Mercado Libre vs Facebook Marketplace: Where Should You Sell?

If your buyers are in Latin America and you can post or ship parcels, Mercado Libre is the marketplace to build around. If you mostly sell bulky, used or local items that people will come and collect, Facebook Marketplace is the easier place to start. Many sellers end up on both, and what decides how well that goes is keeping stock accurate across them.

This page is for sellers in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Colombia who are deciding where to put their next listings. It compares the two on reach, fees, payment, shipping, scams and effort, then shows what FLUF Connect does on each. Where a rule depends on your country, we say so and point you to the setting to check.

Who buys on each

Mercado Libre reported 89 million unique active buyers for the second quarter of 2026. The company counts anyone who made at least one purchase on the marketplace in the period, and since the second quarter of 2025 that count includes food delivery customers. The headline is therefore wider than the audience for your goods, but it is still a national audience in each country where Mercado Libre runs a site.

Facebook Marketplace reach works differently, because it is local. A chair listed in Puebla is seen by people near Puebla, and how many of them see it depends on your area and on how many other sellers near you have something similar up.

The practical question is what you sell. Buyers on Mercado Libre search by product name and compare price and delivery time. Buyers on Facebook scroll a feed of things near them and message the seller. The first rewards a clear listing that matches a search. The second rewards a good photo, a fair price and a quick reply.

Mercado Libre: setup and what FLUF does

You need your own Mercado Libre seller account for the country you sell from. Once it exists, connect it in FLUF Connect: choose Mercado Libre, sign in with Mercado Libre and approve access. Then choose the items to list. FLUF creates each listing from the stock you hold in FLUF, so you do not retype titles and descriptions for every marketplace.

When an item sells on another connected marketplace, FLUF takes the Mercado Libre listing down so it cannot sell twice. Sales in the other direction are yours to handle. The order stays in Mercado Libre, and you mark the item sold in FLUF, as covered in the section on running both below.

Facebook Marketplace: setup and what FLUF does

Posting to Facebook Marketplace runs through the FLUF browser extension on a computer, or through the FLUF mobile app. Connect your Facebook Marketplace account in FLUF Connect, then choose the items to post. If you mostly work from your phone, the mobile app is the route to use.

When an item sells on another channel, FLUF removes its Facebook Marketplace listing. FLUF does not import Facebook orders or messages, and it does not detect Facebook sales. The conversations with buyers, and the handover of the item, stay with you.

Fees and what you keep

Mercado Libre charges a commission on each sale. The percentage depends on the country, the category and the listing type you choose. Clásica and Premium are the two listing types, and Premium carries the higher rate in return for extras, including interest-free instalments that many buyers look for. Mercado Livre’s own guide to what it costs to sell sets out the rates by category. Read the figure for your category from the fee page for your country, because the rates change.

Before you price anything, take the commission for your category, subtract any shipping cost you carry, and compare what is left with what the same item would fetch locally. That one sum tells you more than any headline percentage.

Facebook’s rules work differently. Whether a Facebook sale carries a fee depends on how it is completed, and the rules have changed over time. Check the current fee rules for your country in your Marketplace settings before you set prices, because a figure you read in an older guide may no longer apply.

Payment and buyer protection

Mercado Libre sales are paid through Mercado Pago. The buyer pays on the platform, and you can see the sale in your account, so both sides have a record of what was agreed. That is harder to build with a cash handover, and it is the main reason many sellers prefer the platform for anything above a small value.

Facebook deals are usually settled between the two people involved, in cash or by a transfer they agree between themselves. You carry the payment risk yourself. If the buyer does not pay or does not turn up, the platform does not stand in for you in a local sale.

Shipping and collection

On Mercado Libre, parcels normally go through Mercado Envíos, the platform’s own shipping service. Switch it on in your sales settings before you list anything that needs posting. A listing that promises a delivery you cannot make is the one that draws complaints.

