Facebook marketplace is a subsection of Facebook which allows users to buy and sell goods to/from other Facebook users.
The marketplace is only available to Facebook users who are 18 years of age or older and only in certain countries. For those who do have access to the marketplace, it can be a great way to pick up second hand goods at a bargain price.
It can be frustrating, therefore, when you go to buy something on Facebook marketplace to find that it isn’t working as normal.
In this article, we are going to look at the most common reasons behind Facebook marketplace not working and examine how you can get it back up and running quickly. Let’s get started.
Why is Facebook marketplace not working? The most common reason
As previously mentioned, in order to access Facebook marketplace, you need to be over 18 and not live in a prohibited country.
As a result, the most common reasons for marketplace not working is due to users who don’t fit these basic requirements trying to access the marketplace. Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do to access the Facebook marketplace if your country doesn’t allow it.
To check to see if you are geographically eligible to visit the Facebook marketplace, view the list of prohibited countries and if you see your country here then this won’t be causing your marketplace issues.
One way around this could be to use a VPN. However, there may not be much in point in this considering you wouldn’t be able to purchase any goods from your country of residence.
Aside from these basic marketplace requirements, there are plenty of other reasons why marketplace might not be working for you. Let’s take a look at the most common reasons why users find their Facebook marketplace not loading.
Broken marketplace rules
If you have broken the Facebook marketplace rules then you may well find that your account is restricted or banned when it comes to marketplace access.
Facebook should notify you of this change but in case it doesn’t then perhaps you should review your marketplace activity against these guidelines.
To summarise, while using Facebook marketplace, you should abide by the following rules and guidelines:
- Don’t promote, sell or buy adult products.
- Don’t promote, sell or buy any illegal goods.
- Don’t promote, sell or buy alcohol.
- Don’t promote, sell or buy body parts or fluids.
- Don’t promote, sell or buy gambling activity.
- Don’t promote, sell or buy hazardous goods.
When your marketplace access has been removed or restricted there is very little you can do. If you try opening a new account then you still won’t be able to access the marketplace due to the fact that new accounts aren’t allowed to use the marketplace.
As a result, all you can do is submit a complaint to Facebook in the hope that they will review your ban.
Connectivity
Facebook is a platform that requires a strong and stable internet connection regardless of which subsection you are trying to use. Whether it be Messenger, Marketplace, Pages or anything else that’s integrated with your Facebook account.
This means that if you are trying to view the marketplace to list an item to sell or to purchase something then you are going to need to be connected to the internet.
If you are trying to access the marketplace via the mobile phone app on an iOS device, then ensure you have an internet connection by following these steps:
- Head to the settings app.
- Select ‘Wi-Fi’.
- If there is a tick next to one of the available networks then you’re good to go. If there isn’t, then select one of the available networks and try to connect. In all likelihood you are going to need a password to successfully connect.
- If you can’t connect to a Wi-Fi network then head back to the settings app and select ‘mobile data’.
- Slide the button next to ‘mobile data’ so that it is displaying as green and let you phone find your a 3G, 4G or 5G connection. If it can’t find you one then you must be in area with poor signal.
After, you can test using the Facebook app or another app from the Google Play store to check whether you’re connection is working properly.
App updates
Facebook is constantly looking to improve its service and as a result, often pushes out updates for its apps.
Some of these updates may well have an impact on the marketplace and therefore, it is essential that you run these updates as quickly as possible if you want to guarantee a well performing Facebook marketplace.
To check to see if there any updates pending for the Facebook app, please follow these steps:
- Navigate to the App Store.
- Select the profile icon on the top right hand side of the screen.
- Scroll down your profile to find the list of pending updates.
- If you see Facebook on this list, simply hit the ‘update’ button to the right of its name.
If you are keen to ensure that an out of date app never causes you issues, then you can set all of these updates to happen automatically. This feature can be found in your iPhone’s settings within the ‘app store’ section.
Conclusion
To conclude, there are a multitude of reasons why Facebook marketplace might not be working for you, both in a permanent and temporary capacity. We hope that our advice above, though, will help you to get it back up and running promptly.
