Facebook Marketplace is a great way to make extra cash if you have stuff lying around that you don’t use anymore.
However, besides this ‘traditional’ way of using the Facebook Marketplace, you may have thought of using the platform for dropshipping.
If you did, that’s awesome!
Facebook Marketplace is a platform you can do dropshipping on. It allows ecommerce businesses to drop ship without a website and advertise their products to a large audience.
Today, we will look into how Facebook Marketplace works and how you can do dropshipping with it.
Furthermore, we will look at the pros and cons of dropshipping with Facebook Marketplace. Lastly, I will point you in the right direction for finding products to sell on the Facebook Marketplace!
So, have you ever wondered how you drop ship using Facebook Marketplace?
Well, today you will find out!
Can you use the Facebook Marketplace to dropship?
Now that you understand the concept of dropshipping, let’s look at how you can use Facebook Marketplace.
When I added Facebook Marketplace to Facebook for the first time, it was not a platform you could dropshipping on. Its primary goal was to allow Facebook users to list various items on the marketplace and sell them to other Facebook users.
Since 2019, Facebook has started adding many features to the Facebook Marketplace that allowed ecommerce businesses to sell products on the platform. These new features created a significant Business to Customer (B2C) opportunity for US retailers.
For starters, only ecommerce businesses in the US can list their product offerings on Facebook Marketplace:
If your ecommerce business locates outside the US, you will still be able to list products on Facebook Marketplace, but you won’t be able to use features like Facebook onsite checkout.
Besides this, you will only get access to all features if you use one of Facebook’s listing partners to list your products on Facebook Marketplace. To conclude, if your ecommerce business locates in the US and you are managing your inventory with one of Facebook’s listing partners, you will be able to use Facebook Marketplace to its full potential.
If this is not the case, you will miss some of Facebook Marketplace’s excellent features. You will be able to list your products, but you won’t be able to do things such as:
Manage your inventory
Include hyperlinks in your product listing or use Facebook’s onsite checkout
Use Facebook’s order management tools.
However, don’t be sad if you fall into this category. It’s still possible to earn money using Facebook Marketplace!
How do you dropship on Facebook Marketplace?
If you are interested in dropshipping on Facebook Marketplace, here is a comprehensive tutorial:
Your first step is to register for a Facebook Business account. This allows you to create a Facebook page for your store and manage your Facebook Marketplace listings.
If you locate in the US, make sure to use one of Facebook’s listing partners. This will allow you to easily publish products and manage your inventory while using Facebook Marketplace.
Within a few minutes, you will be able to create your product listings!
To learn more about how you can start selling on Facebook with one of the listing partners, check out this page for more detailed information on the steps you should take for each listing partner.
If you aren’t located in the US or can’t use one of Facebook’s listing partners, you will have to create product listings just like everyone else does when selling products.
After clicking on “Create a listing,” will guide you to a step-by-step process where you will be able to upload the product images, enter your product description, and so forth:
If you also have a website for your online business, be aware that you won’t be able to add any hyperlinks to your listing. However, you can enter your website’s domain in the product description and encourage your customer to buy the product there.
This will simplify the process since you won’t have access to Facebook’s onsite checkout for these listings.
Lastly, before listing your first product, make sure you have read Facebook’s ecommerce policy and Facebook’s ecommerce merchant agreement.
The pros and cons of dropshipping with Facebook Marketplace
If you are debating whether or not you should do dropshipping with Facebook Marketplace, I hope the pros and cons of the platform will help you form a decision.
It helps to decide whether or not to use something. And there are a few things that can say about the pros and cons of Facebook Marketplace. So, without further ado, let’s dive into them!
However, if you’re in a hurry, you can take a look at our infographic below for an easy-to-view overview of the pros and cons:
The pros of using Facebook Marketplace
Alright, let’s first go over the pros of using this marketplace. We will go over these points below:
You can dropship without a website.
You can communicate with customers through Facebook Messenger.
You don’t have any advertising costs (free traffic).
Let’s begin:
Dropship without a website
Facebook Marketplace can allow you to start dropshipping without a website.
If you are eligible for the required features, you can use specific tools Facebook provides, such as onsite checkout for payment processing and order management tools. Also, you can use one of Facebook’s listing partners to manage your inventory.
Since everything happens on the Facebook platform, your customers won’t need to use a website anymore, and you will be able to dropship without a website!
Communicate with customers through Facebook Messenger
Another helpful feature for ecommerce businesses is the ability to communicate with your customers in real-time through Facebook Messenger.
On Facebook Marketplace, a buyer can message a seller directly, ask questions, or request more information about the product.
This way of communicating creates a more “direct” connection between you as the online business owner and your customer, which is great for customer loyalty!
It creates a positive buying experience that shoppers don’t always get when shopping on regular online dropshipping stores.
No advertising costs
By listing your products on Facebook Marketplace, you automatically tap into a growing community of millions of Facebook users. In other words, you won’t have to pay for any expensive social media marketing!
As an additional benefit, the Facebook users that will see your product aren’t just scrolling through their home feed, like most often the case with Facebook Ads.
Instead, they are already in a shopping mood and browsing through Facebook Marketplace!
Besides that, Facebook provides a personalized shopping experience for all its users. So, the people who will see your product have the highest chances of being interested in them!
The cons of using Facebook Marketplace
Now, let’s not forget about the cons of using Facebook Marketplace. We will go over these points below:
You must use a personal profile to create product listings if you don’t live in the US.
You will have to deal with a location filter in your product listings
In some cases, you cannot add clickable links to your website in the product description
Let’s start:
You must use a personal profile to create product listings if you don’t live in the US.
If you don’t live in the US, you won’t utilize the tools Facebook created for ecommerce businesses.
And unfortunately, you won’t be able to create product listings on Facebook Marketplace from your Facebook business page.
In the end, the only possibility that is left is to create product listings from your personal Facebook profile.
Location filter
When creating a product listing for Facebook Marketplace, you must select a location where the product is “sold from.”
The problem with this is that Facebook users from the whole world won’t see your product.
When a Facebook user goes to Facebook Marketplace, it will set the standard filter to show product listings within a radius of 100 miles from their location.
So, if you select a location like Las Vegas, your product will almost solely get viewed by people living close to or in Las Vegas.
No ability to add clickable links to your website in the product description
When creating a product listing on Facebook Marketplace from your profile, you won’t have the ability to add any clickable links to your website in the product description.
You will be able to add your website’s domain address, but visitors who look at your product listing won’t be able to click on it. Instead, they will have to type the address in their browser themselves, which may prevent them from checking out the product on your website.
You can send your website link to Facebook users who message you through Facebook Messenger.
Conclusion
The Facebook Marketplace is a great platform to make some extra money on the side, whether it is for individuals or dropshipping businesses.
Dropshipping businesses in the US should take advantage of this excellent opportunity to generate extra sales. Facebook has created some fantastic tools that you can use to help you meet new customers and even make money from them.
Meanwhile, ecommerce businesses located outside the US are a little bit limited when it comes to dropshipping on Facebook Marketplace, but as I said, it’s doable!
As an alternative to dropshipping using Facebook Marketplace, you could also look into using Facebook Ads to attract customers to your website.
Facebook Ads is a paid advertising method, but it can also be insanely profitable when applied correctly!
Have a great rest of your day!
Private Agent for Dropshipping Success