I furnished my house with bits from Facebook Marketplace – here are my tips to make sure you bag the bargains first
A WOMAN who furnished her entire house with bargains from Facebook Marketplaces has revealed her best tips for getting a great deal.
Elizabeth Greer Turnbull, from Canada, showed off some of the vintage finds she’s grabbed over the years on her YouTube channel.
The interiors lover explained she likes to keep her eyes peeled for vintage pieces to match her look, but there’s plenty of other styles on there too.
One of best things to look out for are mirrors, and Elizabeth has bagged two vintage ones for £18 each, as well as a full size one as part as a furniture bundle including a dresser and cabinet.
“Mirrors tend to be ridiculously expensive so I love looking for mirrors on Facebook Marketplace and I just knew as soon as I saw this one that I had to snag it,” she said.
If you do want to score the best bargains before anyone else checking the site daily is the key, according to Elizabeth, who adds it in to her usual evening social media scrolling routine.
Not only are new items being added constantly but sellers also lower the prices of items all the time too, so it might be worth checking back in on them.
“Depending on where you live things can go pretty quick,” she added.
Another tip is to take the time to write out a proper message instead of sending the default message of ‘is this still available?’
Since she started buying furniture on Facebook Marketplace Elizabeth noticed a lot of sellers often don’t respond to the default message at all.
She said: “I can imagine they’re getting a lot of people who just do the lowest effort thing which is to hit send on the message which is already typed in without adding anything of their own.
“A lot of sellers will ignore messages like that because it feels super low effort and like it’s going to be a waste of their time.”
Instead, the savvy shopper recommended asking when you can collect the item if you buy it, or enquiring about dimensions and pictures.
Elizabeth is also a pro when it comes to negotiating the best deal, even getting her hands on bundles of furniture for a fraction of the advertised price.
“You’ve got to know when it’s appropriate to negotiate,” she explained, and looking out for signs like if something has been online for a long time is the best way to do this.
“In my personal experience, offering a price that’s not too far from what’s listed has given me the best results.
“Of course you can go big, but you might have to go home,” she said.
It’s also worth changing the location to nearby towns and cities to see what else is on offer and compare prices.
Items from smaller towns generally don’t sell as fast and are more reasonably prices, but you might bag something more unique if you’re willing to drive to your nearest city.
“Try expanding your search bubble as big as it will go and the app to really see what’s in your area,” Elizabeth said.