Buy or sell stuff on Marktplaats

Marktplaats is by far the largest site in the Netherlands for selling used items. The site is full of ads for everything from cars to clothing and from equipment to boats. Private individuals sell their unnecessary items there and companies place advertisements for new articles.

Marktplaats is regularly in the news with scams. Some users create false advertisements. For example, they offer an iPhone cheaply, but never send it to the buyer. It can also be the other way around: criminals approach a seller and want to send a payment request (Tikkie) for 1 cent to check. If the buyer or seller agrees, he will hand over access to his bank account. So be careful. Note the following:

1. Do not respond to advertisements for items that are priced too low.
2. Don’t just accept payment requests from people you don’t know personally.
3. Google someone’s sales name to see if he/she is known to be a scammer.
4. Have someone pay before you send an item.
5. Do not meet in a remote place for the transfer of belongings.
6. Do not sell expensive jewelry or watches from home. Criminals know how to quickly find out your address and people are sometimes robbed of valuable goods.

There are advertisements on the site. You can browse through it by category. Due to the huge number of advertisements, it is more convenient to find an advertisement via the search bar. You do not need a (free) account to search on Marktplaats. To approach someone or to place an advertisement yourself, yes.

• Open the site www.marktplaats.nl
• Click away the pop-up with the request to log in via the cross at the top right.
• Click in the search bar at the top.
• Type a few keywords, such as ‘white garden furniture’. With one keyword the number of results is often too large, with too many words you may not get any hits at all.
• Do you want to search in a specific area?
  • Click on the ‘Postal code’ box and enter the desired zip code.
  • click on All distances and select the maximum number of kilometers you want to travel to collect the item (not everyone is willing or able to send items, sometimes they are too big or heavy).
• click on Search.

With a bit of luck there are some hits. They are concise but clear: they include a photo (if the seller had included one), a short description, the (asking) price and the seller’s location. At the top are the results of advertisers, usually new products. In the left bar are options to refine the results. For example, choose whether the products should be new, as good as new or used. Or determine how long the advertisement may be on Marktplaats.

Is there an advertisement you would like to read in its entirety? Click here. You will see all kinds of information. Below the title is how many times the ad has already been viewed and how many people have saved it as favourites. You will also see extensive information, possibly more photos. On the right is the advertiser’s name, location, payment method and also a rating by other users in a number of stars. You can also see here how long someone has been active on Marktplaats. On the right you can place a bid and you can see the other bids on this item. It is not advisable to bid very much less than the asking price. Sellers consider this a ‘nonsense offer’ and usually do not accept it. You can also send a message to the seller here. The text box contains a standard text, which you can complete with your own text. For example, a question about the merchandise, or an amount you are bidding.

If the seller responds, you will receive an e-mail about this. Together you agree on a price and a payment method. You can also pay via iDEAl these days. You also arrange whether the item is picked up or sent to yourself or the other person by post. Everything shows itself in practice.

To place an ad, you need an account. Create one like this:

• Go to www.marktplaats.nl/account/createAccount.html
• Log in with your Facebook or Google details, or create an account with an email address.
• Enter the desired sales name, enter your email address, tick the confirmation box and state that you are not a robot. Sometimes you will see a kind of search picture for confirmation.
• Follow the directions. Then click Create account.
• You will receive an e-mail at the entered e-mail address. Open that message and click the confirmation link.

Your Marktplaats account is ready to use.

Selling stuff yourself is done via the ‘Place ad’ button on every page. Ads with photos are clicked more often. Take good pictures of what you want to sell with your smartphone, tablet or camera. Copying photos from websites is not allowed, there is copyright. If Marktplaats ‘finds’ that you want to add invalid photos, the system will reject them.

Also think carefully about the text of the ad. What words would a potential buyer search for? If you are selling a large painting with a cat on it, for example, the title ‘Large painting of a cat (oil paint)’ is very clear. You don’t have to give a reason for sale, but it can inspire confidence if there is a credible, personal reason in the ad.

• click on Place ad.
• Type a clear title and click Find category.
• Marktplaats searches for the most suitable section and gives suggestions. Select a suggestion or click Or select a category yourself. With the latter you manually enter the most suitable category.
• click on Further.
• Add one or more photos.
  • Click the plus sign in the box below ‘Photos’. A maximum of 24 photos can be added to an advertisement.
  • The Explorer opens. Scroll to the first photo, select it and click To open.
  • The photo is sent to Marktplaats via the internet. If necessary, click on the plus sign in one of the smaller photo boxes and add several photos in the same way.
• Change the previously entered title under ‘Title and description’. There is a number in the box: you can still use that many characters.
• In the “Description” box, type the ad text. Be clear and provide the information that is relevant to interested parties. Think of details, possible defects or dimensions. With furniture you often also have to specify this separately via a menu.
• Under ‘Features’, choose whether the item is new, as good as new or used.
• Enter the asking price at ‘Price’ and determine whether people are allowed to bid.
  • Specify a minimum amount for bidding.
  • Bidding is enabled by default. If you do not want this, click on the blue slider.
• At ‘Delivery’, choose pick up, shipping or both. If you are going to send items, do not forget to mention the shipping costs in the advertisement and to make it clear whether your asking price includes shipping costs or whether they are added.
• Check your name under ‘Contact details’, add a mobile number (not required and we do not recommend) and enter a zip code. For postcode, it is best to enter a postcode of a nearby street. Otherwise, malicious parties will easily find out your address.
• Click on the desired ad form at the bottom: free or paid. The costs are included, you pay them immediately via iDEAL. click on For free for a free advertisement. The selected option turns green.
• click on view ad to see an example.
• Close the preview by clicking on the cross.
• Edit any language errors or missing data.
• Finished? click on Place your ad.

You will receive a confirmation. The advertisement will appear on Marktplaats in a short time. If something went wrong or the ad is rejected, you will be notified.