Over the years Facebook marketplace has become my go to place for sourcing things for my home. It is the best way to find unique, vintage items or also secondhand new items from your favorite stores!

Most of my favorite items in my home or actually found on Facebook marketplace! I find myself scrolling every single day just from the excitement of the search. After months of consistently using the app, I noticed that my algorithm began to change. I went from seeing lots of items that I wasn’t very interested in to seeing mostly items that I was interested in very quickly. Like these vintage folding stools at the end of my bed in the photo above. I wasn’t looking for stools…but they popped up on my feed for $75 (both) and I snatched them up quickly! They are now one of my favorite things in my home.

I put together my best tips for scoring gems on Facebook marketplace so that he might have the same luck!

1. Train the Algorithm

Yep, you read that right! Facebook Marketplace has an algorithm. Weird, right? Let me try to explain how it works. If you engage with an item, Facebook will then show you more of that item. I noticed this when I accidentally clicked on a carton of eggs. For the next week I saw SO many of cartons of eggs for sale on my feed.

But this comes in handy when you are looking for a new piece of furniture or home decor item! My rule of thumb is that if I like it, I click on it. No matter what. And if I love it… I save it. Facebook then starts to learn what types of items peak my interest and in return, will start to show me more of those things!

2. Be Patient

Finding goodies on Facebook marketplace takes time and patience. In fact, if I am looking for some thing I usually do not find it on the first search or even the first day of searching. But give it a few days, or even weeks, and I’ll have a few things to choose from! That’s because while you were searching regularly for an item Facebook is learning that you are looking for that item. So it starts to show you more of those things! It’s actually pretty cool. So if you’re looking for a leather sofa. Make sure you search for a leather sofa every day. And after a few days…you’ll probably find exactly what you’re looking for!

3. Jump on it!

If you come across a score, great deal, or a gem item make sure to jump on it! It’s really likely that someone else sees it too. There are people that prowl Facebook Marketplace to flip items as a side hustle. If you find a good deal, you’d be lucky to beat them to it. If you’re interested in an item, message to seller and offer to pick up as soon as you can. Maybe also offer to pay cash or higher than the asking price if it’s a great deal!

4. Search typos

This one might seem a little ridiculous but it’s worth it if you’re having a hard time finding what you’re looking for. A lot of sellers will upload listings with a typo in the title. Or they will mis-label the item.

One of the funniest ones that I’ve seen is people calling a chest of drawers a “Chester drawers”. Or even a dresser….”draws”. If you’re not having luck finding exactly what you need, it might be worth taking a little extra time to search commonly used typos or errors like this to make sure you’re getting the most broad search!

5. Start Specific

Always start as specific as you can. There’s really no sense in searching longer than you need to. So if you’re looking for something specific like a black antique buffet, start your search with black antique buffet. Then as you go, become less descriptive. Eventually you can search antique buffet, or black buffet. Then if you still don’t find what you’re looking for, just buffet will suffice. This will help you spend the least amount of time searching and also will tell Facebook exactly what you’re looking for which goes right back to the algorithm!