THESE DAYS, Facebook isn’t only an avenue for keeping up in touch with your friends, but is a great platform to buy and sell items as well. There are tons of groups that are dedicated to the buying and selling of products, new and secondhand, from individuals, and even more pages dedicated to businesses and products!
There are many advantages to setting up shop on Facebook: First and foremost is that it’s Free (internet and electricity bills aside!). You can set up a page for your business and upload all your photos and products without paying for a listing unlike dedicated shopping sites, and no deductions on your sales either! That can also mean lower prices. 🙂 That’s why tons of shops and individuals use this as a selling platform, and lots of buyers shop through here.
But of course, since it’s not an actual shopping site unlike Multiply, Amazon, Ebay or Etsy, there is a different approach to buying and selling. I want to give everyone a few tips on how to shop on Facebook.
GET STARTED!
SHOP THRU A GROUP
There are numerous groups out there that are dedicated for buying and selling of brand new and secondhand items. You can do a search of it or ask your friends if they know any groups. If you found a group you are interested in joining in and looks promising, just click join!
Each group has its own house rules, make sure to abide by them. 🙂 They mostly prohibit spam, violent language, and insulting other members and their products.
A good way to find what you’re looking for is by using the search bar. For example, we are going to look for a blonde wig. Simply type in “blonde wig” and see what comes up.
Multiple posts that have “blonde wig” in their description will be brought up. Click on each link to find what you need.
TIP!
You can also used the “Search” feature to look for a person’s NAME. This is very useful! I recommend using this to track the record of your seller/buyer when you’re having doubts. Most people post if the item is sold/bought from someone, so this is a way to find out who a seller has sold to/buyer has bought from. Then you can seek out opinion from those people if they found their experience and purchases satisfactory.
In this photo, we searched for, well, me. :3
Some groups might allow for making albums to put all a person’s photos of their products in, so you can also check the albums. Most album and photo descriptions will provide important details, so read the descriptions!
Descriptions will include whether the item is sold or not (this one is!), if it’s secondhand or brand new, condition, payment terms, and most importantly, The Price. XD If the ad is missing some of these, feel free to comment or send a message to the seller.
TIP!
Here are important things to keep in mind when buying items:
- Is the item available? Some sellers forget to update their ads so it is good to ask if the item is still up
- Brand new? If so, does it come with its original packaging and accessories?
- Secondhand? If so, how long has it been used? How’s the condition? Any damages?
- For clothing and shoes: Measurements? Will fit what frames and sizes?
- For wigs and other items which apply: What brand? Original? Bootleg?
- For made-to-order items: How long will it take to make it?
- Payment methods? Do they accept Paypal, G-Cash, or Bank Deposits?
- Meet-ups and Physical Stores? Can you meet the sellers to claim the items or do they have a physical store/place where you can buy items?
- Shipping and shipping fees? Do they ship to your area? How much is the shipping fee?
- If the item is secondhand, feel free to ask for a recent photo! Most ads will show the product in its best state of course, so when you have doubts feel free to ask for a recent photo.
Some of these questions will be answerable by the descriptions a seller puts up, so read up too!
When you’re absolutely decided you want an item, leave a comment or message the seller, and discuss the sale there. If you have doubts, go and check if the seller has a “Feedbacks” or “Proofs of Sale” album. Reputable sellers will have them. Take a second look when the proofs album has nothing but receipts–those can be faked. Good proofs are conversations with names of actual people that you can ask for the quality of the items.
I keep photos as feedback entries with the comments of my clients. 🙂
BUYING THROUGH A SHOP PAGE
Buying through a shop page is pretty much the same, except you look through albums or a shopping app for the items you want. Send the page a message when you want to inquire about the items you want, and want to purchase something. 🙂
Send some love to the Three Smitten Kittens page too! We’re hosting a giveaway soon, too~!
Aki/kageshoujo
Three Smitten Kittens 