Facebook Marketplace Ends Pre-Paid Shipping Labels For New Listings

Liz Morton
Liz Morton


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Facebook will no longer allow new listings with shipping to use pre-paid labels provided by the marketplace, leaving sellers with short notice and more questions than answers.

The update was posted and the help page about offering shipping on items listed on Facebook Marketplace, saying the change will go into effect for new listings starting February 24th.

As of February 24, 2025, you will no longer be able to buy and create prepaid shipping labels for new listings on Marketplace. Existing listings with prepaid labels remain unchanged and you can still ship items using your own label. Please note that if you switch to using your own label, you cannot revert back to a prepaid label.

Meta did not provide any explanation for the sudden change but the help page points to one possible factor - the pre-paid shipping option relies on sellers entering accurate weight and dimensions and while it does say they can lose access to the feature if too many package end up underpaid, it doesn't provide any explicit terms saying sellers will be charged for any shipping adjustment overages.

Those shipping adjustments can rightly or wrongly be significant - sellers on eBay, Mercari and other marketplaces often complain about being billed outrageous amounts due to apparent errors in automating screening by the carriers and even when the adjustments are correct, they can add up quickly.

It's important to note this change only currently applies to new listings created on the marketplace, existing listings will still have access to the pre-paid label function - for now.

Sellers discussing the change across social media say they are concerned about how to handle the change, with many pointing to Pirate Ship and other label providers as a possible solution.

Others speculated the change could be related to the recently announced partnership between Meta and eBay which will allow eBay listings to be shown on Facebook Marketplace with all aspects of any eventual sale happening on eBay.

However, that is unlikely to be a factor here since theoretically those sales will be happening on eBay and thus likely wouldn't have had access to pre-paid Facebook labels any way and so far, we still haven't seen any evidence of eBay listings actually going live on Facebook.

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Most likely this is simply a cost cutting measure - just like the real reason behind the layoffs Meta announced this week - as the company turns their focus and resources to the great AI race.

How will Facebook getting rid of pre-paid shipping on Marketplace impact your buying and selling there? Let us know in the comments below!

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Liz Morton is a seasoned ecommerce pro with 17 years of online marketplace sales experience, providing commentary, analysis & news about eBay, Etsy, Amazon, Shopify & more at Value Added Resource!

8 comments
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LRGIRL
has impacted my small business - how will we get paid since there is no tracking of
our shipment - and we get our money after it is delivered
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Yeta777
From FB Marketplace:

You can ship items you've sold on Marketplace using your own label (example: USPS, UPS, FedEx). You can update the tracking number or carrier of the item you're selling within 5 business days of marking the order as shipped.
To update the shipping details:
From your Feed, click Marketplace.
Click Orders with delivery.
Click the order you want to update.
Click Edit tracking number.
Enter the updated tracking number, then click Save.
The order details will be updated with this information. This tracking number or carrier can’t be changed again later.
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retired4fun2013
I asked Pirate Ship if they can create pre-paid labels for Facebook Marketplace, and this is what Captain Bot said (since it's after hours): "Ahoy! Yes, we can help you create pre-paid labels for Facebook Marketplace. You can easily create shipping labels on our Ship page by entering the recipient's address manually or using our copy-and-paste feature. We offer deeply discounted USPS and UPS labels with no markups or hidden fees. Just head to the Ship page, enter the details, and you'll be ready to sail!"
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Deacondog16
Yes, i like Pirateship but there's a lot more info required to enter using their service. You need Size & exact weights if your items- not just the Buyers address.
It's definitely a competetive price but much more work involved if you're not sure yet about all the details of your packages. I don't understand the decision & maybe moving to Ebay is a better option & what they actually want.
I agree that their staffing resources are being diverted to AI & Marketplace isn't a priority at all.
Good luck Folks!
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nwansewrs
Its most likley due to Facebook selling out to ebay and listing ebay goods on their marketplace. I'm sure ebay asked facebook to throttle the home grown competition of people who ship on fb marketplace.
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Liz Morton
Considering nobody has actually seen any evidence of eBay listings being shown on Facebook and Facebook has already opened up the program to other marketplaces in Europe...I think you may be way over estimating the amount of pull eBay has in this deal.

https://www.valueaddedresource.net/meta-expands-eu-facebook-marketplace-partnership/
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None Such
You're probably right this is a cost cutting measure. And an unfortunate one. Well, chalk up the blame to those sellers who gained the system by putting in untrue weights or innocent dumb bunnies who just miscalculated. Ruined it for the rest of us. Yes, Pirate ship my go to.
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cooperhill
Another causality of the Trumpty Dumpty dictatorship!
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Recent Comments
Avatar PlaceholderYeta77718 hours ago
From FB Marketplace:

You can ship items you've sold on Marketplace using your own label (example: USPS, UPS, FedEx). You can update the tracking number or carrier of the item you're selling within 5 business days of marking the order as shipped.
To update the shipping details:
From your Feed, click Marketplace.
Click Orders with delivery.
Click the order you want to update.
Click Edit tracking number.
Enter the updated tracking number, then click Save.
The order details will be updated with this information. This tracking number or carrier can’t be changed again later.
Avatar Placeholderaquitania01523 hours ago
Dear Liz
please keep the opt out for SD open. i sell small 35mm slides often 1.99. i charge 85p post. i will loose all my sales if people are expected to pay 2.70 post and i will make a loss . can you reassure me? thanks Ed
Avatar PlaceholderDramallamaYesterday
That makes sense, they blatantly allow repro tee's making your vintage item next to worthless. Fraud policy my backside...