How I stay sane selling on Facebook Marketplace
I see a lot of posts about how frustrating Marketplace is — no-shows, lowballers, people not reading descriptions, showing up with less money than agreed on, etc. And honestly… all of that absolutely happens.
The two biggest things that helped me were:
I keep my expectations LOW.
I assume half the people messaging me won’t show up. I assume some people didn’t read the dimensions. I assume someone might say “oh wow, that’s smaller than I thought” even though the measurements are right there in the listing. Once I stopped expecting smooth transactions every time, Marketplace became way less frustrating.
I make people come to me.
This part has honestly been huge for me. My setup works well because buyers can meet me in my apartment lobby/parking lot without actually coming to my unit. That changed everything.
No-shows bother me way less when I’m already home. And when someone tries the “I only brought $40” move on a $60 item, it completely changes the dynamic. I have no issue rolling the end table right back upstairs. If they really want it, they can go get the rest of the money and come back.
Truthfully, I don’t think I would’ve had nearly as much success on Marketplace if I had to constantly drive items around to buyers.
I also realize I’m fortunate to have a setup where buyers can come to me without coming directly to my apartment. I know that’s not realistic for everybody, but for me it’s been the biggest stress reducer by far. Good luck out there!