Selling items on Facebook Marketplace is a great way to earn some extra cash by getting rid of things you no longer need. Listings expire after 5 days, but you can easily renew them to keep your item visible to potential buyers.
Why Listings Expire
Facebook set listings to expire after 5 days to keep the Marketplace fresh with new items. This prevents the same inactive listings from staying up indefinitely. It helps ensure shoppers see the most recent, relevant listings when browsing.
Some key reasons Facebook makes listings expire include:
- Encourage sellers to update listings if an item is still available
- Remove sold or outdated listings
- Maintain a selection of active, current listings
By having listings expire automatically, it clears out old listings that are no longer active to make room for new ones.
How to Renew Listings
Once your listing hits the 5 day expiration date, it will be removed from Facebook Marketplace. But you can easily renew it to gain more exposure. Here are the steps to renew an expired listing:
- Open the Facebook app on your mobile device or navigate to Facebook in a desktop browser.
- Go to your Marketplace tab by clicking on the Shop icon in the left menu.
- Tap on “My Listings” at the top of the page.
- Find the expired listing you want to renew.
- Tap on the 3 dots next to the listing and select “Renew”.
- Choose a new expiration date between 2-7 days from the current date.
- Confirm you want to relist the item.
That’s all there is to it! Renewing resets the expiration countdown, keeping your listing active and bumping it back to the top of Marketplace results. You can renew a listing up to 5 times before needing to create a brand new listing for the item.
Tips for Renewing Listings
Here are some tips to make the most of renewing Marketplace listings:
- Update the photos – Take new photos or swap in different pictures to make the renewed listing look fresh.
- Revise the description – Make small tweaks to the description or highlight new details about item condition.
- Adjust the price – Lowering the price slightly can generate more interest if it previously didn’t sell.
- Share the listing – Tap the “Share” icon when renewing to make the item visible in your News Feed.
- Keep popular listings active – Be sure to renew fast-selling items quickly to minimize downtime.
Listing Duration Options
When renewing a Marketplace listing, you can choose how long you want it to remain active. Facebook gives you the following duration options:
| Duration | Details |
|---|---|
| 2 days | Good for time-sensitive listings, like items needed quickly |
| 3 days | Allows a short period for interested buyers to contact you |
| 5 days | The maximum duration before listing expires again |
| 7 days | Keeps the listing visible for longer to maximize views |
Choose a duration based on how quickly you want to sell the item. Shorter time frames work best for hot commodities you want to move fast, while longer ones keep slower-selling items viewable.
Limits to Renewing Listings
While renewing listings is a useful tactic, be aware that Facebook places some limits on it:
- Listings can only be renewed up to 5 times
- Renewing does not reset the view counter
- Items relisted too frequently may be flagged for review
- Facebook may block renewing privileges if abused
In most cases, you shouldn’t need to renew a listing more than a few times. If an item hasn’t sold after being relisted multiple times, consider lowering the price or adjusting the details and pictures.
Creating a New Listing
If you’ve already hit the renewal limit on a listing, you’ll need to create a brand new listing to keep selling the item.
When making a new listing, be sure to:
- Take all new photos of the item
- Rewrite the description with new keywords
- Adjust the condition, pricing, or other details
- Headline the listing differently or emphasize different features
Making significant updates helps get the listing seen as “new” by Facebook’s algorithms and can refresh interest from buyers.
Troubleshooting Renewal Issues
In some cases, you may encounter issues while trying to renew a Marketplace listing. Here are some common problems and fixes:
Can’t Find the Listing
If the listing disappeared from My Listings, it may have been removed for violations or expired too long ago. You’ll need to create a new listing from scratch.
Error Message When Renewing
If errors pop up about not being able to renew the listing, you likely hit the renewal limit. You can either make a new listing or wait out the 30-day block before renewing.
Listing Disappears Right After Renewing
This is typically caused by violations that get the listing removed immediately. Avoid things like exaggerated descriptions, prohibited items, and other policy violations.
Listing Stays Expired After Renewing
Try force quitting the Facebook app and restarting your device. If it’s still expired, the renewal may have failed to process properly.
Avoiding Renewal Pitfalls
Watch out for these common mistakes sellers make when renewing listings:
- Simply reposting the same listing over and over
- Failing to make any changes or updates to the listing
- Renewing more than 5 consecutive times
- Resetting the price to best offer each renewal
- Renewing listings that are clearly no longer available
Breaking Marketplace rules or over-renewing listings can get your renewal abilities restricted. Use renewals judiciously along with making new listings.
Renewing Listings on Other Platforms
Facebook Marketplace isn’t the only site that uses automated listing expirations. Many platforms have similar limits:
- eBay – Most listings expire after 30 days and cannot be automatically renewed
- Craigslist – Listings expire after 30 days unless renewed manually
- OfferUp – “Bump” feature lets you renew listings every 24 hours
- Letgo – No listing expiration, but items inactive for 30 days are hidden
Renewing listings keeps your items visible to buyers across any platform you use for selling. Be sure to renew regularly when selling on multiple sites.
Using Third-Party Tools
Manually renewing multiple listings can be time consuming. Third-party tools and apps exist to help streamline the renewal process:
- Listing Analytics – Provides bulk listing management and renewal
- Marketplace Sales Manager – Auto-renews listings and provides analytics
- Boost Sales – Lets you schedule bulk renewals in advance
However, keep in mind that excessive bulk renewing can still flag your account for review. Use tools judiciously along with manual renewals.
Best Practices for Renewing Listings
Follow these best practices when renewing Marketplace listings for the best results:
- Renew popular or high-demand listings quickly to minimize downtime
- Adjust pricing periodically based on demand and condition
- Update photos and description with each renewal to stimulate interest
- Limit each listing to 3-5 renewals before making a brand new listing
- Stick to 2-7 day renewal durations to find the optimal timeframe
- Avoid renewing listings excessively as it could lead to blocked privileges
Conclusion
Renewing Marketplace listings is an easy process that helps maximize visibility for your items. Take advantage of the ability to relist items while also mixing in new listings for the best results. Follow Facebook’s guidelines around renewals to avoid issues. With the proper renewal strategy, you can keep your items selling until they find the right buyer.