How To Sell On Facebook – The Ultimate Guide To Successfully Selling On Facebook
Did you know that there are over 225.61 million Facebook users in the United States? And this figure is set to reach 235.15 million Facebook users by the end of 2025.
If you are thinking of selling on Facebook, then there’s no better time to get started!
In this guide, I will show you how to sell on Facebook in three different ways – through Facebook Marketplace, Facebook Shops, and Facebook Groups.
If you own a Facebook business page and are thinking of how you can appear on your potential customer’s news feed, then this post is for you.
Let me walk you through the different ways you can sell on Facebook.
Disclaimer: If you buy something using the links in this article, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. Know that I only promote stuff that I use and trust for the sake of my readers and the reputation of this site.
FaceBook MarketPlace
Facebook MarketPlace is a platform for people to discover, buy, and sell on Facebook. Users can find your Marketplace listing by filtering by category, location, and price.
With Facebook MarketPlace, you can reach buyers where they already are – on Facebook. It allows you to find target customers and communicate with them directly.
However, you cannot treat this as a full-fledged eCommerce platform. Facebook MarketPlace does not allow you to do much as a seller apart from listing your items and getting in touch directly with your potential customers.
There are a few eCommerce platforms, though, like BigCommerce and Shopify that sync with Facebook MarketPlace. We will talk about them later on in this article.
Listing an item on Facebook MarketPlace is easy. You can follow these steps:
Step 1
Sign in to your Facebook account.
Step 2
Click on “MarketPlace” on the left-hand side of your Facebook page:
Step 3
Click “Create New Listing” from the left side menu:
Step 4
Choose the type of listing from the options you see:
Step 5
Enter the details of your item and publish your listing. For example, here are the details you need to enter when you choose “Item For Sale” as your listing:
That’s it! You can then choose to publish your listing to suggested Facebook Groups or boost your Facebook MarketPlace listing.
Facebook Buy And Sell Groups
Another way to sell items on Facebook is through Facebook Buy and Sell groups. You can place your product listings on Facebook selling groups in your niche or category. However, you will have to manage each of these listings individually even if it is for the same product.
Facebook Buy and Sell groups are a great way of selling products online, but if you feel like you are spending way more time on managing your listings on a Facebook group than you should, then you might want to reconsider your Facebook marketing strategy.
You can only sell online in a Facebook group that has the buy and sell feature turned on. Group admins can choose to turn this feature on or off.
Here’s how you can sell on Facebook Buy and Sell groups:
Step 1
Go to your Facebook news feed and click on “Groups” on the left side:
Step 2
Select the buy and sell group you want to sell your item in:
Step 3
Click “Sell Something”
Step 4
You will be prompted to select the type of listing. The process is similar to creating a listing on MarketPlace:
Facebook Buy and Sell groups help you tap into a new Facebook audience while selling online even if you do not have a separate business page or your own website to sell online.
Facebook Shop
Facebook Shops have a buy-and-sell feature that allows sellers in the US to set up a checkout process for their customers from within Facebook.
With Facebook Shops, you can set up an online store on your Facebook page as well as on Instagram. Facebook users can visit your Facebook Shop to connect with your brand, browse for products they are interested in, and make purchases.
You can follow these steps to set up your own Facebook Shop:
Step 1
Click this link to go to Facebook Commerce Manager. Then click on “Get Started”:
Step 2
If you sell physical products, you can choose to create a Shop. If you would like to list other items such as vehicles or rentals, you can create a Facebook Catalog:
Step 3
Select your category and other settings, and create your Shop or Catalog in a few clicks!
Facebook Shops is definitely closer in function to an online store and even allows you to set up a checkout feature that allows customers to buy directly from your Facebook or Instagram.
The Facebook Shop feature is limited to the US as of now, and you will have to pay a selling fee for every item you sell.
If you are outside the US, you can choose to redirect users to your eCommerce site from your Facebook business page to complete the checkout process.
Marketing Your Facebook Shop
Once you have set up a Facebook Shop, you will need to market it to reach potential buyers. When you first start selling on Facebook, not many people will know that your Facebook Shop exists.
Here are some great ways in which you can market your Facebook Shop effectively and bring in more new customers:
1. Create Relevant Content
Now that you’ve set up your shop on Facebook, there’s no use just waiting and hoping that people will come to your page and browse through your little shop.
You need to create a strategy that helps you generate interest among target audience members, brings them to your shop, and then turns all that traffic into sales for you.
Creating engaging content on your Facebook page is one of the best ways to get potential buyers to flock to your shop.
When you start creating useful content consistently on your page, people will know what your brand is about and eventually land in your shop.
You will also gain exposure when people share your content.
Build a valuable community on Facebook and create both sales and non-sales posts for your FB page. Sales posts could be promoting your featured products or offering deals on your products. Non-sales posts could include customer testimonials, educational facts, entertaining or funny posts, industry news, or any such posts that you feel will resonate with your audience.
Strike a balance between these two kinds of posts – and don’t forget to experiment. See what your audience responds to and tweak your content strategy accordingly.
