Want To Sell Your Car On Facebook? Here's What To Expect

The Story

Endless "Is this still available?" messages are pretty common on Facebook Marketplace, but the upside is that you don.

While there are many platforms that will happily take your money in exchange for a sales spot, Facebook Marketplace is one of the most popular places for sellers to list their cars. There are some reasons for the platform’s success, perhaps most-notably the fact that it’s free of charge — although Facebook did try charging dealers for using the service — and the audience there is massive.

However, there are some drawbacks to consider, which you might not immediately expect when listing a car on the social media platform. These range from slightly frustrating to the unfortunately quite dangerous, with everything from annoying messages to outright scams and certainly physical safety concerns. On top of knowing how to stay safe when selling on Marketplace, it’s important to know the process and what to expect when you’re selling your car on Marketplace.

PixieMe/Shutterstock The biggest selling point for listing your car on Marketplace is probably that it’s free to do so. It’s not the only free-to-list platform out there, but in a world where places like AutoTrader and eBay Motors charge between $9 and $49, or $34 and $79 respectively, the zero-dollar approach adopted by Facebook certainly is welcoming. Even Craigslist, which used to be free, started charging $5 per listing for auto sales.

More than just a few lazy “Is this still available?” messages, you’ll also probably get a few low-ball offers, or even messages completely unrelated to the sale. Try to sort those out from the real ones. Genuine messages from buyers should be replied to with honesty and effort – this is how to make the most of real and valuable messages. Also be sure to reply in a timely manner lest the buyer moves on to a different car. All of that will help you avoid bad selling experiences. Most genuine questions will be asking for specifics on the car, but be wary of messages with odd requests and links, as these could easily be scams.

One particularly common scam is when someone posing as a buyer sends links to verify proof of ownership. Don’t trust those. They are designed to steal your login details instead, either for the Facebook account itself or a personal email address. The same goes for links that request payment details for specific vehicle reports. Basically, just be wary of any and all third-party links.

It’s likely most buyers are going to try and negotiate the price a little. For this reason, it’s best to communicate clearly ahead of time, be upfront about the car in advance (so they don’t have some surprise reason to knock a bunch of money off the asking price), and have a final price in mind – a number you just can’t go below.

For your safety, consider having a trusted friend with you for the sale, and ask the buyer to meet you somewhere you feel comfortable. Going to a third-party location like a mechanic who’s doing a pre-purchase inspection on the car, or a police station where CCTV is present, is a smart idea. The process from here on out will be the same regardless of which platform you use to advertise; just give them time and space to inspect the car, but don’t hand over the keys without payment. Test drives can be okay, provided the buyer has proof of insurance but many sellers will offer to take them for a short drive instead.

Why It Matters

There are some reasons for the platform’s success, perhaps most-notably the fact that it’s free of charge — although Facebook did try charging dealers for using the service — and the audience there is massive.

CarMotion Daily’s Take

While there are many platforms that will happily take your money in exchange for a sales spot, Facebook Marketplace is one of the most popular places for sellers to list their cars. Watch this space over the coming weeks.