How to sell a car on Facebook Marketplace

Facebook Marketplace is free and your ad is visible as soon as you post it. It suits you if you want to sell the car quickly near where you live and don't need nationwide reach. The price is more scammers and flippers than on specialist portals. The full guide is on the page How to sell a car on Facebook Marketplace.

1. New listing. On Facebook open Marketplace (the shop icon in the menu, or marketplace.facebook.com), choose to create a listing and pick the vehicles category.
2. Photos. Upload at least ten photos. Only the first one shows in the list, so choose it carefully, ideally the whole car from outside. Add the interior, dashboard, boot, engine and a close-up of every fault.
3. Structured fields. Fill in the year, make, model, condition, fuel, gearbox and mileage. Buyers filter by them. If you skip them, the ad won't show up in the filters.
4. Description. Say when the roadworthiness test is valid until, the number of owners, the service history and minor faults. Add a phone number too, because some buyers prefer to call rather than write on Messenger.
5. Groups. Share the link to the ad in local groups such as a car sales group for your region or town. A few extra groups noticeably increase the number of people who see the car, and it costs nothing.
6. Turn down suspicious buyers. Warning signs are payment through an intermediary, a request to ship the car with a transport company, a profile without a photo or a freshly created account. Meet in person and don't hand over the car until you have the cash or a verified bank transfer.
7. Renewing. Facebook favours fresh ads. About once a week renew the ad, or delete it and post it again.

Pros: no fees, an ordinary Facebook account is enough, quick communication through Messenger, buyers from the area.

Cons: more scams, no fields for the VIN and service history, buyers tend to be less serious and the ad needs regular renewing.

Don't feel like dealing with messages and viewings? On the Sell a car page you can send an enquiry and we handle the sale for you, from photos to handing over the car.

Have you met a scam on Marketplace, or don't know how to answer a suspicious buyer? Write it here so others can learn from it.