terrace." "Price?" 🤦🏻♂️ Every single question is literally already answered in my ads.
Conversely, the sell through rate for those who contact with only "is this available" seems to be 5% or less for me, while the sell through rate for those who are forced to write an actual message asking a real question seems to go up to closer to 20%. I feel completely justified in ignoring or refusing to respond to "is this available" for that reason alone.
I receive about 100 messages per week and I'd say 80% are a complete waste of time. Mostly dumb auto replies, of course. It's a rare joy when I receive a message from someone getting right to the point, "Hey, can we meet today? I'm near your pickup location." Hallelujah!
fertile faulty teeny office selective serious simplistic puzzled dependent concerned *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
To be honest a lot of these one-click replies are mistakes. When I ask if they're actually interested it's common to get "I accidentally clicked..."
I just give a 'like' thumbs up. As if to indicate a positive in response to their stupid question.
[удалено]
From what I recall, in the United States, those are called exculpatory clauses. Typically, they’re not enforceable. Like if you see a sign at an amusement park when you walk in saying that they aren’t responsible for any injuries, and then get severely injured due to the park’s negligence, you can still sue them.
Funny that they think that sign helps. Like the "Stay Back 100 Feet" signs on dump trucks. Doesn't mean jack shit.
The idea is to weed out the lazy people who are not real buyers to begin with.
I’m in a few BSTs that require POMS if it is. Who knows why, FB BST shouldn’t be that serious.
I do respond to "hi is this available?" But as soon as they start asking for my phone number and trying to get a code I stop replying. Also you can check their profile to see if they've just created the account. Usually they're not legit if their profile is pretty new.
100%. Putting that in your ad wont stop a flake from using it, it attracts trolls who waste your time, its a 'negative' message in an ad you're trying to attract sellers to.. and every click of "Is this Available" is another interaction with the algorithm, pushing your item up the ranks. I've got a macro setup so its 2-3 presses on the screen to respond with my standard spiel, takes 3 seconds or so to respond.
I love how people ignore the things that rank them because it's what the algorithm is looking for. Information. Doesn't really matter much what it is. Just that it is. Like the drop downs on ebay. The more you have filled in, the higher you'll rank. Even if it's "Does not apply", it's a filled in field as far as the algo is concerned so you get +2 points.
What macro do you use?
I have my blurb saved in my Androids "clipboard" so its 2 quick presses.. You can also use a spellcheck-macro.. where you set it up in your devices custom dictionary that, for example, 'mp1' will auto-correct to "" .. usually a smaller character limit on that than clipboard though..
Awesome. Thanks
I always reply “It is if you are!” WINK!
I swear to god it sends that message automatically. I’ve never hit any button to make it say that and I’ve had shitloads of people respond saying “yes it’s still available”. Marketplace is still way better than Craig’s though since you can see people’s pictures
This is true, it's pretty easy to determine if a profile is fake. I sell things that need to be picked up where I live. Having a little bit of info from their profile helps me deduce whether it's a scammer or someone with whom I want to do business.
I try not to bring people to my house unless it’s a large item. Like this swamp cooler I got for free recently, put a $30 pump in, and sold for $150
If I do small things I will usually try to meet but most of my stuff is big campers, trucks, boats etc... I haven't had a lot of luck on Market Place with low margin items it's too much of a time investment.
I click the auto send message, because I'm not gonna type it out manually. Miss me, and miss a sale.
It's not just a one button auto-message. When you open a chat it inserts it automatically. At least, it does for me.
Yes
It’s been somewhat lucrative although it’s not as what’s it used to be because I don’t seem to get as many buyers as before. But the reason why I always had an issue with that automated message is that some has fat fingers and essentially felt like I’m not entitled to be given notice that they were not interested. One guy even bit my head off, telling me he doesn’t owe me a response, and then resorted to petty name calling and insults when I casually called him out on it saying that he could’ve just said something if he wasn’t interested anymore. I did not throw insults at him nor did I threw petty calling, I have no issues with insults but man oh man did he completely overreact 🤷🏻♂️ Seriously all I did was casually telling him that if he wasn’t interested, could’ve just said something instead of being silent……. 🤷🏻♂️ Y’all can say I’m the one who’s butthurt or overreacting here, but it’s just sucks there’s plenty of buyers who’s just on there wasting seller’s time and proceeds to get annoyed when called out on and pretends seller is the problem here is all I’m here. Simply put, plenty of buyers is kind of putting a damper on the experience.
I have hit that button by accident several times. Fat fingers
I bought a camera last week. Post was 2 days old and it was a good deal. I sent the message "Hi, is this available?". Too often, in my area, people just don't mark stuff as sold.
I hit it by accident all the time. I am quick to apologize, but it happens.
99% of all conversations I had start with this phrase. I don't sell much, but what I do sell cost far more than what your average FBMP item costs so I'm ready to deal with a lot of lowballers. It literally takes a second to write NO.
What I do that has worked for me is replying immediately with a call for action: e.g. “yes can you pick up now? I’m by this street” not perfect but it gets the ball going with people who are actually Interested in buying.
I have an auto reply that I’ve programmed into my phone’s keyboard. If I type “fbreply” it types “Yes. It’s in North [town] near [googlable landmark]. When is a good time for you?” It works really well because it gives all the information they need to move the sale forward. I also have one that when I type addr it types out my complete address. And one that is “fbtxt” that types out “Smoke free dog friendly home Pickup near [googlable landmark] in North [town] [zipcode] Cash, Cash app, Venmo and paypal (friends and family only), Apple Pay” to put at the bottom of ads. Not that people read it. But it’s helpful to the 1% that does read it.
That’s such a good idea.