How to Sell Furniture on Facebook Marketplace

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If you are painting furniture to sell, chances are you have tried (or at least considered) selling furniture on Facebook Marketplace. Or, you may just be looking to declutter and sell pieces lying around the house. This platform is a great way to get your pieces out in front of a large audience, with no fees associated. All you need is a Facebook account to get started!

What I like about selling furniture on Facebook Marketplace

Facebook Marketplace is great because it provides a way to sell things locally without having a storefront or pulling together a yard sale. There is an extensive audience/customer base. Best of all, it’s free. Using Marketplace is also great to get your name and business in front of a new audience. I often get requests for custom work and have made connections with some great clients locally!

What I don’t like about selling furniture on Facebook Marketplace

My biggest issue with selling furniture on Facebook marketplace is dealing with scammers. Especially if you share your posts with local buy/sell groups (which I recommend). There are also lots of people looking for deals – offers below your asking price are common. You need to have a bit of a thick skin and be willing to be firm with people.

Steps to sell furniture on Facebook Marketplace

Step 1: Have good photos

I cannot tell you the number of times I open up Marketplace and the featured photo is some random photo of the back, closeup, or a piece just covered in junk. Take the time to take some good photos! If you are refinishing a piece, I recommend staging a few photos to highlight the piece If you are looking to declutter staging also works, but at the very least, make sure to clean off the piece, move it to an area where the lighting is good enough to get some decent photos.

Your first (featured) photo should always be of the piece in its entirety, preferably a straight shot viewing the front of the piece. All of the photos in this article are an example of this. Then be sure to include detailed shots. These should be anything you want to highlight – close-ups of the hardware, dovetails on the drawers, interior of the drawers, a makers mark, etc… It’s also important to highlight anything wrong with the piece so buyers are clear on what they are getting.

Step 2: Choose a title

When choosing your title, you want to ensure it is descriptive and searchable. Often there are a couple of labels that can be applied to a piece. A dresser can be a bureau, a chest of drawers, a tallboy, or a lowboy. A sideboard could also be considered a buffet or a credenza. End tables can be side tables, or even coffee tables depending on the size. Try to include multiple labels in your title to widen your search reach. Additionally, I’ll usually include the number of drawers if it’s a dresser.

Step 3: Write a good description

Writing a good description is the next step! You want it to be clear and include all relevant information. The details you’ve highlighted in your photos should also be mentioned in your description, along with any issues or imperfections. Be sure to include the dimensions. and a description of the color. I also like to describe possible places to use in the home (for example, “would work great as a dining room buffet or TV console” or “perfect height to use as a changing table in a nursery”).

If you are selling as a business it is good practice to include your policies in your listing. For example, all sales final, methods of payment I accept, no holds, etc… I also like to include a short disclaimer reminding buyers that these are vintage pieces of furniture and are not in perfect, brand-new condition.

Step 4: Pricing

So many things go into pricing, including your experience and the market you are in. It’s more than I can cover here! However, when listing on Marketplace, you need to understand your audience. They are typically looking for a deal, so consider whether you are willing to negotiate. It is totally different from Etsy, where negotiation doesn’t happen.

On Facebook Marketplace, my preference is to hold firm and I do not accept lower offers (I would rather drop the price on my terms). When people ask, I simply tell them that I already list at my lowest possible price to give my customers the best deal I can. I know plenty of refinishers who do leave some wiggle room and that approach works too. Just think hard about how much it cost you to refinish the piece (including your time) and what you are willing to let it go for.

Step 5: Listing to Marketplace

After you’ve added in all your listing details you are ready to post! When posting you are given the option to post to additional places. I recommend doing this and including local buy/sell groups. This requires a little research on your end to find the local groups. If they are private groups you need to join them first (and make sure you are following their guidelines).

As I mentioned earlier, one issue you will have to deal with is scammers. Facebook describes the most common scams and ways to protect yourself here. In general, only communicate via Facebook Messenger (don’t give out your phone number), don’t click on any links, and if you get a bad feeling, trust your gut. When sharing my posts to local groups, I only share to private ones. I find the public ones are full of scammers.

Don’t be afraid to relist

One last word of advice, consider relisting often! I will generally relist my items weekly if they don’t sell. It can be a bit of a pain to redo the listing, but I find the posts tend to get buried in the algorithm. Sometimes changing the order of the photos, or even taking newly staged photos can help a new listing. If I’ve had a bunch of interest and the post seems to be performing well, I may leave it up a bit longer. It can take some patience to sell furniture on Facebook Marketplace, but don’t get discouraged!

I’d love to hear what works for you! Have you had success using any of these strategies? Or others that I haven’t mentioned? Let me know in the comments of this post.

Other Helpful articles:

• Selling Furniture on Etsy: A Guide for Success
• Shipping Furniture: A Furniture Refinishers Guide
• Where to Find Great Furniture to Flip

Want to take your furniture business to the next level? I’m here to help. I’ve been running my own furniture business for 5 years and managing small businesses for more than 10. I want to help you maximize your potential. Sign up for my newsletter so you don’t miss any of my new business-related articles.

Note: All photos in this post were sold via Facebook Marketplace!