How to sell on Facebook
Facebook is still one of the biggest places for shoppers to discover products, which makes it a worthwhile channel for ecommerce sellers. But the way you sell there has changed. As of September 2025, Shops on Facebook and Instagram use website checkout: shoppers browse your shop on Facebook, then complete the purchase on your own website.
This guide explains what changed, the ways to sell on Facebook, how to set up a Facebook Shop, what product data Meta requires, how to get your shop in front of customers, and how to measure results. For the wider picture, see our guides to what social commerce is and how to build a social commerce strategy.
What changed: Facebook Shops now use website checkout
Meta’s shops still have rich discovery and consideration surfaces, such as a home page, collections, and product pages. But customers are now sent to your own website to complete the purchase. That gives you more control over checkout, and it changes what you manage and where.
According to Meta’s Business Help Center, these Commerce Manager features have been discontinued:
- Payment processing and payouts. You can no longer conduct transactions in your shops on Facebook and Instagram. Balance, payout history, financial reports, and tax forms remain available as archived data for a period of time.
- Order management. For new orders, you can no longer see order status, download order history, or act on orders in Commerce Manager. Order management happens on your website.
- Returns. You manage returns on your own website or a connected ecommerce platform.
- Disputes. Meta no longer offers chargeback or dispute resolution services for shops.
- Inbox. You can no longer use Commerce Manager’s Inbox to respond to customer messages.
In practice, you now manage orders, payments, delivery, and returns on your own site, using your own branding, payment methods, and loyalty programs. Guides that tell you to set up bank details, accept payments, or manage orders inside Facebook describe the old checkout, so check the date on any guide you follow.
Ways to sell on Facebook
- Facebook Shop. A catalog-powered storefront for your Business Page. Shoppers browse products and go to your website to buy.
- Facebook Marketplace. A separate venue with its own rules about who can sell and how. Meta lists it as a commerce surface alongside Shops, so check Meta’s current Marketplace policies before relying on it for business sales.
- Facebook Groups. Communities where you can share expertise and, where the rules allow, mention your products.
- Ads. Paid campaigns that send shoppers to your shop or your website.
- Messenger. Direct conversations with shoppers for questions, recommendations, and customer service.
Benefits of selling on Facebook
Reach
Facebook has an enormous audience, so even a small share of discovery can matter. It’s a place shoppers browse and research, which makes it a strong top-of-funnel channel for ecommerce sellers.
Advertising tools
Meta’s advertising tools let you target by demographics, interests, and behavior, and retarget people who’ve already shown interest in your products. Shops ads send shoppers to whichever destination, your shop or your website, Meta determines is more likely to lead to a conversion.
Customer conversations
Facebook is built for community, so it’s an easy place to talk with prospects and customers through comments and Messenger. Responding quickly and well builds trust and a good reputation.
How to set up a Facebook Shop
Check Meta’s commerce eligibility requirements
To sell on Facebook and Instagram as a business, your Facebook profile and Page, or your Instagram professional profile, must meet these requirements from Meta:
- Comply with Meta’s policies. That includes the Terms of Service, Commercial Terms, Community Standards, and the Merchant Agreement, Seller Policies, and Commerce Policies.
- Represent your business and your domain. Your Page must contain products available for direct purchase from your website, and you give Meta the single, non-shortened domain you sell through. Meta may require you to complete domain verification.
- Be located in a supported country. See Meta’s list of supported countries for Shops.
- Demonstrate trustworthiness. That means an authentic, established presence, which may include a sufficient follower base. Meta may ask you to verify your business information or identity.
- Provide accurate information. Product listings must not have misleading pricing or availability, and your refund and return policies must be clearly displayed and easy to find.
If you don’t keep meeting these requirements, Meta says you may lose access to commerce features, or your profile may be disabled.
1. Create a Facebook Business Page
Your shop lives on a Business Page. If you don’t have one, you can create it for free from your personal account, then add your business name, category, description, profile picture, and cover photo. To sell on Instagram too, connect an Instagram professional profile to your Page.
2. Set up Commerce Manager and a catalog
Meta Commerce Manager is where you create your catalog and shop. You can add products manually, upload a data feed, or connect an ecommerce platform so products sync automatically. Connecting a platform such as Shopify or BigCommerce keeps your products, prices, and stock in step with your store. Meta’s own shop setup guide has the current click-by-click steps.
3. Prepare your product data
Meta’s product data specifications set what each product needs, which we cover in the next section. For a shop with website checkout, Meta also recommends that you:
- Keep product prices and availability up to date
- Validate that product variants on your website can be added to your catalog, and add those variants
- Check that the Meta pixel content IDs on your website match the IDs in your catalog
- Add multiple images, size charts, and rich text descriptions
- Optionally, connect a dataset to track customer interactions with your products
4. Add your checkout URL and delivery profiles, and keep your shop visible
Your shop needs a checkout URL, the page on your website where customers complete the purchase, and delivery profiles. If you connect an ecommerce platform, follow Commerce Manager’s prompts, since it may supply some of this for you. Keep your shop visible while you update it, and update your existing shop rather than creating a new one.
