If you already sell on e-commerce sites like eBay or Amazon, you might be missing another money-making opportunity right under your nose — Facebook! Not only does the social media site give you an easy (and free!) way to promote your business, it also has selling features that make it easy for you to make some extra money. We’re going to cover the easiest ways to get started selling on Facebook.
Look for Groups
To get started selling on Facebook, you will first need to find an audience. While some sellers with a large social media presence may want to try selling directly to their followers, the easiest way to find new customers is in buy/sell groups. Some of these are nationwide selling groups where the sellers ship to buyers, and others are local groups, where buyers and sellers meet locally for purchases. There are some benefits and drawbacks to each of these.
- Shipping groups will require you to invest money in shipping materials, calculate and charge shipping to customers, and take the time to actually ship the items. If you’re already selling online via eBay or Amazon this may not be much of a change for you, but if you are new to selling online, this can be a lot of work to get started with.
- Selling locally means you will need to meet your customers in person. Scheduling these meetups can be time-consuming, and cancelling multiple meets can get you a bad reputation quickly. If you are selling in a high enough volume to make an income, you may need to do group meetups to have enough time in the day to meet all of your customers.
The most important thing to do when you join any Facebook group is to read its rules. Many local groups have rules about where members can meet, and shipping groups may have guidelines regarding when items must be shipped out.
Make Use of Selling Features
Facebook groups recently added a selling feature that allows you to make it obvious that your post is selling a product. You can add a price and photos to the post, and potential customers will comment if they are interested. While group rules will vary, it helps to have your personal rules on each post — how much shipping costs and when you ship, or when and where you prefer to meet. This selling feature also allows you to mark when a specific item is sold (or sold out, if you have multiples) to save you from ongoing notifications and requests. Some groups that were founded before this feature was added, or those who are run by admins who are not familiar with the feature, may not have this selling feature activated. In those cases, most groups simply have you post your items for sale and delete the post when the items are sold out.
The biggest thing to keep in mind when selling on Facebook is to protect your reputation. Facebook buyers don’t have reviews to rely on like the ones on Amazon and eBay, but when a seller reneges on a meet or a miscommunication occurs, word spreads quickly, often before the seller has a chance to defend themselves. Be courteous and stick to your word, and social media can be a profitable selling venture.
