How to Sell on Facebook Marketplace: Local, Shipping, Fees & Safety

Almost everyone near you already has the Marketplace app, which makes it the biggest local buyer pool you can reach for free. That reach cuts both ways: lots of buyers, lots of “is this available?” messages, no-shows and scammers. Here’s how to get the upside without the headaches, as of September 2026 in the US.

Local vs. shipped: two different platforms

Fees and worked examples

Local sales paid in person have no Marketplace fee. For shipped checkout orders, Meta charges 10% per item or $0.80, whichever is higher, on the whole transaction including shipping and sales tax. Meta’s example: a $20 item + $5 shipping + $1 tax = $26, so the fee is $2.60.

Facebook is cheaper per sale, but compare what the item actually sells for: an eBay buyer searching for exactly your item often pays more than the local market will. See the full picture in our fee comparison.

Listing well

Meta doesn’t publish a ranking guide for Marketplace, so these are habits from experienced local sellers:

• Photos in good light, first one uncluttered. For furniture, show the whole piece, then close-ups of wear. Include one photo with a tape measure or known object for scale.
• Title with the words people search: brand, item type, size or dimensions (“IKEA Hemnes 6-drawer dresser white 64 in”).
• Put the key details in the first lines: price firm or negotiable, pickup area, dimensions, and “pickup only” or “can ship”. It cuts the “is this available?” back-and-forth.
• Price for local reality. Local buyers negotiate and compare with new retail; list slightly above your floor and decide in advance how low you’ll go.
• Renew or refresh stale listings rather than duplicating them, and mark items sold promptly.

You can pay to boost a listing, which runs it as an ad in Feed, Marketplace and search; local listings target people within about 40 miles. It isn’t available to every account, and for most low-value items the free listing is enough.

Shipping on Marketplace

Turn on shipping when you create the listing and set the shipping price. Facebook offers prepaid USPS and UPS labels to select sellers; they’re non-refundable, and USPS packages must be 12×12×12 in or smaller. If you don’t have prepaid labels, buy your own and enter the tracking. Either way you must ship and mark the order shipped within 7 days or it cancels, and shipping covers the continental US only.

Payout for shipped orders starts 15 days after you mark it shipped, or 5 days after confirmed delivery, whichever comes first, and then takes up to 5 days to arrive in your bank or PayPal account. If you need cash fast, local sales are better. Buyers on checkout orders get Meta’s Purchase Protection for items not received, damaged or not as described, so describe condition carefully.

Safety for local sales

Meta’s own safety guidance for in-person sales, plus a few habits from sellers who do dozens a month:

• Meet in a public, well-lit place, and don’t change the location once agreed. Many police departments run camera-monitored exchange zones — Columbus, Ohio, for example, has several at police substations. Search your city’s police site for “exchange zone”.
• Tell someone the plan (Messenger has a “Send plan” option) and bring a charged phone.
• Keep your home address private. For big furniture that can’t move, have someone else home, move the item to a garage or porch, and don’t invite buyers through the house.
• Cash: count it and check big bills before the item leaves your hands.

Scams to recognize

Meta lists these among the common Marketplace scams:

• Verification-code requests. A “buyer” asks you to read back a code to prove you’re real. It’s a two-factor code (often for a Google Voice number) that lets them hijack an account. Never share one.
• Fake payment screenshots and emails claiming a payment is “pending” until you send a tracking number or upgrade an account.
• Overpayment: they “accidentally” pay too much and ask you to refund the difference.
• Moving off Facebook for shipped sales, pressure to act fast, and gift-card payment requests.

Rule of thumb: cash in hand for local sales, Facebook checkout for shipped sales, and nothing else.

When Facebook Marketplace beats eBay (and when it doesn’t)

Our experience: the best setup for most resellers is both — eBay for shippable inventory, with bulky and cheap items crossposted to Marketplace for local pickup. If you’re not sure which bucket an item falls into, check what it sells for nationally before accepting a local lowball.

Taxes

Cash paid in person never goes through Meta, so no Meta form covers it. For checkout sales, Meta says 1099-K forms are issued and mailed by PayPal, which processes Marketplace payments, and report gross amounts including shipping and tax. Whether you receive one depends on the federal threshold — see our 1099-K guide — but profit from reselling is taxable either way.

Common mistakes

• Holding items for “maybe” buyers. First with cash at the agreed time gets it; say so in the listing.
• Taking payment apps from strangers outside Facebook checkout. Some let payments be reversed or are the vehicle for a scam.
• Shipping low-value items with checkout. The $0.80 minimum and a label can eat a $5 sale.
• Local-pricing things that have a national market. A $20 local offer on a $120 eBay item is a bad trade.
• Forgetting to mark shipped within 7 days. The order cancels.
• Meeting at home by default. Use an exchange zone or a busy public place unless the item truly can’t move.