On Facebook, collection is the normal route. Whether shipped checkout is open to sellers in your country is something to confirm in your own Marketplace settings. Until you see it there, list items as local pickup and say so in the description.

Scams and common problems

Both marketplaces attract people who want to move the deal off the platform. Watch for a buyer who asks to carry on in WhatsApp before paying, offers to pay more than your asking price, or sends a link to pay a shipping deposit. On Mercado Libre, keep the sale on the platform, where the payment and the record sit. On Facebook, agree a public meeting place, and check the money has cleared before the item leaves your hands.

What sells where

Mercado Libre suits new products with clear model numbers and prices that buyers can compare: phone accessories, household goods, sports kit, branded clothing and electronics. Shipping matters more for these, because a buyer comparing two identical items will often pick the one that arrives sooner.

Facebook suits things that are awkward to post: furniture, bikes, tools, appliances, and used clothes sold to someone nearby. A photo and an area do most of the work, and the buyer can look at the item in person before paying.

How much effort each takes

Mercado Libre takes more set-up. You need the account, the shipping settings and listings that meet the category rules, and most of the work comes at the start. Once it runs, each sale is mostly a parcel to pack and post.

Facebook takes less to start and more per sale. Every buyer is a conversation: they ask about condition, agree a time, and sometimes do not turn up. A busy local seller can spend more time on messages than on listings.

Which one to choose

Choose Mercado Libre if your stock is new, your buyers are in a Latin American country where you hold a seller account, and you can ship reliably. It also suits anyone who wants the buyer to pay before anything moves.

Choose Facebook Marketplace if your items are bulky, used or hard to post, and most of your buyers live close enough to collect. It is also the simpler place to test a category before you commit more stock to it.

Choose both when you have two kinds of stock: everyday new lines for Mercado Libre, and bulky or used pieces for Facebook. The ongoing work is keeping quantities right on each one.

Before you list on either

Write each listing in the language of the country you sell to, because buyers search in Spanish or Portuguese. Keep the title specific: brand, model, size and colour do more for a search than adjectives do. Use the same photos on both marketplaces, but make the first one clean and well lit, since that is the picture a buyer sees before anything else.

Decide your price before you list, and be clear about what it includes. On Mercado Libre the commission comes off the sale, so a price that looked right on your own sheet may leave less than you expected. On Facebook, say whether the price includes delivery or only collection, because a buyer will ask.

Finally, pick one place to record stock. If a sale happens on either marketplace and the item stays live elsewhere, the mistake is yours to fix. Mark it sold in FLUF the same day it sells, and the other channels catch up.

Running both from one inventory

Connect each marketplace from the Channels screen in FLUF Connect.

The row that matters most is the one about sales. A sale on Mercado Libre or Facebook Marketplace needs you to mark the item sold in FLUF. Do it when the sale happens, and the other channels end their listings, so a second buyer does not see an item that has already gone.

Crosslisting and inventory sync are on every plan. Relisting, offer management and smart pricing start at the Pro plan, and neither marketplace in this comparison supports relisting or offers from FLUF, so the plan you pick does not change how these two work. Start with 7 days for £1, then from £9/month, then plans from £9/month. Current prices:

Automatic relisting, offer management, smart pricing and listing boosts are included from Pro upwards. Starter covers unlimited crosslisting, inventory sync, order sync and Instagram posting without them. Accounting integrations are included from Pro upwards. Yearly billing is charged once a year. New accounts get 7 days for £1, then move onto a plan.

FLUF Connect lists to 91 marketplaces from one inventory, so these two are part of a larger set. If you also sell on eBay, our eBay vs Mercado Libre guide sets out the trade-offs. If you run your own store on Shopify, see Shopify vs Mercado Libre.

Sources

• Mercado Libre, Inc.: Form 10-Q for the quarter ended 30 June 2026 (checked October 2026)
• Mercado Livre Brasil: what it costs to sell a product (checked October 2026)
• Mercado Libre México: charges for selling products (checked October 2026)
• Facebook Help Centre (checked October 2026)