What Items Can I Sell On Facebook?

You’ve established a fine online business and sales are brisk, but you know that you can do more. You’re now planning to sell on Facebook. Before you jump into it, though, it’s important to understand what Lives Sales is all about, why live selling is so popular, and how people shop live. 

What is Live Selling?

Live selling or “live video sales” is an excellent way to improve your reach as a retailer. You can put Facebook’s reach and algorithms to work for you because Facebook emphasizes video over both text and images. Facebook gives an even greater preference to live video, so live selling provides an opportunity to reach a lot more people organically.

The science is also on your side: studies show that viewers spend more time on live streams than any other kind of Facebook post. According to a study from 7 Atoms, 74% of all internet traffic was video in 2017. 65% of viewers watch more than three-fourths of a video, and 46% of viewers take action after watching. It’s not just popular and favored by Facebook, but your call-to-action is extremely effective in this medium. It’s a great way to close sales.

More importantly, Live Selling lets you reach out to people and let them really understand what you and your business are about. You can also interact with them in real-time and show them how your products can add value to their lives.

It’s an exciting way to reach people and generate sales, but there’s a lot of things to keep in mind. Let’s read through the basics of doing Live Sales on Facebook.

How Do You Sell Something on Facebook?

You can sell a variety of items on Facebook.  The first rule is that you have to sell a physical item or service, and not a digital or otherwise intangible item. There are some exceptions to this, which we will cover later. The items you sell can be classified under the following categories:

• Classified Ads
• Clothing and Accessories
• Deals
• Electronics
• Entertainment
• Family
• Hobbies
• Home and Garden
• Housing
• Vehicles

While services are acceptable on the Facebook Marketplace, for Live Selling it is recommended to stick with physical products. Any orders must be shipped within three days and received by the buyer in seven days. 

Payments are processed through Facebook Messenger, with support for adding funding instruments such as credit cards and debit cards, Facebook Gift Cards, mobile billing, and other payment methods. This can be set up in the Facebook app settings under “Payments.” Other sellers can also add other payment options for their customers to accommodate those who don’t have credit cards.

Pro Tip on How to Sell Items on Facebook

If you want an easy way to sell items on Facebook Live, you can use BeLive’s Live Sales feature. It’s a great way to showcase your products on screen while you’re live. You can also send a link automatically in the comments, so your viewers can buy the items on your website.

In addition, your marketing for any products or services should not be:

• Overly sexualized – Any live video sales done should not be sexually suggestive. This includes sexual images, implied nudity, or implied sexual acts.
• Deceptive and misleading – Your Facebook Live sale should not make misleading or unrealistic claims. This includes “get rich quick” schemes and styles of marketing, or “before and after” images showing unrealistic results.
• Overly violent –  Should avoid portraying excessive violence.
• Tasteful – Should be respectful and avoid shocking or sensationalizing things.
• Discriminatory – Avoid wrongfully discriminating or suggesting a preference against people due to protected characteristics like sex, race, age, ethnicity, religion, disability, marital status, and others. 

Can you sell these things on Facebook?

This is a list of items you CAN’T sell on Facebook:

• Illegal, prescription or recreational drugs – any drugs which are illegal or which would require a doctor’s prescription.
• Tobacco products and related paraphernalia – this includes cigarettes, cigars, tobacco rolling machines, bongs, rolling papers, and e-cigarettes. The exception is apparel featuring tobacco branding. 
• Unsafe supplements – this includes things like anabolic steroids, ephedra, human growth hormones, and other proven detrimental products to one’s health.
• Ammunition, explosives and weapons – this includes all manner of firearms and parts, paintball guns, BB guns, fireworks, pepper spray, tasers and gun ranges. Licenses for legal weapons is acceptable.
• Animals – no live animals, pets or livestock are allowed, nor are any parts of an animal like fur, pelts or skins. Animal cages and toys, and veterinary, grooming or boarding services are allowed.
• Adult products and services – this includes things like sex toys, videos or live shows for adult entertainment, and sexual enhancement products. Products involving family planning and contraception are allowed.
• Alcohol – this includes all types of alcoholic beverages, as well as kits and equipment for making alcohol. Informational material such as books on alcohol brewing are allowed, as well as alcohol-related items like shot glasses, wine bottle holders, and the like.
• Healthcare products and services – this includes medical devices and services, smoking cessation products which have nicotine, contact lenses, thermometers, bandages, first-aid kits, and testing kits for medical conditions. Any marketing material showing “before and after” images, or materials which promote a negative self-image, are not allowed. Lifestyle and fitness accessories such as watches, however are allowed.
• Real money gambling services – this includes online gambling, games of skill and lotteries, or any kind of game that involves actual money.
• Subscriptions or digital products – this refers to downloadable digital content, digital subscriptions or digital accounts such as PDFs, music, games, films, Netflix accounts, and digital coupons. The exception is authentic audio or video CDs, DVDs and BluRay disks. 
• Digital and electronic media devices – this refers to devices which promote or facilitate digital streaming content that in an unauthorized manner, such as streaming devices with software to allow unauthorized access to content, or jailbroken electronics.
• Real, virtual or fake currency – this includes various cryptocurrencies, real money, replica or prop money, active bank credit or debit cards, and equipment to create counterfeit currency.
• Third-party infringement – this refers to items that violate the intellectual property rights of a third party, such as counterfeit products or imitations of another company’s genuine products.

That may seem like a lot of things to keep in mind, but the rules are easy to follow. If you have a genuine interest in selling things of value to people, there should be no problems. Marketing works best when you offer great, meaningful content that gives value to your customers. 

When you are selling items live, you aren’t just promoting a brand, you are making a real connection with people, and that’s something that really matters in today’s marketplace.

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