How to write a Facebook Marketplace listing that actually sells your stuff

For this week’s No More Ls column, we’re looking at how to create listings on Facebook Marketplace that really work, instead of wasting your time. 

You take a few photos, write a short description, set your price and wait for the offers to roll in. Instead, your Facebook Marketplace inbox fills up with “Is this available?” messages. Someone offers half your asking price, and someone else wants free delivery. And then the buyer who seemed so interested suddenly ghosts you.

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Facebook Marketplace is the most popular place for Canadians to shop for second-hand goods, according to a 2025 study from Angus Reid Group and retail consultancy DIG360. So there’s real money on the table—but only if you can write a listing that gets the right buyer to stop scrolling and actually follow through with payment. We spoke with two successful Marketplace sellers to find out what works.

Give buyers every detail up front

Kathryn Brown, a professional organizer and credentialed personal property appraiser, knows what makes a Marketplace listing work. Through her business All Organized 4U in the Greater Toronto Area, she helps people figure out what their stuff is worth and how to sell it. She’ll post items on behalf of clients, or teach them how to sell their own stuff online.

“The main thing is to have a good photograph and a full description,” she says. It sounds simple enough, but most sellers don’t actually do this. A full description includes the brand, size, material, age, dimensions and condition—everything a buyer would want to know before driving across town to pick it up.

Specific, searchable titles help too. Brown’s recent listing for a pair of collectibles, “Vintage 1980s Spoontiques Pewter Fire Truck Figurines (set of 2),” told buyers what they were getting before they even clicked the photo.

To take a good photo, clean the item first and put it somewhere where its details actually show up. A dark item gets lost against a dark background, so photograph it somewhere lighter. Wear and tear should be visible in the photos and mentioned in the description. “You want to disclose whatever’s going on with it, so shoppers know exactly what they’re buying,” Brown says.

That same instinct—to give buyers all the info upfront—goes for logistics. You can mention the general area of town where pickup will happen, and whether you take cash or e-transfer. “The more information you give, the less questions you get,” Brown says.

Price to sell, not to negotiate

For Jacqui Reader in Calgary, Facebook Marketplace is a hobby. “It’s a hobby-slash-problem,” she clarifies, laughing. “I love a deal.” She gets a real thrill out of finding vintage pieces she knows someone else will love. Reader used to sell through an Etsy shop; now she resells thrifted and estate-sale finds on Marketplace. She maintains about 20 live listings at once, and has even flipped two camper vans on the platform.

Before posting, Reader checks what similar items are going for and considers how badly she wants the item gone. “I price it to sell,” she says. Who has time to negotiate?

Her other rule: “If it’s $20 and under, I don’t post it. I don’t think it’s worth my time,” she says. And she never lists anything for free, adding that free items tend to invite more hassle than they’re worth. (A neighbourhood Buy Nothing group is often a better fit, she says.)

Some items are worth a little storytelling. When Reader and her husband posted a renovated 1986 Ford Econoline camper van on Marketplace, they leaned into its history. She wrote: “This camper van has been on adventures.” They had fun writing the listing, tailoring it to buyers who would want a vintage camper.

For everyday items, a one-line reason for selling goes a long way. Reader likes to add something as simple as “wasn’t my size, but super cute” on a clothing listing, to give buyers helpful context. Plus, it can warrant a dollar amount closer to full price.

Make the logistics work for you

You’ve written a detailed listing, taken good photos and finally, someone’s interested. Now you just need to get your item out the door without a dozen back-and-forth messages about when and where to meet. Reader’s fix is a bin system. She leaves purchases in a designated spot so buyers can grab them without a coordinated handoff, paying by e-transfer or leaving cash in the mailbox or under the mat.

Not every seller wants to hand over that much trust. Canadian police services regularly remind Marketplace users to meet in public places, such as in front of police detachments, and to bring someone with them rather than go alone.

Still not selling?

If a listing gets no bites, Reader doesn’t assume the item is unsellable. Usually it’s the photos or the price, she says, so she’ll delete a listing and repost with new photos, maybe a better description or a lower price. She also knows when to cut her losses. Sometimes you just have to “accept the fate that no one wants it,” she says. 

Read more from this issue of The Get:

1. Boomerang kids in Canada: why they never move out 
2. Does bankruptcy or a consumer proposal ruin your credit in Canada?
3. Chef Mary Berg on how to slash your food bill–and still make a damn-good dinner
4. Is a heat pump worth it? What’s the cost for Canadian homes?