Facebook Marketplace is a great app for buying used and new products. Unlike other ways of online shopping, Facebook Marketplace provides the opportunity for normal people to sell almost anything.
There is no struggle of buying overpriced items with no negotiation. One of the best attributes of this app is that it allows you to contact the seller and ask questions, negotiate prices and even look at the item before purchasing. No matter what anyone is looking for, it is very easy to find even the strangest items.
Facebook Marketplace is especially helpful for college students because of the simple idea of price negotiation. Instead of going to IKEA or a furniture store, a student can go to Facebook Marketplace, find an item of furniture that fits the idea, and buy it for less than half of the price of any other furniture store. I have multiple friends who have bought furnishings for their houses because of the cheapness and flexibility of Facebook Marketplace.
Another bonus of Facebook Marketplace is that buyers can view seller ratings and reviews based on previous buyers, which helps them gauge the reliability and trustworthiness of sellers before making a purchase. Facebook Marketplace has no transaction or commission fees, lessening the price compared to other online sites.
Some concerns that may arise in people’s minds include the condition of items and meeting with strangers in order to retrieve items. However, many sellers are open to allowing a potential buyer to come look at the item in person before purchasing, as long as the buyer seems genuinely interested. Furthermore, it can be a scary thought to go to a random house to meet a seller, but if you use the buddy system and look into the seller’s profile, it will typically be apparent if it is a bad idea to go.
Headshot of first-year Madison Mellon.
Madison Mellon|Courtesy
I turn to this app specifically because it has been the best deal finder out of any other options I have tried. It is also linked with Facebook Groups, where many niche groups focus on buying, selling and trading certain types of items. For example, I am in quite a few local surf groups on Facebook and have seen many rare surfboards to buy within the local community.
I have searched Facebook Marketplace for a variety of items such as coral, fish tanks, cars, surfboards and many other miscellaneous things. My most recent purchase was a ping pong set. I had found a new interest in playing ping pong for fun and decided I should buy a set for my house and friends. I was thinking of going to a normal store to buy the set but decided to look on Facebook Marketplace just in case they had anything.
Then, I found a brand-new set being sold for $15 compared to the average $25. I contacted the seller and expressed my interest in the set.
Next, we set up a time to meet at their home and see the quality of the set to make sure I wasn’t getting scammed. I brought a friend with me just in case the situation was sketchy, however the seller was a very nice older woman, and I ran into no problems.
Most recently, I have been looking for fish tanks and other things to go with it, however it can lead into a long time of scrolling because of the thousands of interesting listings.
Aside from buying items, selling things on Facebook Marketplace can also be a very helpful and efficient way to make extra money. Facebook Marketplace offers a large user base, local reach (no cost to ship items), an easy-to-use platform, easy communication and best of all is free use.
I used Facebook Marketplace to sell my first car, which was very helpful. I had put a lot of work into the car and wanted to get what it was worth, which I knew a dealership would not give me.
I also wanted to make sure that the car went to a person who would care and appreciate it as much as I previously did. Facebook Marketplace gave me the opportunity to meet the buyer, have no fees, no shipping or far driving and not get scammed by a dealership.
In the end, Facebook Marketplace is a very useful option that gets overlooked very often. Whether you are looking for a car or for a ping pong set, Facebook Marketplace could save you time and money.
Madison Mellon is a first-year majoring in Earth and Environmental Sciences with a minor in Marine Science. She loves to surf and go to the beach. Her favorite things to look for on Facebook Marketplace are cars and surfboards. She can be contacted at memellon@vwu.edu.
By Madison Mellon
memellon@vwu.edu
