Facebook Marketplace Dropshipping: How to Start in 2024

Facebook Marketplace is a great way to sell any items you have lying around that you don't use anymore.

However, Facebook Marketplace is also a platform you can use to start dropshipping. It allows you to dropship without a website and advertise your products to a large audience.

In this article, we will look into how Facebook Marketplace works and how you can do dropshipping with it!

What is Facebook Marketplace dropshipping?

Here is our definition of Facebook Marketplace dropshipping:

Facebook Marketplace dropshipping is a business model where you sell products on the Facebook Marketplace without keeping them in stock. Once you get an order, you forward it to your dropshipping supplier, who will ship the product directly to your customer.

And, for the visual learners, here's an infographic explaining how dropshipping works:

But now the question is, can you start dropshipping with Facebook Marketplace?

Let's find out!

Can you do dropshipping with Facebook Marketplace?

When Facebook Marketplace was launched in 2016, it was not a platform you could do dropshipping on. Its primary goal was to allow Facebook users to list various items on the marketplace and sell them to other Facebook users.

Since 2019, Facebook has started adding many features to the Facebook Marketplace that allow ecommerce businesses to sell products on the platform:

To find how well-suited Facebook Marketplace is for dropshipping, let's take a look at the necessary features a dropshipping platform must have:

Necessary features for a dropshipping platform	Available on Facebook Marketplace?
Create product pages	Yes, using product listings
Use the product pages to reach an audience	Yes, by reaching Facebook users
Communicate with shoppers	Yes, using Facebook Messenger
Manage product inventory	Yes, in combination with a listing partner
Process payments	Yes, using Facebook onsite checkout
Manage orders	Yes, using Facebook's order management tools

The conclusion?

You can do dropshipping using the Facebook Marketplace. It offers all the features you need to start selling products without keeping them in an inventory.

And since 2023, businesses from 228 countries worldwide can now offer their items on Facebook Marketplace. (Previously, it was limited to the US only.)

How to start dropshipping on Facebook Marketplace

Here are the 10 steps to start dropshipping using Facebook Marketplace:

1. Register a Facebook Business account:

2. Create your Facebook Page:

3. Create your Facebook Shop:

4. Select a partner platform (optional):

5. Choose a checkout method. You can choose from:
   • Checkout on another website.
   • Checkout with Facebook or Instagram (only for US-based businesses).
   • Checkout with messaging.

6. Choose the Facebook page you've created.
7. Add your products to your Facebook Shop:

8. Set up the shipping and returns:

9. List your product on Facebook Marketplace:

10. Advertise your Facebook Marketplace items (optional)

Before listing your first product, make sure you have read Facebook's ecommerce policy and Facebook's ecommerce merchant agreement.

Tip: If you want to learn more about dropshipping-specific steps, like finding a product and supplier, check out our guide on how to start dropshipping here!

The pros and cons of dropshipping with Facebook Marketplace

If you are debating whether or not you should do dropshipping with Facebook Marketplace, I hope the pros and cons will help you decide.

For me, it really helps to decide whether or not to use something. (Just like the pros and cons of Shopify or the pros and cons of dropshipping).

If you're in a hurry, you can take a look at our infographic below for an easy-to-view overview of the pros and cons:

The pros of using Facebook Marketplace

Alright, let's first go over the pros of using this marketplace. We will go over these points below:

• You can dropship without a website.
• You can communicate with customers through Facebook Messenger.
• You don't have any advertising costs (free traffic).

1. Dropship without a website

Facebook Marketplace can allow you to start dropshipping without a website.

If you are eligible for the required features, you can use certain tools that Facebook can provide, such as onsite checkout for payment processing and order management tools. Also, you can use one of Facebook's listing partners to manage your inventory.

Since everything happens on the Facebook platform, your customers won't need to use a website anymore, and you will be able to dropship without a website!

2. Communicate with customers through Facebook Messenger

Another useful feature for ecommerce businesses is the ability to communicate with your customers in real time through Facebook Messenger.

On Facebook Marketplace, a buyer can message a seller directly and ask any questions they might have or request more information about the product.

This way of communicating creates a more "direct" connection between you as the online business owner and your customer, which is great for customer loyalty!

It creates a positive buying experience that shoppers don't always get when shopping at regular online dropshipping stores.

3. No advertising costs

By listing your products on Facebook Marketplace, you automatically tap into a growing community of millions of Facebook users. In other words, you won't have to pay for any expensive social media marketing!

As an additional benefit, the Facebook users who will see your product aren't just scrolling through their home feed, which is most often the case with Facebook Ads.

Instead, they are already in a shopping mood and browsing through Facebook Marketplace!

Besides that, Facebook provides a personalized shopping experience for all its users.

So, the people who will see your product have the highest chance of being interested in it!

The cons of using Facebook Marketplace

Now, let's not forget about the cons of using Facebook Marketplace. We will go over these points below:

• You must use a personal profile to create product listings if you don't live in the US.
• You will have to deal with a location filter in your product listings.
• In some cases, you have no ability to add clickable links to your website in the product description.

