Selling physical products is never easy. It was difficult before the pandemic; it’s even more difficult now as you may imagine.
There are two ways to sell products in any fashion, as far as I’m concerned. That consists of either selling a product that is manufactured by another company, and you’re re-selling it (resale model), or you’re selling something that you’ve created yourself (unique product).
Selling to the community makes sense if selling custom items and not brand name
If you’re selling a unique product that you made yourself, I would almost actually recommend AGAINST using Facebook Marketplace. The only time I’d recommend selling on Facebook Marketplace for a unique product is when geo-location works to your benefit. As an example, as part of the pandemic, many people in my neighborhood like to make custom masks and sell them. Or, they run their own business where they are actually selling a service. Services make complete sense on Facebook Marketplace – but when selling your own unique product, service or business, that’s honestly about the only thing that does make sense.
Why, you might ask? Well, it’s the mentality we deal with in today’s society. Selling products anywhere means you’re going to get the following messages all the time, which will annoy you to no end:
- Is this still available?
- Can you hold the item for me?
- I’m poor, here’s my sob story, can I get the product for this price instead?
It may seem trivial at first. After a while, the influx of these kind of messages will be downright annoying. You’ll get this no matter what you’re selling on Facebook Marketplace – or any kind of Marketplace website like Kajiji too, for that matter. It’s the fact that you’re dealing with people of all walks of life, and you have no idea who is going to look at your ad. You’re appealing basically to all age groups, all demographics.
Depending on what you’re selling, you may find it easier in some niche markets then others. As an example, I know that whenever I try to sell furniture, I generally get people who show up and take the item. Sometimes they’ll complain a little bit about the item and try to haggle a little to get a deal. Usually, if people show up, I’ll make some kind of deal with them, because at that point I just want to get rid of the item. Plus, I feel respect for anyone who actually shows up. That’s part of the problem, you’ll get people asking questions, people generally wasting your time, etc. It’s hard to tell the people who are going to buy from the ones who waste your time.
When selling something like electronics, there’s a lot more competition for that then furniture; not to mention you have to consider the shift in demographic as well. Anytime you’re selling something online (or anywhere for that matter), always consider your target market. Consider who will be the best recipient for your product, and try to target that market as best as you can.
If you’re selling something artsy or crafty, like baby burp cloths, you could also try building an Etsy store.