Marketplace is the world's biggest garage sale: amazing deals, and a scammer class that studies human nature professionally.
Updated August 09, 2026, after a fresh review, with updated visuals and links.
The safe patterns are simple and non negotiable. Learn them once and Marketplace becomes the best deal hunting ground online.
Short version: Profile check before ANY negotiation first, then the payment rules that prevent 90% of scams. Details below.
Doing it properly
- Profile check before ANY negotiation. Tap the other person's profile: account created last week, no photo, no friends, marketplace only? Walk away. Real locals have aged accounts with faces, history and sometimes mutual friends.
- The payment rules that prevent 90% of scams. Cash in person for local deals, in the exact amount. For shipping: use the platform's own checkout where offered, never Zelle, Venmo 'friends and family', gift cards or crypto. The payment method IS the scam in most stories: once that money leaves, it's gone.
- 'I'll pay extra, ship it' plus a fake check sketch is the classic: never accept overpayment
- Deposits to 'hold the item' don't exist for strangers
- Meet in a smart place. Police station parking lots (many are designated trade spots), busy coffee shops, daylight. Bring someone for high value items. Sellers come to your porch only for bulky stuff with a witness present.
- Verify before money moves. Phones: check it powers on, open Settings, confirm no iCloud/Google lock. Electronics: test every function you care about on the spot. Vehicles: title in hand, VIN matching, no exceptions. Politely thorough beats regretfully robbed.
- Know the common scams by name. The Google Voice code trick ('verify you're real by sharing the code I just texted you', no, they steal your number), the fake courier service, the 'my cousin will pick it up' proxy, and listings with prices too good for the photos, always. Recognizing the script ends the movie early.
Tips that actually help
- Screenshots of the listing and the conversation protect you for later disputes or post-sale ghosting.
- Counter cash notes at the meeting spot for anything over a hundred: counterfeit bills circulate at garage sale scale too.
- Ship with tracking that requires signature for anything expensive, and video yourself packing the item, buyers claim 'empty box' more than you'd believe.
Before you ask
Is Marketplace shipping protected?
Buying through Facebook's own checkout includes purchase protection on eligible items. Paying outside it waives that safety entirely.
Someone offered way above asking price. Why?
Overpayment scams: the check or payment is fake/reversible and the 'extra' you refund or the item you ship is real and gone. No honest buyer overpays strangers.
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- How to Stop Pop-Up Ads on Android (Why They Appear and How to Kill the Source)
Aged profiles only, cash or platform checkout, public daylight meetings, test before paying, codes never shared. Deals without drama, every time.
