I’ve been finding some treasures on Facebook Marketplace over the last several weeks of living in our new home and I thought I’d share how I navigate the platform along with a few tips I’ve learned. The dining table shown above was listed for $159 as a “Gorgeous Solid Wood Dining Table” which doesn’t necessarily have any super specific keywords in it but I believe my recent saves helped curate my feed a bit to show something that fit my style.
This bed was listed for $100 as a “Vintage Walnut Veneer Full Size Bed”… I love bringing in wood tones, especially darker woods, so I’ll frequently search “Vintage walnut _____” for whatever I’m searching for.
Check daily and save everything you like (even if you don’t plan to purchase).
Checking daily will give you an idea of what’s out there but also train the algorithm by using what you save to curate more items you’ll like (or it thinks you’ll like) to show at the top of your Marketplace feed.
If you’re not finding things you like within your radius, increase it just to save and teach it what you gravitate towards.
Ideally, any items I like would be within a 40 mile radius but that definitely limits the options so I do occasionally increase the radius to be 200 miles even if it’s just to learn what is out there, what I like, and hopefully have it show me more of that in the future. I do find that when you’re closer into a city, the prices tend to be a bit higher than if you look further out. We recently found a $150 dining table but it was all the way in South Carolina (worth the drive though).
Create a go-to list of key search terms and search frequently.
I have some go-to search terms that I use when browsing and they include: french antique, vintage wooden ____, carved wooden ____, traditional antique, victorian, antique brass or vintage brass _____, french country. And then there are some specific architectural or furniture styles I search every now and then like King Louis XVI or Neoclassical when I’m looking for something more ornate.
This wooden buffet was listed as a “Victorian Style Wooden Buffet” and the mirror as “Antique Oval Mirror”.
I think the most important thing is checking frequently and saving all of your favorites, whether you plan on buying them or not. Plus, it’ll teach you a lot about what you like vs. don’t like.
If you don’t have a large vehicle to pick-up items, I believe there are companies who provide services specifically for these types of purchases who will pick up on your behalf. Personally, I haven’t used them before but they could come in handy and be worth it (Lugg, DeliverEnd, and Dolly all are companies I’ve heard about).
Love the perspective of building knowledge of what’s out there and the algorithm. I have shopped it in reverse as well. Someone posted something for just a smidge less then I could have bought it new on Amazon and have return options and have it delivered to my door step. I really enjoy finding a treasure on FMP! Thanks for the helpful post.
Thank you!!