Furniture is hard enough to sell when it’s new, making it even harder to sell when you’re selling it used. So in this article, we’re going to dig into four real-world examples and put them through my seven-point framework, which I’ve taught in my prior Facebook Marketplace listings. Be sure to stick until the end to check out the listing that practically scores top marks on every single point of the framework.
Something that I’m going to do in this series is I’m going to walk you through a seven-point framework of things to check out for when you are reviewing your listing so that you can sell things more effectively.
Exampe 1: Modern Wood Table (Free Delivery)
The first thing we want to look at is the title. Is it an SEO-optimized title? In this case, we have modern wood table free delivery listed. So, I’m going to give it points for the title, because it is largely covering all the major points that you would want. If we were to improve this title a little bit further, I would potentially include the condition of the item as well as the color of the wood in case that were interesting to prospective buyers.
So, if you want to imagine with me for a second, that we started a blog around growing succulents, we might type in something like growing succulents into the search bar. And from there, what AnswerSocrates is going to show you are hundreds of content ideas that are potential keyword ideas, as well as content ideas that you can create on.
The next thing we want to look for is whether or not the listing has listed the desired price. And in this case, it is really clear in which it’s listed at $60 markdown from the original $80. And with this, this actually covers another later point of what we are going to be looking for, which is savings being clear to the buyer. So in this case, the markdown from $80 to $60 does reflect that. And so they will receive points for this.
As we go through the listing, we’re also going to look for whether or not they’ve used tags properly. So in this situation, you can see that they have used the tag for like-new condition, which is great.
If I were to improve this listing a little bit further, I would consider using some more tags. For example, if they had the brand or some other things to mention through the tags method.
Another thing that I really like about this listing is that they’ve listed that the price is negotiable. That helps prospective buyers understand that you are a motivated seller. And so they might come in with, at a lower offer than $60, but know that you’re open to that sort of negotiation.
Something I also really like is the free delivery aspect from the seller. So the only thing I’d recommend here is if you want to make your item move faster, consider also adding the days and times that are best for delivery so that you can reduce the back and forth with the prospective buyer.
In general, I think that this listing is missing a few key points as well. For example, something that I’m wondering with this wooden table is what are the actual dimensions of it? Will it fit in my room? It’s hard for me to tell. And then as we work our way through the framework as well, we also want to make sure that photos are really insightful with each progressive photo.
And in this case, I would say that this listing misses the mark because each progressive photo doesn’t actually reveal all that much more about the desk from the very first photo. All it does is really take the desk from the left side and then from the right side. But what would be much more helpful is if this listing were to open up the drawer, for example, to show people specifically what is going on in this drawer, how much stuff can it potentially fit inside its drawer, and whatnot.
When it comes to the listing, we also like to outline some benefits to the buyer. We like to have our copy inside the actual listing, have some sort of thing that helps prospective buyers visualize what it might be like to buy this desk. So this is missing overall in this particular listing.
And then lastly, in terms of preferred payment and pick up and delivery, delivery is broadly covered. However, payment methods are not. So it’s not known whether or not the seller prefers cash, Cash App, Venmo or whatever it is that he or she prefers to get paid in.
So when we review this listing on the seven-point framework, it receives points for the keyword-optimized title, as well as the desired price and the item condition and savings angle. However, it does miss the mark in terms of the photos, the benefits to the buyer, as well as the preferred payment method being clear.
Example #2: TV Stand Modern
So the first thing we’re going to dig right into is the SEO-optimized title. In this case, this isn’t really an SEO-optimized title because they probably mean to say it’s a modern TV stand. Also, there are no details in terms of the condition of the item, the color of the wood or anything that might actually be helpful to a prospective buyer.
So if you’re really trying to optimize in terms of your title, you’re missing the mark in this particular area. As we move on, looking through this listing, we noticed that they do use a couple of different tags. They use the condition, the color as well as the material. So this is a good example, compared to example, number one, in which this seller is using more tags, that’s super helpful in terms of helping Facebook understand specifically what it is that you are selling.
As we move on to the second point of our framework, we’re looking for a clear desired price. And we clearly see that with the $85 that’s listed. And the other thing that we’ll tackle, because we have covered that it is a markdown from the original listing of $99, is that there is a clear savings angle, and that will be doubled down with even further on in this particular listing.
As we move on to the photos overall, they could use some work. For example, the second photo here is blurry and then the third photo actually needs to be rotated directionally to make it easier for prospective buyers to understand what it’s about. What I really don’t like about the photos in this particular listing is that the seller didn’t actually take the opportunity to let each photo progressively show something else that a prior photo didn’t cover.
For example, even after reviewing these photos, I still don’t know exactly how deep the drawers are or what size TV is actually shown in the image that has a TV on the stand. The takeaway for you here is to try to make sure that each photo you include in your listing shows something else or some other aspect of the thing you’re trying to sell for your prospective buyer.
These photos in this example are really important because in the case, in which you’re not going to give me some clear dimensions in your listing details, I can at least try to deduce it from the photos if they were actually helpful. In fact, if anything, I would actually put the last photo that the seller has put here as the first photo, because that is the new state of the item and you can see how it looked in store without all the stuff on the actual TV stand.
As we already covered, because the seller did use tags, it is really clear what the item condition is. It is like new. And the next criteria is to look for benefits to the buyer. This is something that’s unclear because I can’t tell what size TV this can actually support or how much stuff the drawers can actually hold.
As we covered the last two points, the savings angle is covered and it’s covered in two ways. First in the price reduction, as well as by actually showing what the original price was. In this case, it was about $200 originally. The only thing that I add here to make it even better is to state what those percentage savings are with the current price compared to the retail price.
