Without exaggeration, at least 90% of the furniture in my home has been purchased from Facebook Marketplace. I’m so proud to have sourced most of my furniture through Facebook Marketplace because A) I’ve saved SO much money doing so, B) I really enjoy the hunt, and C) buying second hand is more sustainable! In case you were curious, another 5% of my furniture is from my childhood/family, and the final 5% of my furniture has been purchased new, directly from stores. Sourcing high-end furniture on a budget is one my favorite hobbies, which is why I’m so excited to share 5 Tips To Score Designer Furniture on Facebook Marketplace !

Tip #1 Know Your Surrounding Towns (& Test Them Out)

Of all my Facebook Marketplace purchases, an overwhelming majority of them come from Darien and New Canaan, CT. I usually have my location set with a 5-10 mile radius around Darien and New Canaan because after a lot of trial and error, I’ve learned that this is the sweet spot for finding the pieces I’m looking for! (Read as: people in and around these two towns are consistently getting rid of gently-used Serena & Lily pieces!)

If you are local to Fairfield County, then I’ve done the guess work for you! If you’re not local, then my suggestion is to learn about your surrounding towns and play around with inputting different locations and working with different radius sizes. I live right on the Long Island sound so if I were to use my location and a 10 mile radius, I’d have pieces from Long Island pop up and while I have nothing against Long Island, I’d rather avoid the drive out there to pick up furniture! (Unless it was something reallyyy good, then I would make an exception.)

Tip #2 Always Personalized Your Inquiry Messages

Take it from someone who has sold a handful of pieces on Facebook Marketplace myself, while buying on FB Marketplace is my jam, selling is not the most fun experience. There are so many people who just send the pre-written “is this still available?” message that if you really want to make sure you score a specific piece, taking an extra moment to type out a personalized message to the seller could make all the difference!

The easiest way to do this is start with a greeting such as, “Good Morning [insert their first name here]! I love your grasscloth side tables and would love to purchase them for my home. May you please let me know if they’re still available?”

Tip #3 In Order To Seal The Deal, Be Specific

After you find out if a piece is still available, you’re going to want to be specific with what date and time you can come pick up the piece. Typically, the sooner you can come pick up the piece, the more likely the buyer will choose you over someone else who might be interested. Additionally, you’re going to want to ask the seller specific clarifying questions such as:

-Will you be able to help me load this into my car, or do I need to bring another person?
-Do you accept Venmo? (If not, clarify whether they want cash or if they’ll take a check or Zelle payment.)
-May you please send me a picture showing the brand’s tag/logo? (Sometimes I ask this question over FB, other times I’ll wait until I arrive to confirm the piece I’m purchasing is in fact authentic.)
-Can you confirm this piece is in great/like-new condition? Are there any scratches or imperfections I should be aware of and if so, may you please send a picture?

Tip #4 Search Using Key Words/Phrases

Sometimes sellers might not disclose the brand in their listing, which is why it’s important to use keywords and phrases on Facebook Marketplace to find your ideal listings! For instance, I’m always searching for Serena & Lily pieces, but I’ve found and purchased S&L pieces that aren’t disclosed as such by including terms like “grasscloth” or “rattan” or “woven” in my FB Marketplace searches.

Also, I won’t pretend to know all the inner workings of FB Marketplace, but I feel like now the algorithm anticipates my preferences by pushing items similar to what I’ve purchase or searched for in the past to the top of my feed. This is all to say, it might take a few weeks to get yourself established on FB Marketplace, and during that time you might need to search a little harder!

Tip #5 Be Patient, It Pays Off!

Story time: I’ve wanted the Serena & Lily Balboa barstools since the first moment I laid eyes on them. As much as I love them, I couldn’t get behind the $800+ price tag per stool though. It’s not that I don’t believe they’re worth it (they 100% are!), but we were moving from a 600sqft apartment to a 3,000+ sqft house and needed ALL. THE. THINGS. I don’t even want to imagine what furnishing my entire house would have cost me had I not used Facebook Marketplace to score affordable, designer finds!

Finding these Balboa barstools on Facebook Marketplace was my top priority once we moved into the new home, considering we ate almost every meal sitting at our kitchen counter in our last place. I swear I manifested these Balboa barstools on FB Marketplace because after telling my friends and family about how badly I wanted to find them, one appeared only days later! My sister thought I was crazy for buying a singular barstool, but I was confident more Serena & Lily Balboa barstools would pop up FB Marketplace for me to purchase at an affordable price. And wouldn’t you know, not even a week later, two more Balboa barstools in the same grey color I’d already purchased came up for sale! Whether you believe in manifesting or not, you might want to try it!!

Circling back to tip #5 of being patient, I’ve had my heart set on the Serena & Lily Blake Grasscloth Console Table for the better part of two years. And again, while I 100% believe it’s worth the hefty price tag of approx. $1,800, I couldn’t bring myself to purchase a new console table considering I already had a perfectly good one that I liked (and had specifically purchased as a place holder until I came across a new-to-me option on FB Marketplace.) Last week though, a Blake console table came up on FB Marketplace for a steal at only $450! Sure, I’ve waited 2 years, but I think the chase makes eventually owning the piece even more special!

If you found these 5 Tips To Score Designer Furniture on Facebook Marketplace helpful, please let me know in the comments below! And of course, if you ever have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out!! If you couldn’t already tell, I seriously LOVE talking about Facebook Marketplace!

Before you go, check out my outdoor dining set that I scored on Facebook Marketplace last summer!