1. You must use a personal profile to create organic product listings if you don't live in the US

If you don't live in the US, you won't be able to utilize the tools that Facebook created for ecommerce businesses.

And unfortunately, you won't be able to create organic product listings on Facebook Marketplace from your Facebook business page.

(But you can still advertise on the Facebook Marketplace through the Ads Manager.)

2. Location filter

When creating an organic product listing for Facebook Marketplace, you will have to select a location where the product is "sold from."

The problem with this is that your product won't be seen by Facebook users from the whole world.

When a Facebook user goes to Facebook Marketplace, the standard filter will be set to show product listings that are located within a radius of 100 miles from their location.

So, if you select a location like Las Vegas, your product will almost solely be viewed by people living close to or in Las Vegas.

3. No ability to add clickable links to your website in the product description

When creating a product listing on Facebook Marketplace from your personal profile, you won't be able to add any clickable links to your website in the product description.

You can add your website's domain address, but visitors who look at your product listing won't be able to click on it.

Instead, they will have to type the address in their browser themselves, which may prevent them from checking out the product on your website.

You can send your website link to Facebook users who message you through Facebook Messenger.

Where can you find products to dropship on the Facebook Marketplace?

When dropshipping with Facebook Marketplace, it's best to find a local dropshipping supplier that can supply the products you sell.

A local dropshipping supplier is often located in the same country as your customers. Because of this, the shipping times will be much faster, and returns will be easier to handle!

Here are some of our articles that highlight the best local dropshipping suppliers:

• United States
• Canada
• United Kingdom
• Europe
• Australia
• New Zealand

An alternative to this is to look into the possibility of dropshipping products from marketplaces like Walmart, Amazon, and eBay.

In many cases, the shipping speed for these orders will be very fast. However, the product costs are likely to be higher compared to a dropshipping supplier.

And if you're wondering how to do product research now, then check out these 15 product research methods here.

Facebook Marketplace dropshipping software

As you can imagine, using Facebook Marketplace to dropship with multiple suppliers comes with a few tedious tasks.

You will have to manage all your product listings, monitor all the prices, and monitor the product stock for all your suppliers.

It's a continuous process that takes up a big chunk of your time.

Luckily, some companies have designed software that can help you to automate these tasks. They are specifically designed for Facebook Marketplace dropshipping.

An example of a Facebook Marketplace dropshipping software is AutoDS:

The Facebook Marketplace dropshipping software created by AutoDS is one of the best for Facebook Marketplace dropshipping.

AutoDS supports over 20 popular dropshipping suppliers, like CJdropshipping, AliExpress, and Alibaba.com.

The software helps you to find hot products to sell, create product drafts and listings for them, and monitor both their stock levels and prices.

Besides this, AutoDS can offer you the following additional benefits:

• Let virtual assistants access your store using multiple user access.
• Change prices based on sales performance using dynamic pricing.
• Combine winning product combinations from multiple suppliers.
• Automatically create tags based on the product's category to improve your store's visibility on the Facebook Marketplace.
• Use the image editor to edit products within AutoDS, which includes an option to create a collage with a click of a button.
• Automate your order fulfillment process when using Facebook Marketplace dropshipping.

If you are interested, you can start a 30-day trial for $1 here. After the trial, the pricing plans for AutoDS range from $27 to $74 per month:

How to get paid with Facebook Marketplace

In the end, one question remains unanswered: how do you get paid with Facebook Marketplace?

After selling a dropshipping product on Facebook Marketplace, Facebook will send the money to the bank account you have entered during your account setup.

The funds will be deposited 15-20 days after you have marked the items as shipped and entered the tracking number or five days after the item has been delivered. You can find more information here.

Remember that you will be charged a 5% selling fee if you're using Facebook's checkout system. This fee will be deducted from your payout.

Conclusion

The Facebook Marketplace is a great platform to make some extra money on the side, whether it is for individuals or for dropshipping businesses.

Dropshipping businesses in the US should definitely take advantage of this great opportunity to generate extra sales. Facebook has created some amazing tools that you can use to help you meet new customers and even make money from them.

Meanwhile, ecommerce businesses that are located outside the US are a little bit limited when it comes to dropshipping on Facebook Marketplace, but as I said, it's definitely doable!

As an alternative to dropshipping using Facebook Marketplace, you could also look into using Facebook Ads to attract customers to your website.

Facebook Ads is a paid advertising method, but when applied correctly, it can also be profitable!

If you have any more questions about dropshipping with Facebook Marketplace, don't hesitate to leave a comment down below!

Have a great rest of your day!

Want to learn more about dropshipping?

• Can You Dropship From Your Phone? (Find Out If It’s Doable)
• 8 Amazing Ways to Get Free Traffic to Your Dropshipping Store
• How Do You Find US Dropshipping Suppliers? (6 Amazing Tips)

Plus, don’t forget to check out our in-depth guide on how to start dropshipping here!