How to sell on the Free Market – Complete Guide

Selling used things that may be of use to others is a good way to make money on the internet, even if it is just a source of extra income. That is why learning how to sell on the Free Market and buying and selling platforms is so important.

While it is difficult to have so much used in order to set up a business to work from home, selling what you no longer use may be ideal for financing the start of your new and profitable business.

Mercado Livre is one of the most traditional platforms in Brazil for selling used items. With many changes over the years, it has become a safer place to buy and sell anything that is at home.

What is the Free Market?

Working in a similar way to the American eBay, Mercado Livre is an Argentine platform that arrived in Brazil in 1999. Since then, it is one of the main references in online purchase and sale of used objects.

In constant evolution since then, the platform has abolished the auction system and introduced novelties such as Mercado Pago, which increased the security of transactions by placing itself as the intermediary between buyer and seller.

In this system, the buyer pays to Mercado Livre, but the seller only receives the purchase money after the buyer receives the product.

It is worth mentioning that today the system has become almost a digital bank, as it allows physical businesses to hire a card machine, in addition to using it to make transactions, such as payment of slips or sending money to the account.

But this time we are not going to talk about Mercado Pago, but about selling products on Mercado Livre, the original function of the service.

In the next steps, we will show you how to register on the site and how to sell on Mercado Livre for the first time!

How to register in the Free Market?

Before you know how to sell on Mercado Livre, you first need to have an active registration on the site. This process is very simple and easy to do, as you will see in the next step by step.

It is important to mention that Mercado Livre can be accessed by any internet browser, in addition to having an app for Android and iPhone. If you want to learn how to sell on Mercado Livre, we suggest the version for browsers, since it is the easiest to manage your sales. It is with it that we will make all the guides in this article.

Now that the warnings are given, start following the guide below to create your registration on Mercado Livre!

1 – Click on the link to access Mercado Livre and click on Create your account.

2 – Complete the form with your personal data and create a password – we recommend using apps to manage passwords! Then click the button Continue.

If you have a virtual store and want to sell on Mercado Livre too? Then click on the option Create a company account and skip to the next guide!

3 – Enter the code that Mercado Livre sent to the email filled in the previous form and click Continue again.

Tip: the code shown in the image above is just an example. Do not use it to try to create the account, use the code you received in your email.

4 – Your account is already created! Just log in with your email and password to create your first ad. If you are an individual and just want to sell your used products, you can skip step by step to create a company registration.

Now, if you are an entrepreneur, here's how to create your company registration on Mercado Livre!

How to create a company registration in Mercado Livre?

If you are already working from home and generating your own income with an online business, you can use Mercado Livre as another sales platform. The main advantage is to take advantage of the platform's reach to get new customers, who might not just come through your website.

In other words, the Free Market is ideal for those who want to sell over the internet, whether individuals or companies. Now, see how to create a company account on the sales platform.

1 – Repeat the first step of the previous tutorial when accessing the Mercado Livre website and clicking Create your account.

2 – In the form, click Create a company account.

3 – Another form will appear, in which you must include your CNPJ, company name and email, in addition to creating the password. After filling in and clicking on the box indicating that you are not a robot, click on the button Continue.

4 – Access the email used to register your company and enter the code they sent on the registration page.

Tip: remember that the number above is not valid for your account. Do not use it. Use only the code you received in your email.

5 – There, your company account is already active!

From here, the process for putting an item on sale in the Free Market is similar. Therefore, we will not distinguish between the sale as an individual or a legal entity.

Here's how to sell on the Free Market!

How to sell on the Free Market?

With your account created, now you just need to log in to be able to start your sales on Mercado Livre. On the home page, click the button Sell.

Then, you must say what type of product you will advertise, since vehicles, real estate and services are done differently. For this guide, we’ll teach you just how to sell common items. So, click the button Products.

Create your ad headline. We recommend that you use this field only to say which product is selling, its current state and which items accompany it, as in the example shown below.

