Facebook Marketplace: First come first served (Explained)

On the Facebook marketplace, First come, first served means that the people who approach first to the seller are served or treated before the others who arrive later on the Facebook Marketplace. To put it simply, ‘first come first served’ means people will be dealt with (or an item will be sold) in the order in which they arrive.

Facebook marketplace doesn’t require you to sell your products on First-come, first-serve basis. However, You are morally bound to sell it to the first person to provide you with any sum of money. That’s the selling etiquette that everyone should have.

But sometimes, we get into a situation where we cannot serve the first person. Here are some situations in which we can’t deal with the first person-

The buyer agrees but not responding
The buyer does not agree with the price
The buyer wants you to deliver the product to his/her doorstep, but you don’t want to
The buyer wants to buy at a very cheap price or wants you to deliver the product to his doorstep.
The buyer doesn’t send the payment

After selling the stuff, you may face anger or hate from some people who were willing to buy your product. Some people even threaten that they will complain about it on Facebook support. Some people start calling names.

You should not care about them, because it was not your fault. They just missed a good deal because of their bad attitude. The only solution to get rid of these people is to block them.

To prevent any of the problems I have enlisted above, here are two tips you should follow-

Tips For Sellers To Avoid Any Dispute

If you are a seller, write “No holds” or “first to pick up gets the goods” when making your listing. This helps weed out unmotivated and uncommitted buyers.
If you are a buyer, tell the seller ahead of time how far you have to drive and when you think you will be there. If you really want to get a guarantee that the item is yours, pay on Paypal ahead of time.
Do not mention ‘FCFS’ on your marketplace listing.

Precautions For Meeting

You should follow these three rules to prevent hooligans to approach you –

Don’t go alone.
Meet during daytime
Meet at a public place

Why is it first come first serve?

The first-come, First-serve system makes the people think that they must act fast or risk losing a chance of a good deal. It also ensures that a client is served regardless of how much they are willing to pay for an item (or product).

What is another word for first come first serve?

You can call it FCFS instead of First come first serve. FCFS is the perfect acronym for the term ‘First Come First Serve.’

Advantage For Buyer

First-come, first-served works best when you just have a single product to sell on the Facebook marketplace but there are many people willing to buy the same product. This approach can be good for buyers.

I think it’s safe to say that first come first serve is an okay rule for selling stuff online. ( But Agreeing to meet cannot be considered as a binding contract.)

You were not ‘wrong’ if someone got there first, and they did not “sell out the item from under you”. You just missed out on a good deal. Also, if the person doesn’t want to meet you somewhere, then fair is fair. Some items are pickup only, they don’t need to offer a delivery service.

What To Do If You Want To Buy Something But The Seller Has Sold It To Another Person

First come, first served is the standard in the world of the Facebook marketplace. But if the seller has sold the item for more money to another person. You can request him to provide you the contact information of that buyer from the seller and verify if he is willing to sell it.

Wrapping It Up

First come, first served describes a situation whereby customers are served in the order in which they arrive, those who arrive first are served first.

The term first come, first served was popularized by shopkeepers during the nineteenth century. The system of first come, first served encourages customers to believe that they must act quickly or risk losing an opportunity, as well as guaranteeing that a customer will be served without regard to social station or favoritism.