Does anyone have any experience using Facebook to sell locally?

[tobijohn]

I've got a handful of dupes I'd like to sell but the price I'd be asking hardly justifies what it would cost to ship them. I used the local Craigslist a number of years ago to sell a few dupes and had no problems but was wondering if anyone here has used the various Facebook guitar and gear groups to sell locally and what their experiences might have been. TIA...

[golem]

Yes. Not always positive. I've had a low of people lowballing me either directly or through horrible trade offerings. I had a few people be complete ass****s But it's positive just often enough that I found it worth it.

[tlarson58]

I have had great success on facebook. One of the thigs i do is to denote the price as "firm." This will weed out people who will try to low-ball you. "Local pick-up only" is the way to go as well. Don't ship.

[Bullcat]

Craigslist is pretty much dead in my area and so far I've had about 50/50 success on Facebook marketplace. A lot of oddball offers and the "Is this still available?" messages and then no replys ever again, but I've sold everytime to people who actually set a meet time and show up. The nice thing is being able to see their page and reviews to get an idea of whether or not they are actually sane! which is a massive plus over Craigslist for me.

[tonebender]

CL still works over on this side of the state but not like the old days. I hear the facebooky thing is working better but I do not have a active account so I am not allowed into the party.

[Floridian FX]

I have been using Facebook marketplace quite a bit, with pretty good success. Mostly furniture, but usually everything sells within 24 hours. Do the research on the facebook profiles, as the first 5-10 contacts are usually scammers. When I do get a real one, they show up on time and there isn't any haggling BS.

[andrewsrea]

Sold a few things on FB marketplace. The upside is IMHO, it is safer than CL. You'll still get the Zelle scammers, but you can report them. The downside is, not everything sells and, in my experience, it has been slow. So be patient.

[tobijohn]

Sold a few things on FB marketplace. The upside is IMHO, it is safer than CL. You'll still get the Zelle scammers, but you can report them. The downside is, not everything sells and, in my experience, it has been slow. So be patient.

The only issue I had with CL in the past is that what should have been a 10–15 minute transaction turned into hours as the buyers ended up playing guitars I have that lefties rarely see in your average large or small music store. Normally, I'd be very careful about letting strangers into the house for all the obvious reasons but I'm in a gated community with 24-hour security and they record their driver's license at the front gate. Also, when it comes to interacting with other lefty players, I'm kind of on an island down here plus it's a chance to talk a little shop and I get a huge kick out of the fun they have. A few have asked to come back as they didn't have time to check everything out...

[tlarson58]

I'd like to second the "scammers" point. The 'bots look real enough. Check out "their" facebook page before continuing. If a response appears too quickly it's probably not a real person. Some of them are really tricky.

That said, most of my sales are within 48 hours.

[honyock]

it is hugely hit or miss with tons of bots sending requests for "pin" to prove I am real...

[Buddha Pickups]

Yes but I make sure to state that the automated "is this item still available" messages will be deleted and ignored.

You get as many trade offers as u get low ballers but it certainly was busier than CL. I had no responses at all on there.

It should get you somewhere between what you want and what a music store/GC will pay you.

[glasshand]

"Local pick-up only" is the way to go as well. Don't ship.

Yup. And make sure you have double-checked this and haven't accidentally listed this as "shipping available"!

[jtcnj]

I post local on CL and FB marketplace with mixed results, all covered in the above posts.
I only meet at nearby public / store parking lots or the police station in my town has an area with cameras in their parking lot designated as a safe trade spot, in good daylight.

[thepezident]

FB works well for me.
I usually try and meet them in the local Lowes parking lot.

Try not to have people come to the house and never inside.
Always in the driveway or garage.

[thepezident]

I post local on CL and FB marketplace with mixed results, all covered in the above posts.
I only meet at nearby public / store parking lots or the police station in my town has an area with cameras in their parking lot designated as a safe trade spot, in good daylight.

Or highway rest stops......

[littlebadboy]

I had good experiences selling a lot of stuff on Facebook. I like skipping the posting fees at eBay and reverb.