If you have unwanted airsoft gear at home and you want to sell them online, there are different marketplaces that you can such as those specialty airsoft classifieds, or buy and sell sections of online airsoft forums. For the more enterprising, they can check airsoft Facebook groups if they allow buy and sell postings. But if you want a more convenient way to use social media to sell and look for gear that you want, Facebook have unveiled a mobile marketplace to allow you just to do that.
Called the Facebook Marketplace, it is a mobile based e-commerce hub and would rather have you forget your PC to buy and sell products. Looking at it, it is obvious that Facebook is targeting Craiglist, eBay, Amazon, and Facebook buy and sell groups. Apart from personal sales, it can also handle other classified postings as the biggest social media network expects business to post job openings as well.
Since it is a mobile e-commerce hub, access to the Facebook Marketplace is done via the Facebook app that can be installed on Android and Apple iOS devices. The Marketplace icon will replace the Messenger icon on the lower menu tray and some say it will be replacing Messenger. Tap that icon and you are then brought into the Marketplace.
Now, if you intend to sell on the Markeplace, just choose the Sell option. You will need to upload photo, description, asking price, and location. If you are already a savvy online seller, you know the drill --- good photos, proper description including state of the product, and perhaps allow interested buyers to negotiate the final price. Once you have posted your item for sale, just wait for buyers. The location is important as Facebook will prioritise those nearby to see your item for sale.
Facebook can recommend items for sale to interested buyers indicating the distance/location of the item for sale. Buyers can bid for the product and if an offer is accepted, payment terms can be discussed outside the Marketplace. Payment is still a problem and that means you have to decide with the buyer/seller which payment facility to use for transactions as compared to other marketplaces that have online payments already in place.
As to what can be sold on the Facebook Marketplace, you must be aware that the following items are not allowed: drugs, adult services, and firearms (airsoft included). But then the Marketplace is still full of loopholes that such banned items were able to flood Marketplace when it was first announced, and the company is trying to correct this.
Just to be on the safe side, sell airsoft gear only rather than airsoft guns and weapons accessories on the Facebook Marketplace. With most airsoft players in your location probably having a Facebook account, there is a big chance that your wanted to sell post will be noticed.
The Facebook Marketplace is still in the early stages so there will be issues to be found as it grows. As always, we advise a “caveat emptor” for now as there might be some Facebook users who might not be up to no good and take your money without any product to show for. Check the profile of the user always and if there are mutual friends, ask the mutual friends if the buyer or seller is someone to be trusted.
For now, the Facebook Marketplace will be rolled out in the U.S., U.K., Australia, and New Zealand for users 18 years above. Other users in other countries will need to wait for it to be opened to them.