Yard sales have gone digital with many tools and apps available to be able to buy and sell items directly.
On Facebook's website or app, you may have noticed a little building with an awning as an icon in the navigation bar. This storefront icon opens Facebook Marketplace.
The area of Facebook dedicated to buying and selling items was unveiled in October 2016 but has been continually evolving to feature new ways of discovering recommended items to purchase. Before Facebook Marketplace existed, over 450 million people used Facebook Groups for this purpose. Now with this introduction, it's much easier and open to access.
Some sites that allow you to sell items take a fee or a percentage of the sale, however, Facebook Marketplace is totally free to use for either end of the transaction. The user does, however, have to organize the payment method and pick-up on their own. The recommendation is to always meet potential buyers or sellers at your Local Safe Exchange Zone which is offered by some police stations in Connecticut, find yours here.
When you open Facebook Marketplace, there are some recommendations that are relevant to you. That's the beauty of Facebook, everything that appears in your news feed or now in Marketplace is tailored to you based on your interactions, likes and many other factors. There are a variety of categories and filters to browse from daily items to cars, homes, rentals and jobs. The user can set locations and price ranges to customize the shopping experience.
With Facebook's core business practice of real users using real names and the ability to see the location and information of anyone posting or using Facebook Marketplace, it is much more credible than a site or app that doesn't showcase profile photos and information.
To sell items, the seller takes a photo or uploads one from their camera roll, writes a descriptor, selects a category and location. The post is then live and searchable.
Facebook does have Commerce Policies that outline what you can and can't sell on their platform, such as weapons, illegal items or animals. Users do have to comply with local laws and regulations.