Facebook Marketplace to start CHARGING some people to sell items from January
FACEBOOK Marketplace users could soon have to pay to sell items through the site.
Facebook's Marketplace service is used by millions of people to sell on their unwanted items - as well as those looking to pick up a bargain.
But a new fee is coming into force in January, which could mean you are charged to sell your stuff.
reports that Marketplace will charge 2 per cent of the sale price if you want to use its new delivery service.
Previously, buyers and sellers have had to arrange postage, delivery or collection of items for themselves when using Marketplace.
But Facebook is now offering to arrange delivery for you.
The firm, which recently rebranded itself as Meta, has teamed up with delivery group Hermes.
Currently, face-to-face collection means sellers can only typically make their items available to those who live close enough to come and collect it.
Facebook said delivery will give buyers more choice and enable sellers to advertise their items to more people.
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A delivery option will mean items can be sent anywhere.
The service was rolled out last month and is currently free.
But from January 1, Facebook will charge a 2 per cent fee, deducted from the combined sale and delivery price.
For example, if you sell an item for £20 and delivery costs £5, the sell will pay 2 per cent of £25 - which is 50p.
Sellers can avoid the charge by sticking with the collection-only option, which will continue to be fee-free.
Chris Newlands, investigations editor at MoneySavingExpert.com, said: "These are pretty seismic changes to Facebook's massively popular online buying and selling hub.
"The new delivery option should mean a whole host of new buyers will now become available to sellers, which should make selling items much quicker and easier.
"But it comes with a cost and sellers will have to mindful of how the new 2 per cent charge eats into profits."
He points out, however, that compared to other similar services, the 2 per cent fee still looks relatively cheap.
But if you are listing an item for sale, it makes sense to check around to see if you can do it for cheaper elsewhere.
How will the delivery service work?
Not all items are eligible for the delivery service, however.
To be delivered, the sale price must be between £1 and £500 and fall into certain categories such as health and beauty, toys and games, and electronics and computers.
Furniture is not eligible for delivery.
To buy and sell an item that will be delivered through Facebook's service, users will need to have an account with payment platform Stripe.
Facebook and Stripe have confirm that credit card transactions have the usual Section 75 protections.
This means you can request a refund from your bank if the seller doesn't deliver on their end of the transaction, but only if the item costs more than £100.
What other sites can I use for selling?
There are options for selling your things away from Facebook.
We've looked at all the places you can sell items online, and which sites work best depending on what you're offloading.
Ebay is one of the most commonly used sites but it's comparatively more expensive.
It charges 12.8 per cent of the sale price as well as 35p to list an item and 30p per order.
That means, if you sell an item for £20, it will charge you £3.16.
Depop takes 10 per cent - that's £2 on a £20 sale.
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Schpock and Vinted have no fees for sellers but do charge buyers a fee.
We've looked at 12 easy ways to make hundreds of pounds including selling your unwanted items.
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