The Facebook marketplace has been a great feature which has helped many people to both buy and sell products. Unfortunately however, because of the fact that Facebook wasn’t exactly designed to be a marketplace, there are some features around security which they don’t possess, in the same way that Amazon or eBay do. This however is not to say that you shouldn’t buy anything on Facebook, the key is to be careful. I watched a shocking video from the brilliant Ayden Hector last week where he was discussing those people who had been caught out by sellers on Facebook, which reminded me of the fact that we have got to take care when we buy through this platform. Here are some pointers on making sure that you don’t run into any problems when you buy on social media.
Same Location
The first point to mention here is that in the main you should be looking at buying from local sellers as this gives you a much better chance of making sure that everything runs smoothly. When you buy from sellers who are sending the item there is a lot more possibilities for this to go wrong.
Pay At Delivery
The smart and sensible option for both those who are buying and for those who are selling is that you pay for the item when it is delivered. There are many services who will offer this and it means that the buyer can be safe in the knowledge that what they have bought is as described, and it also means that the seller can get their money without any problems or delays.
Reaching Out
It wouldn’t take someone very long to be called out for scamming people and this of course would prevent them from doing it again in the future. Nonetheless it is still worth trying to find out some background on the person who you are buying from, to make sure that you are going to be able to get a high quality product. Ask the seller if they can send you some reviews from fellow customers and then I would even look to reach out to those customers and find out exactly what they thought about the product. This is a great way for you to avoid buying something which doesn’t match your expectations.
Price Checking
Unless you are buying something unique, it is important that you spend a bit of time checking out the average cost of the goods that you are buying. Facebook can be a great place to pick up some bargains but if they price which they are offering you is significantly lower than the price which others are charging, this should certainly be a cause for concern. Ensure that you are getting a price which at least makes sense, even it is on the lower side of things.
Follow these tips to make sure that you can get the very best from Facebook purchases.
