How to Use Facebook Marketplace: Finding, Buying Safely and Selling
Who can use it, how to search and filter near you, when Meta's purchase cover applies, the scams Facebook itself warns about, and the quick way to list something.
- Facebook Marketplace is the buy-and-sell section of Facebook. Open it from the Marketplace tab in the Facebook app or at facebook.com/marketplace, then search, browse categories or filter what is for sale near you.
- You need an active Facebook account and must be an adult under your country’s law (18 in the United States). New or inactive accounts and second profiles can be blocked from Marketplace.
- Most deals are local: you message the seller, agree a price and meet to collect. Meta’s purchase cover applies only to orders paid through its own checkout, which its policy lists for the United States and the United Kingdom.
- Keep the conversation in Facebook or Messenger, never pay before you have seen the item, and treat gift cards, overpayments, payment screenshots and verification-code requests as scams.
- Selling takes a few minutes: Create new listing, Item for sale, photos, details, Publish. The full seller’s guide is linked at the end.
Facebook Marketplace is where your neighbours sell sofas, bikes, phones and children’s clothes, and it is free to browse and to list locally. This guide walks through using it as a buyer from the first search to collecting the item, and ends with the few steps it takes to list something of your own. Everything here comes from Facebook’s own Help Centre and policy pages, read in October 2026. Some features depend on where you live, so if a button described below is missing on your account, that feature is not offered in your country yet.
Who can use Marketplace
According to Facebook’s page on who can use Facebook Marketplace, you need to be an adult, for example at least 18 in the United States, and live in a country where Marketplace is available. It works in the Facebook app for Android and iPhone and on a computer.
Facebook may also keep an account out. The same page lists the usual reasons: the account is new or inactive, you are using an additional profile instead of your main one, you are not logged in, or the account has gone against Facebook’s terms or Commerce Policies. If you are an adult and have been blocked by mistake, you can confirm your age in the mobile app.
Access can also be limited later. Facebook’s page on restricted Marketplace access explains that it warns you when your access is at risk, that you can check your standing under your profile, Profile status, Marketplace, and that a first-time warning can sometimes be removed through Fix it now and Request review. The listing that caused the warning is not restored.
Finding something to buy
Open Marketplace from the shop icon in the app or the left-hand menu on a computer. Facebook’s page on finding items to buy describes four ways in:
- Search for something specific by typing its name, such as “oak dining table” or “iPhone 13 128GB”.
- Browse a category when you are only browsing, for instance Home and garden, Vehicles or Electronics.
- Change the location and distance. Results are built around a place and a radius. Widen the radius for rare items; narrow it when you want to collect today.
- Add filters to a category or a search to narrow the results.
Sorting by distance or by newest listings helps with popular items, which often go within hours. Save a listing to come back to it, and follow a seller whose stock you like. All of these are listed under Facebook’s Marketplace help.
Messaging a seller
Every deal starts with a message. The first one is usually “Is this still available?”, which you can send from the listing in one tap. Before you agree to anything, use the conversation to settle the questions a photo cannot answer: the exact model or size, any damage, why it is being sold, and where and when you can see it.
Before you commit, look at the seller’s profile. Facebook’s guide to buying and selling responsibly tells you to review it, to confirm the price is fair against similar listings, and to keep your communication on Facebook. A seller who is a real person with a history of listings and ratings is a better bet than a profile created last week.
Ratings help. Facebook’s page on how ratings work says seller ratings become public once someone has five or more, while buyer ratings stay private. You can only leave a rating from the iPhone or Android app. Facebook adds that it does not check whether the person rating actually bought anything, so read ratings as a signal, not a guarantee.
Paying and collecting safely
For a local deal the safest pattern has not changed in years: meet in a public, well-lit place, look at the item properly, test anything with a battery or a plug, and pay only once you are happy. Facebook’s responsible-buying page lists the same habits, along with using an online payment method rather than carrying cash, protecting your personal details, and checking items against recall lists and for counterfeits. It also warns against paying a deposit before you have verified an item, and calls out cars as a category to be especially careful with.
Some listings can be bought and paid for inside Facebook and posted to you. Those orders go through Meta’s checkout, and Meta’s Payment Protection policy says its purchase protection covers purchases made through that checkout. The policy lists checkout for the United States and the United Kingdom. Eligible listings show a shield and the words “Covered by Purchase Protection”. A cash handover, a bank transfer or a payment app arranged in chat is not a checkout purchase and is not covered.
| How you pay | What protects you |
|---|---|
| Facebook checkout, on a listing marked “Covered by Purchase Protection” | Meta’s purchase protection, under its Payment Protection policy |
| Cash or card in person at collection | Your own inspection before you hand over the money |
| Bank transfer, payment app or deposit agreed in chat | Nothing from Facebook. This is where most losses happen. |
Scams to recognise
Facebook’s own page about scams on Marketplace is unusually specific. These are the patterns it describes, in its words where possible:
- Moving the chat elsewhere. A buyer or seller who asks to continue on WhatsApp, by phone, text or email, especially early on. Off-platform conversations are harder for Facebook to check.
