The Best Facebook Marketplace Listings Are All Misspelled

Looking for wrought iron? Try rod iron.

Facebook Marketplace used to be a utopia of vintage delights — one where you could find things like an Adrian Pearsall sofa for $25.

It’s still full of incredible things but as the internet has matured, sellers have grown more savvy. Now, if someone has an Adrian Pearsall sofa, they might do a reverse Google image search, noting that many of the listings on Chairish and 1stDibs go for tens of thousands of dollars. So, they list their sofa on Facebook Marketplace, but they price it accordingly. Search “Adrian Pearsall sofa” in Northeast Florida and you’ll see dozens priced between $600 and $8,000.

Lest you be discouraged by the fact that the prices on Marketplace have skyrocketed in recent years, let me highlight what I like to call the Facebook Marketplace loopholes.

These loopholes mean that there are still deals to be had on Marketplace (and, by extension, auction sites like eBay) — but you have to know how to search and what to look for.

Misspelled Listing Titles

If you search “Adrian Pearsall sofa” on the platform, you are overlooking a key fact: Thousands of listings on Facebook Marketplace (as well as online auction sites like eBay) are misspelled. These misspelled listings often end with no bids because no one can find them.

So to find the really good stuff — the scores, the finds, the Adrian-Pearsall-for-$25 — you need to start misspelling your search terms.

There is an entire website devoted to this phenomenon. Fat Fingers allows you to search any term to see its most commonly misspelled variations. I experimented by typing in “Le Creuset,” and, in response, it offered up the following misspellings: Le Creuaet, Le Creuser, Le Creusot, Le Crouset, Le Creuzet, Le Crreuset, Le Creuest, Le Cresuet, Le Crueset, Le Creuse, Le Creust, Le Creuet, Le Cruset, Le Ceuset.

Currently, there are more than 2,500 misspelled listings for Le Creuset pots on eBay, some starting as low as $6.

The Fat Fingers website isn’t foolproof, and it doesn’t take into account words or phrases that are not misspelled, but still inaccurate (like “Chester drawers” for chest of drawers or “rod iron” for wrought iron).

Some keywords worth searching on Facebook Marketplace:

• Chester drawers = chest of drawers

• rod iron = wrought iron

• candle opera = candelabra

• coach = couch

• slay bed = sleigh bed

• curious cabinet = curio cabinet

• table with wheels = bar cart

• dinning table = dining table

• mirrow = mirror

“Need Gones.”

Another loophole: Not everyone knows (or cares) what they have. They just want it gone.

Some people just want to get rid of their old stuff, and they don’t have the time to research it. Try searching “need gone,” or “asap,” and see what comes up.

This will cull through listings to pull out those that someone has put up in a hurry. They might be moving and on a strict timetable, for instance. And if they really and truly need that stuff gone now, they are willing to take pretty much whatever you offer them, so long as you can pick it up.

Vague Listings

The final loophole is one I've written about before, both in my book and here on Substack. Often times, people just don’t care to do research. Maybe they got a new table and they just want their old one outta there, or maybe they have no idea reverse Google image searches are even a possibility. Either way, there are literally thousands of people on planet Earth who have really valuable things and will list them on Facebook Marketplace in the most nondescript way you can imagine.

This is how I found my Adrian Pearsall pencil reed chair (listed as “vintage rattan upholstered arm chair MADE IN USA.”)

Or my carved wooden swan base table, sold to the brand Alice + Olivia for use in their Manhattan store, and listed on Facebook Marketplace as “table.” No mention of the swans at all and the listing photo was an overhead shot, just of the glass. I happened to scroll through and realize what the base was at image three.

Or my Betty Cobonpue ribbon side tables. Painted blue and listed as “unique turquoise end tables.”

Or look at these currently-available Marketplace finds, which are written so vaguely you’d probably never stumble across them if you were searching hyper-specific terms.

no mention of the marble whatsoever

sold as a set for $20

One thing worth mentioning is that the Facebook algorithm is very good. It often turns up solid results, even if they are misspelled. But eBay isn’t as good (there’s currently an Adrian Pearsall couch misspelled as “Adrian Persall” and it only came up when I searched the misspelling) nor are many local auction sites, or sites like Craigslist and OfferUp. So it’s worth at least trying this technique when you’re scouring the internet for finds.

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FROM THE ARCHIVES

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ODDS & ENDS

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