Lastly though, as we look at the preferred payment method and pick up and delivery, this is unclear. So this is something that would be helpful to include in the listing and an update. So, overall, for example, number two, we scored a three out of seven in which this listing receives points for desire price, item condition, and savings angle.
However, it misses the mark on keyword-optimized title, photos, benefits to the buyer, as well as the preferred payment method.
Example #3: Solid Walnut Craft Mid Century Modern Dresser
For this next example, we have a listing that is titled Solid Walnut Craft Mid Century Modern Dresser. This is a great title right off the bat. It is SEO-optimized, and it’s clearly covering a ton of different points. It’s covering the case in which prospective buyers want something that’s actually real wood, as opposed to something fake wood.
It’s also covering the style of the particular item as well as what it is. It’s a modern dresser. So right off the bat, points for the title here for SEO. The only thing that I would potentially do to improve it further is to include the color of the type of walnut wood, as well as the condition of the item.
The next thing we’re going to look for is whether or not pricing is clear. And what we can tell is that pricing is crystal clear. It’s $499 down from the original listed price for 1200. The next thing that we like to look at is the tags. We love the tags they’re using here. They’re using the condition tag, the decor style, the material, as well as even the country of origin and date range.
This is a great use of tags in which it’s making it really easy for the Facebook algorithm to figure out specifically what this listing is all about as well, to show it in as many possible places as possible in these searches.
Another thing that I really love about this seller is that they have included complete dimensions in their listing. It’s really clear exactly what the dimensions are, which makes it really easy for me as a potential buyer to figure out whether or not this is even going to fit in a room in my particular place that I might be looking to set this dresser in.
Something that could improve this listing is to introduce some line breaks after every single sentence to create a dedicated line for each progressive point. This way it’s easier to skim when I am on a mobile phone or something like that.
Overall though, I do like the humor that the seller includes here by saying, I call it **** American grown grandpa built, et cetera. Something that is a little bit unclear is that in the area, the original listing, it looks like they were listing it for $1,200.
But since then they’ve reduced the price down to 500. However, the copy actually says 1200 still. So it’d be really helpful to get some clarity or to edit the actual text in the listing so there’s no incongruency in terms of what’s listed as well as what’s listed in the actual listing body copy.
Overall, the photos are staged really nicely. And it’s clear that the seller knows exactly what he’s doing because he has 19 ratings that are really high marks. And it’s clear that he knows exactly what he’s doing with each photo because he’s revealing a different aspect of the piece that he’s selling with each progressive photo.
In terms of the benefits to the buyer, it’s a little unclear. However, the seller makes up for this in terms of the savings angle, by showing the clear markdown from the original listed price for where it is now. And then lastly, in this case, the seller is missing a preferred payment method as well as pickup and delivery. So that would be helpful to include in the listing.
Overall, though, really good listing in which this score is five points out of seven in which they’re only missing points in terms of outlining the benefits to the buyer, as well as the preferred payment and delivery and pickup instructions.
Example #4: Wood Coffee Table
This example is probably the best one that I’ve seen of the four that we’ve gone over today. For the title right off the bat, it is called a Wood Coffee Table Shelf, two drawers, versatile, easy to move, great condition, and metal hardware. This is a great title it is because optimizing for all the different variations of phrases that people might be looking for when they are looking for a wood coffee table. The only potential recommendation I’d make here is to make it a little bit more readable in which you capitalize some of the words.
However, I totally understand the keyword stuffing that they are doing in this particular listing to try to be discovered in as many different places as possible.
When we start to look further down the listing, I also really like how they use the tag for the condition in which it’s crystal clear that this is like-new condition.
Overall, I like the use of the like-new tag. However, it actually introduces more questions than answers because like we just went over in the title. They said that it was great condition in the title. However, it’s tagged as like-new. So I’m left wondering which of the two actually is it.
As we move on to our next criteria on whether or not pricing is clear, this is crystal clear. It’s $99 markdown from the 150, which also covers our checkbox for savings angle for potential buyers.
The inclusion that they are open to best offer is another example of them hitting the point on the savings angle to potential buyers. When, we’ve checked for the photos, this is where I think this listing really shines. And the reason why is because every single photo shows something different aspect about this particular listing.
The first one is a head-on view of this product. The second one is something in which we’re extending the drawers to show how much stuff can be held in those drawers. And then another one is the side angle of what this looks like from a different perspective. And then lastly, we have a case in which the seller is showing what this coffee table looks like with a ton of stuff on top of it.
Furthermore, this is probably the best listing in terms of tackling the point on making clear what the benefits to the buyer are. They include things in their listing, like how it would be a beautiful addition to a living room, office or entry room. So this is the sort of phrasing that you want to include to help the potential buyer visualize where this could potentially go in their own place.
The only thing that I’d recommend here is what I mentioned earlier in terms of potentially introducing some line breaks for some formatting, just so that it would be a little bit more skimmable for a potential buyer. The other thing that I really like about the seller is that they not only include the dimensions of the actual table, but also of the internal drawers.
This is the first time we’ve seen this today, and this is the attention to detail that people notice when they’re buying things. As we look at the preferred payment and details in terms of pickup and delivery, this is left off in the listing. And this is the only thing that I would say that this listing misses the mark on.
Overall though, this is a job really well done in which they get six out of seven marks in terms of the framework in which the only thing you’re missing is that last point on preferred pickup and delivery instructions.
Something I hope you’ll take away is that after we review this last listing, it’s abundantly clear why this listing is so much more effective than the prior three that we looked at. I leave this listing with very few additional questions in which I can just send a message to this buyer and then start getting into the logistical pieces of buying this particular coffee table.
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