- Pressure. Someone pushing you to complete the sale immediately so you skip your normal checks.
- Paying in advance. Facebook’s advice is never to pay for an item before you have it, and to avoid sellers who ask for payment first.
- Fake payment proof. Screenshots of a payment, emails that look like they come from Zelle or Venmo asking you to upgrade or pay a fee, and “accidental” overpayments that you are asked to refund. Check your own account; never trust a screenshot.
- Gift cards. Any request to pay with a gift card.
- Codes and logins. Requests for a verification code sent to your phone or email, or links that ask you to log in. These are attempts to take over your accounts.
If something feels wrong, stop replying, cancel the deal and report the listing or the person from the listing or the conversation. If money has been taken, Facebook’s advice is to contact local authorities as well.
Listing something to sell
Facebook’s steps to sell something on Marketplace are brief. From your Feed, open Marketplace, choose Create new listing, then Item for sale. Add photos, enter the details (title, price, category, condition, description), click Next and then Publish. You can list something as free by entering 0 as the price. Once it has gone, mark it as sold so buyers stop messaging you.
Two rules matter before you list. Everything must follow Facebook’s Commerce Policies, which ban items such as weapons, ammunition, drugs and prescription products. The same page says Marketplace “is intended for consumer-to-consumer sales” and that businesses and people selling in a commercial capacity in the European Economic Area, the Philippines and India may have their access suspended or listings removed.
Pricing, photos, delivery and getting paid are covered properly in our guide to selling on Facebook Marketplace.
If you sell the same things elsewhere
Plenty of people list one item on Facebook and on eBay, Vinted or Depop at the same time, because Facebook is strong for bulky local pickups and the others reach buyers further away. The risk is selling the same thing twice. FLUF Connect lists your stock on Facebook Marketplace from the same inventory as your other marketplaces, and when the item sells elsewhere it takes the Facebook listing down. When a buyer pays you on Facebook, mark the item sold in FLUF so its other listings end.
Facebook connects through the FLUF browser extension or the FLUF mobile app. The table shows what FLUF Connect does on Facebook Marketplace.
| Task | On Facebook Marketplace through FLUF Connect |
|---|---|
| List your items from your FLUF inventory | Yes |
| Remove the Facebook listing when the item sells on another channel | Yes |
| Bring Facebook orders into FLUF | No. Mark the item sold in FLUF when a Facebook buyer pays. |
| Relisting, offer management, smart pricing | Not available on Facebook |
Crosslisting and inventory sync are on every plan. You can start with 7 days for £1, then from £9/month. Relisting, offer management and smart pricing are on the higher plans, not Starter.
Related guides
Sources
- Facebook Help Centre: Marketplace
- Facebook Help Centre: Who can use Facebook Marketplace
- Facebook Help Centre: Marketplace access at risk, limited or suspended
- Facebook Help Centre: Find items to buy on Facebook Marketplace
- Facebook Help Centre: Buy and sell responsibly on Facebook Marketplace
- Facebook Help Centre: About scams on Facebook Marketplace
- Facebook Help Centre: How ratings work on Facebook Marketplace
- Facebook Help Centre: Sell something on Facebook Marketplace
- Meta: Payment Protection policy
- Meta: Commerce Policies
Checked October 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
Tap the Marketplace (shop) icon in the Facebook app, or go to facebook.com/marketplace on a computer. You need to be logged in to an active Facebook account.
Facebook lists the usual reasons: you are under the adult age for your country, your account is new or inactive, you are on a second profile rather than your main one, you are logged out, Marketplace is not offered in your country, or your access was limited for breaking its policies. You can check under your profile, Profile status, Marketplace.
It is as safe as the way you pay. Meet in a public place, inspect the item and pay at collection, or use Facebook checkout where a listing shows “Covered by Purchase Protection”. Paying a deposit, a bank transfer or a gift card to a stranger in advance is how most people lose money.
Only for purchases made through Facebook's own checkout. Meta's Payment Protection policy lists checkout in the United States and the United Kingdom, and eligible listings show a shield with “Covered by Purchase Protection”. Cash and payments agreed in chat are not covered.
Facebook names requests to move the chat to WhatsApp, text or email; pressure to finish quickly; asking you to pay before you have the item; fake payment screenshots and overpayment refunds; gift-card payments; and requests for verification codes or logins.
Buyers and sellers can rate each other from the Facebook app. Seller ratings become public after five or more ratings; buyer ratings are private. Facebook does not check that the person rating actually bought the item.
Open Marketplace, choose Create new listing, then Item for sale. Add photos and the details, click Next, then Publish. Enter 0 as the price to give something away. Mark it as sold once it has gone.
Yes. Many sellers list the same item on Facebook, eBay, Vinted or Depop. FLUF Connect lists to Facebook from the same inventory and removes the Facebook listing when the item sells elsewhere, so you do not sell it twice.
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