On Facebook Marketplace, like every other online marketplace, you mainly deal with strangers and have to trust that they will fulfil their end of the bargain. A seller who is not responding during a transaction is, therefore, a cause for concern.
There are several reasons why a seller might fail to respond on the Facebook marketplace. For example, they might not have seen the message yet.
Other times, the seller might be dealing with a high volume of transactions and might not have had a chance to get back to you yet. In the worst-case scenario, you could be dealing with a scammer refusing to respond after receiving payment.
In this article, we will look at why sellers fail to respond on Facebook Marketplace. We will also look at various steps you can take to address the issue, depending on the circumstance.
Why do sellers not respond on Facebook Marketplace?
These are some of the most common reasons for a seller not responding on Facebook Marketplace:
1. The seller has not gotten to replying your message
Several reasons a seller might fail to respond to your messages on Facebook Marketplace, especially if it is not urgent.
It could be they are dealing with a high volume of orders, and they have several transactions. It also could be that they are busy.
For some sellers, Facebook Marketplace is not their only e-commerce platform, while others use it as a side hustle and have other jobs.
Other sellers could have seen the message but forgot to respond. In such a case, waiting longer and following up with another message might resolve the issue.
2. The seller has not received the message on their end
Are you dealing with a situation where your Facebook seller is not reading messages? Chances are they have not received it on their end.
Such a scenario can happen when the seller is experiencing a technical problem with their account. It could also be possible that the seller has not logged into their account; hence they are yet to see the message.
3. The seller is not interested in the transaction
Is a Facebook Marketplace seller not responding to your question about their listing?
It could signify that they are not interested in making the transaction. You are better off finding a similar product from a different seller.
4. You are dealing with a scammer
Do you have a situation where a Facebook seller is not responding after payment? Or you are yet to receive an item, but the seller has gone quiet and is not responding to your queries?
It could very likely be you are in every online buyer’s worst nightmare – you are dealing with a scammer.
While Facebook Marketplace takes several steps to prevent scammers and protect buyers, a few scammers slip through the gap.
Therefore, you should be wary if you haven’t received the item you purchased or received the wrong or damaged item and the seller is not responding.
How long should you wait for a response on Facebook Marketplace?
A reliable Facebook Marketplace seller will respond as soon as possible, within an hour or two, if they have a good engagement strategy. However, you cannot expect every seller to respond in such a timely manner.
According to Facebook Marketplace best practices, sellers must respond to buyer questions as soon as possible and solve any disputes within two days.
Therefore, you should not be concerned if the seller has not responded within a few hours. Instead, it would be best to wait a bit, maybe 12 to 24 hours, then send a follow-up message. If you have not heard back from the seller in 2 days, you can consider other options.
What happens if a Facebook Marketplace seller doesn’t respond?
Your actions after a Facebook Marketplace seller refuses to respond depend on the circumstance. For example, if you were contacting the merchant to inquire about a product, it would be advisable to forget about them and find another seller.
The same scenario applies if you were hammering out the details but were yet to place the order (have not sent payment).
After all, a seller who doesn’t respond promptly during this stage is more likely to go quiet if there is an issue with your order. Therefore, you are better off not risking your money.
However, if you are dealing with a different situation, such as an item that has not been received and the seller is not responding, you can escalate the issue by contacting Facebook Marketplace.
They can then take the appropriate action, such as refunding you the cost of the item.
When should you report a seller on Facebook Marketplace?
Before contacting Facebook Marketplace, you should exhaust all avenues of dispute resolution with the seller.
For example, in a situation where you have not received an item, you should allow for an appropriate time for delivery completion, as the item could already have been shipped but has yet to arrive, or the seller could be in the process of sending it.
So, how long does a seller have to ship on Facebook Marketplace? Merchant policies dictate that a seller ship an item within three days of receiving an order.
After that, it might take another few days for the item to reach you, depending on your location, the shipping method used, and other factors such as weekends and holidays.
However, the seller should communicate with you about the shipping dispatch, the service used, and how to track your order.
Therefore, if you have not heard from the seller within three days, you can contact them to ask for information on the shipment. If they have not responded after two days, you can escalate the issue by reporting them.
If you are dealing with an issue of a damaged item (or other problems with the order received), you should contact the seller first. You can escalate and report the issue if they have not responded after two days.
What happens when you report a seller on the Facebook marketplace for not responding?
When you report a seller on Marketplace, Facebook will investigate the issue and take necessary action.
Since they have a purchase protection policy, you will receive a refund for issues such as:
- You did not receive the item you ordered.
- Your item was damaged or received something different from what was advertised.
- You did not authorize the purchase, for example, if your account was hacked.
- The seller refused to resolve the dispute per Facebook Marketplace’s refund policy.
Aside from refunding you, Facebook can also suspend or ban the seller if they violate marketplace policies.
Deal with unresponsive sellers
Making a purchase online is daunting enough when dealing with a stranger, especially if it is your first buying from them.
Dealing with a seller who refuses to respond, especially on urgent issues such as failed delivery, can thus be nerve-wracking. However, with the information, you can now deal with the issue and resolve it successfully.