2. Engage With Your Followers
It’s not enough to keep posting on Facebook without engaging with your followers. Check your posts regularly for reactions or comments and respond to them as soon as you can.
As a small business, customer engagement is highly crucial in determining your growth and success. Stay in touch with your followers and respond to them if they reach out to you via comments or direct messages.
This will help you build trust among your potential customers and lead to loyalty and referrals.
3. Promote User Generated Content
The best way to portray your product is when it’s in action!
User-generated content is any type of content created by the actual users of your product. What’s a better way of showcasing your product than by showing your audience how users love your product?
Encourage your customers to share pictures or videos of them using the product along with a relevant hashtag that you have created.
People love getting featured on their favorite brands’ social media pages, so they would be more than willing to do it!
Also, pictures taken in a natural environment where a product is bring used are a more authentic way of showing your potential buyers how to use your product than studio photos.
4. Run Facebook Ads
Facebook Ads is a powerful way to advertise your products to your audience. Facebook offers both big and small businesses a way to set up and manage ad campaigns on their platform using Facebook Ads Manager.
The Ads Manager makes it easy to create ad campaigns using your mobile, and it offers real-time reporting and analytics.
Integrate Facebook Shops With eCommerce Platforms
You can integrate your Facebook Shop with an eCommerce website if you have one already. This will help you synchronize your inventories across both platforms, cutting down the time you spend managing your inventory.
Syncing your Facebook Shop with an eCommerce platform means you do not need to change the same item twice. Once you have made the necessary changes on your eCommerce store, they get automatically reflected on your Facebook store.
Here’s how you can sync your Facebook store with two of the most popular eCommerce platforms – Shopify and BigCommerce.
How To Connect Your Facebook Shop To Shopify
Here are the steps you need to take to connect your Facebook Shop with Shopify:
Step 1
Before you start selling on Facebook or setting up FB ad campaigns, you will need to set up the Facebook Channel on Shopify. To do this, go to your Shopify Admin dashboard and click Sales Channels.
Step 2
Select Facebook, click on update Sales Channels and follow the setup process.
You can check out Shopify’s Help Centre for more information on setting up the Facebook Channel.
Step 3
Once you have installed the Facebook Channel, select Facebook Shop. Follow the simple setup process and you’re done!
How To Connect Your Facebook Shop To BigCommerce
Just like Shopify, BigCommerce also allows you to connect with your Facebook Shop and send all your products there directly.
To connect Facebook Shops with BigCommerce, you must have an up-and-running BigCommerce store that Facebook can review.
Here’s what you need to do:
Step 1
Log in to your Facebook account and go to your Facebook business page. You must be the admin for your business page.
Step 2
From your BigCommerce account, go to Channel Manager and click on Facebook. Then click on Get Started.
Step 3
You will need to provide details about your business in the next few tabs.
Step 4
Next, set up Facebook Payments using your SSM or EIN and your preferred bank account information.
Step 5
Once you’ve finished the setup, your BigCommerce catalog will automatically start to export to Facebook. This will take a few minutes depending on the size of your inventory.
Once submitted, Facebook will review your catalog and approve it in about 48 hours.
After this is done, you will receive a notification that a “Shop Now” button has been added to your page.
You Shop will now be automatically published and visible to your audience.
For more help on integrating your Facebook Shop with BigCommerce, you can visit BigCommerce’s help center.
FAQ’s
1. Which website builder is it easiest to set up Facebook Shops with?
BigCommerce and Shopify are two great website builders you can use to easily set up your Facebook store.
BigCommerce is perfect for you if you plan to scale your Facebook store. BigCommer’s Facebook Shop app makes setting up your Facebook store a breeze. There is also a Facebook Ad extension that helps you create targeted ads to bring in new customers and increase your sales.
Shopify has a free Facebook Channel app that you can use to quickly set up your Facebook store. Once you install the app, it automatically exports all of your products onto Facebook and syncs them so that any changes are reflected on both places at the same time.
2. Is having a Facebook shop worth it?
Yes, having a Facebook store is definitely worth it!
There are an estimated 1.35 billion Facebook Messenger users in the US alone, creating endless opportunities for sellers to reach out to customers directly through the app.
Facebook Messenger is also a great way to be in touch with your customers directly, ready to resolve their queries in a few minutes.
3. Who can use Facebook Shops?
Facebook Shops has been rolled out in the US, so if you are based in the US you can start using it right now.
However, this feature is slowly being rolled out globally, so if you are situated in a different part of the world, you may want to check first if the feature is available in your region.
Conclusion
Selling on Facebook is a great way to get more visibility and place your brand in the mind of your customers.
Since Facebook is one of the most popular social media around, it’s easy to find your potential customers and lead them to your store.
Stay active on Facebook so that you are fresh in the minds of your customers. This will also help you reach out to new customers through social shares and engagement.
So, are you planning to start selling on Facebook? I hope you found this post useful if you are. Leave a comment below and let me know if you still have any questions.
Also, don’t forget to share this post with someone you know who is planning to start their own Facebook Shop! 🙂