Meta’s product data requirements
Each product in your catalog needs these fields, according to Meta’s product data specifications for catalogs in Commerce Manager:
| Field | What Meta requires |
|---|---|
| id | A unique content ID for each product, using the SKU if possible. Case-sensitive, up to 100 characters. To run Advantage+ catalog ads, it must match the content ID in your Meta pixel code. |
| title | A specific, relevant product title in title case, up to 200 characters. Meta recommends under 65 so it isn’t cut off. |
| description | A detailed description in plain text, different from the title, up to 9,999 characters. Don’t use all capital letters or include links. |
| availability | In stock or out of stock. Out-of-stock products aren’t shown in ads, and they stay in shops for up to 56 days marked “sold out.” |
| condition | New, refurbished, or used. |
| price | A number followed by a three-letter ISO currency code, such as 9.99 USD. One currency per data file. |
| link | The product page on your website. To sell with Shops, links must be on a domain your business owns. |
| image_link | The main product image: JPEG or PNG, at least 500 x 500 pixels, and under 8 MB. |
| brand | The brand name, up to 100 characters. |
| size | Required for Shops in specific categories, including clothing and shoes. |
Optional fields help ads and shops perform, so give as much accurate detail as you can: variants (item_group_id), additional images, GTIN or MPN, product category, color, material, rich text descriptions, video, and sale prices with start and end dates. Meta also notes that a direct checkout option is not available to everyone yet.
Getting your Facebook Shop in front of customers
A shop on its own doesn’t get traffic. These are ways to get it noticed:
- Start with your own network. Invite friends, family, and existing customers to follow your Page and share it.
- Be useful in Facebook Groups. Join relevant groups, take part in discussions, and mention your shop only when it’s helpful and allowed. Follow each group’s rules, or you risk being seen as spam.
- Work with creators. Offer influencers in your niche a discount or free product to share your shop, and follow advertising disclosure rules.
- Use live video. Facebook Live can show products and answer questions. Send viewers to your site to buy.
- Offer exclusive deals. Limited-time offers and flash sales for followers encourage follows and shares.
- Engage with followers. Reply to comments, messages, and reviews, ask questions, run polls, and share customer content.
- Run ads. Promote your shop or products with eye-catching creative and clear copy, and target your ideal customers.
- Cross-promote. Share your shop on your other social channels and your website.
- Run giveaways and contests. Follow Meta’s promotion rules and local law.
Measuring the performance of your listings and ads
With checkout on your site, how you measure changes. According to Meta:
- Use the Website conversion location. The old “website and shop” conversion location has been discontinued. To let Meta send people to your shop or your website, make sure Shops is turned on under Personalised destinations in your ad.
- Conversion events are unchanged. You can still choose Add to wishlist, Add to cart, Initiate checkout, Purchase, and View content.
- Meta purchases no longer apply. Meta purchases and Meta purchase conversion value show 0 after the update. Historical data stays available for up to 39 months. Track purchases using Website purchases, Shop-assisted purchases, or Direct website purchases instead.
- Connect third-party analytics. Meta recommends tools such as Google Analytics for more insight into Shops ads campaigns.
Also keep an eye on views, clicks, and conversions for your listings, your best-selling products (so you don’t run out of what sells), and which content formats earn engagement.
Customer communication on Facebook
Messenger lets customers ask questions and get recommendations without leaving Facebook, and fast replies build trust. Note that Commerce Manager’s Inbox can no longer be used to respond to customer messages, so handle conversations through your Page’s messaging tools, and check Meta’s help pages for the current steps. To use messaging well:
- Set up a greeting, saved replies for common questions, and an away message for when you can’t respond.
- Respond quickly, and use customers’ questions to offer personalized product recommendations.
- Make it easy to reach a person when automated replies aren’t enough.
Keep inventory accurate across every channel
Because the purchase happens on your website, your shop’s availability has to match your real stock. Meta doesn’t show out-of-stock products in ads, and they appear in shops for up to 56 days marked sold out. If you set a quantity, low stock can show an “Only a few left” label. And if your catalog says something is in stock when it isn’t, you lose customers’ trust, and may break Meta’s accuracy requirements.
Facebook is one channel among several, so connect your channels to a central inventory system and keep availability accurate everywhere. See our guides to multichannel inventory management and the common problems and how to fix them. Linnworks connects to 100+ native channel integrations and syncs stock in under 10 minutes.
Final thoughts
Facebook is a versatile platform for reaching shoppers, but it now works best as a discovery and traffic channel, with the sale completed on your own site. Keep your catalog accurate, meet Meta’s requirements, combine your shop with ads, community, and quick customer service, and keep your inventory in step across every channel.
To keep stock in sync across all your channels, request a demo of Linnworks.
FAQs
Not through the old in-app checkout. As of September 2025, Shops on Facebook and Instagram use website checkout, so shoppers discover products on Facebook and complete the purchase on the seller’s own website. Meta’s product documentation refers to a direct checkout option that isn’t available to everyone yet.
Yes. Meta requires your Page to contain products available for direct purchase from your website, and shop product links must be on a domain your business owns. Your shop also needs a checkout URL.
Shops are catalog-powered storefronts on your Page, with checkout on your website. Marketplace is a separate venue with its own rules about who can sell and how, so check Meta’s current Marketplace policies before using it for business sales.
The main product image must be JPEG or PNG, at least 500 x 500 pixels, and under 8 MB. You can add up to 20 additional images. Meta also recommends multiple images and size charts for shops with website checkout.
Your Page or Instagram professional profile must comply with Meta’s policies, represent your business and your domain, be located in a supported country, demonstrate trustworthiness, and provide accurate pricing, availability, and return policies.