An expert’s guide to finding the best fashion pieces on Facebook Marketplace

“If you keep your mind open and your eyes peeled, you’re bound to find treasure.”

Once upon a time, I was a Depop girlie. I had packages arriving almost weekly from the app and barely shopped anywhere else. My boyfriend even said when we first met that I had “major Depop vibes” (whatever that means).

This was back in the glory days of Depop – or at least that’s how I see it – before it became completely mainstream. I was a fashion-obsessed 14-year-old, still at school, who didn’t identify with what was selling at Cotton On or Glassons. I was super girly and heavily into vintage, and I loved spending my nights scouring through the reselling app and hunting for retro treasures.

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This continued throughout my time at high school but, by the time I was nearly finished there, I began to notice prices rising. As a high school student with a part-time job at Coles, I found buying regularly from Depop was becoming too expensive.

It was while I was in my period of mourning over my golden era on Depop, that my aunty introduced me to Facebook Marketplace. She had a new baby and was using it to buy and sell infant clothes and gadgets (thrifty). I was inspired to give Marketplace a go and was stunned by how much amazing stuff I found on there.

 

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I’ll never shut up about one of my greatest (and first) Marketplace finds – a $20 vintage wool bag that looks like a kilt, with a naked bum screen printed on the bag. I’ve had this bag forever, and I still get stopped on the street or in the shops to be asked where it’s from.

Ever since that first incredible find, I’ve almost completely written off Depop – I’ll buy something from there or brand-new on occasion, but I’ve found that I can find almost anything I want on trusty Facebook Marketplace.

Although I do consider myself to be a Marketplace expert, even the best and brightest in any field can always learn more. So, to make sure this guide is as educational as possible, I also spoke to vintage reseller, fellow Marketplace fiend and all-round-icon Stella Morison for some extra tips.

Have a list of go-to search terms or keywords

This will enable you to regularly search for things that align with your personal style. As Stella puts it, “If you have a jumping-off point then you’ll be in a good place to train the home page algorithm to serve you up gems when you least expect it”.

Some of my key terms include:

• Vintage [insert brand name]
• Size [insert brand name]
• Kitten heel [insert size]
• Skirt [insert size]
• Knee-high boots

Use the filters (they’re there for a reason!)

Just like on Depop, Marketplace has an array of search filters available – for example: size, price and most importantly, distance! You want to look at items in a reasonable radius for you to pick up whatever you’re buying (or pay a small amount for postage).

Be smart with pickups

Although going for a drive with iced coffee and an audiobook is the recipe for a perfect day for me, you don’t want to have to drive a ridiculously long way to pick something up. In Stella’s words, “If it’s something I simply cannot live without, I’m more than happy to go for a drive”.

Just like me, Stella relies on audiobooks as the perfect companion to a peaceful Marketplace pickup drive (the girls know where it’s at). Something that both of us do is combine a far-away Marketplace trip with something else – I like to search up op shops if I’m going to a new area or visit a cafe that I love, but that’s too distant to go to regularly.

Or, of course, you could try and add in more Marketplace stops. Stella’s super handy suggestion is to “use the search by distance feature and set your location to the suburb you’re picking up from to see what else might be in the area”.

(Side note: As a young woman, I don’t always feel 100 per cent safe driving somewhere unfamiliar and knocking on strangers’ doors. I always make sure to: send someone the address of where I’m going, bring my sister/boyfriend with me and never go into someone’s house that I meet off Marketplace).

Don’t forget about the homepage

I find a lot of gems there, completely unintentionally. It’s like walking into a thrift shop with no list of things to look for: if you keep your mind open and your eyes peeled, you’re bound to find treasure. If you’ve got a bit of time to spare, I recommend spending 10 to 15 minutes scrolling through it.

I love to do this in bed with a cup of tea – but I’ll also do it while waiting for my coffee or at the doctor’s. I prefer it to checking messages or scrolling TikTok. Stella calls herself a “homepage doom-scroller” (slay) and confesses that she often scrolls it as she falls asleep in front of the TV (“not great for my retinas”).

Finally, because Stella is a vintage seller and runs the vintage resale brand Cusp Online, I asked her for a couple of quick tips for clothes shopping on secondhand platforms in general.“Be intentional about what you’re searching for go in with a game plan and be methodical,” she says.

“We are not here to fuck spiders. Narrowing down your search by providing details like your size can also really help you sift through the mass as efficiently as possible. Also, ask lots of questions! Ask directly if the item has any faults, for sizing details (especially as vintage sizing, as it’s rarely true to size) and anything else you might want to know like fabric.”

For more on finding clothing on Facebook Marketplace, head here.