Now, the Free Market itself will indicate which category. Confirm that the category is correct. If not, click Select another category.

As in our case the automatic categorization is correct, we will proceed without making the alternative selection.

Choose from the list the options that best describe your product. If you don't see it in the list easily, you can type the option in the text bar.

This list can appear more than once. Try to answer every time to improve the chances of your product being found in Mercado Livre searches. The website will ask for details such as model, color and condition, for example.

After checking everything that the platform asks you to do, click on Confirm. Now, it's time to upload your photos, dragging them into the field shown in the screenshot below. Alternatively, you can click on the camera icon and upload the product photos to your computer.

After uploading the photos, you can drag them to define their display order, and choose which will be the main one, which will be the photo that will accompany your ad. Just hold and drag the photos with your mouse to do this. On the same screen, also indicate how many units of the product you are selling and click Confirm once again.

Review the complete technical sheet, including or removing information that is not relevant. After finishing the review, click Confirm to continue learning how to sell on the Free Market.

Indicate the price of the product.

At the conclusion of your ad, you will be asked whether you will pay to be featured or not.

Let's open a big parenthesis here so that you can better understand what the highlights are before proceeding.

What are the highlights?

Those who work with digital marketing will be able to relate the highlights of Mercado Livre with their routine managing paid ads on Google. Like these platforms, highlights are a way for your ad to receive priority in searches.

Do you know when you search for something on Google and the first options are indicated as ads? This means that a company paid to occupy that place!

The Mercado Livre highlights work in a similar way. By hiring a spotlight, your ad will gain more exposure in searches for the product you are selling.

Another advantage of the highlight is that it will have unlimited duration. That is, your ad will never expire. In the last featured category, you also gain the additional advantage of offering installments without adding fees.

What do we recommend?

Do not use the highlights if you are only selling a used product. If the product you are selling is in high demand, you will hardly be able to sell it within 60 days of the free ad's validity.

Now, if you are selling as a company and have a stock that needs to be sold quickly, things change. In addition to not having to worry about renewing expired ads, greater exposure will allow you to sell faster, increasing your chances of better revenue.

In both cases, study the pros and cons of each category and choose the one that best suits you.

Returning to the ad

After selecting which highlight to apply, you must decide how to send it. As simple users, we chose to advertise for free. That is, without any highlight.

This gives us only one shipping option: Mercado Envios. This Free Market shipping system makes logistics easier. Just print the Mercado Envios label and paste it on your product packaging. After that, just take it to a post office to make the shipment, at no cost to you.

Regarding the cost, you will have two options. The first is to pay for the freight yourself. Mercado Envios itself already calculates and displays a value automatically, but that will allow you to send your product anywhere in the country, regardless of the actual shipping cost. That is, you will pay the same to send your product from Rio de Janeiro to São Paulo or from Rio to Manaus, for example.

By doing this, your customer will get a discount on regular shipping – or free shipping! – or with a discount on the express option.

Alternatively, you can choose to have the buyer pay full freight for the product. Select the best option for you and click Confirm again.

You can also choose to offer withdrawal in person. Unless it is a business that works entirely online, we strongly recommend that you do offer personal withdrawal.

If you find a buyer who resides near you, that means cutting the total shipping cost for both parties.

The next step is to choose whether to offer warranty for the product you are selling. Choose the one that is most appropriate for you. If you choose to offer a factory warranty on a used product, remember to send the invoice with the product you are reselling.

Finally, you can choose whether to include a description or even a video of the working product. Both choices are optional, but we recommend inclusion to increase your chances of selling the product. After finishing everything, click Announce.

The ad is ready! After a few minutes, it will be in the air and can be found on the platform searches. See how the sample ad we set up throughout the guide looked like.

Did you learn how to sell on the Free Market?

Through this guide, we hope to have helped you sell your used items for sale, helping you generate extra income or even inspiring you to set up your own internet business.

Want to learn more about online shopping to create your own business? Then see this complete guide on extra income on the internet!