You just spent 20 minutes photographing your item.
Writing a detailed description..
Setting a fair price.
LISTING REJECTED!!!!
And Facebook gives you ZERO explanation about why 🙁 Just some vague message about “commerce policies” and absolutely no details about what you actually did wrong.
Are you kidding me right now?!
I’m not gonna lie to you – this is one of the most frustrating things about FACEBOOK MARKETPLACE. People sell the EXACT same items you’re trying to list, their listings are live right now, but yours gets rejected by some mysterious algorithm that apparently hates you specifically.
Meanwhile you’re sitting there like “what did I do wrong?” and Facebook just shrugs and says “figure it out yourself” lol.
Why Facebook Rejects Marketplace Listings (The Real Deal)
Alright so here’s what’s actually happening behind the scenes.
Facebook doesn’t have humans reviewing your listings. They have an AUTOMATED SYSTEM – basically a bot that scans your listing for keywords, image content, and patterns that MIGHT violate their commerce policies. And this bot? It’s dumb as hell and makes mistakes CONSTANTLY.
Total chaos..
The system flags things that aren’t even against the rules. People have had regular furniture rejected for “animal policy violations” when there’s literally no animals anywhere. Clothing gets flagged as “medical equipment.” A painting of a landscape gets rejected for containing guns or animals that don’t exist in the image.
And the best part? Facebook won’t TELL you what triggered the rejection, I swear. You just get that generic “this goes against our commerce policies” message and you’re supposed to somehow psychically know what the problem is.
### What Usually Triggers Rejections (Even When You’re Not Breaking Rules):BRAND NAMES – Using brand names in your title or description can trigger rejections because Facebook thinks you might be selling counterfeits. Even if you’re selling a legit Nike shirt, mentioning “Nike” might get you flagged.
CERTAIN KEYWORDS – Words like “medical,” “health,” “supplement,” “therapy,” “essential,” or anything remotely health-related can trigger automatic rejections. Even if you’re just selling regular household items.
IMAGE CONTENT – Facebook’s image recognition is terrible. It sees patterns that aren’t there. Your couch might look like a gun to the AI. Your vase might look like drugs. Who knows what goes on in that algorithm’s broken brain.
MISLEADING PRODUCTS FLAG – This one is super vague. Facebook thinks your description is “misleading” but won’t explain how. Could be your pricing, could be your photos, could be literally anything the bot decided to hate that day.
Prohibited Items (That You Might Be Accidentally Listing)
Okay real talk – some things ARE actually banned on MARKETPLACE and if you’re trying to list them, rejections make sense.
Here’s what you CANNOT sell (for real for real):
- Animals or animal products (no pets, no taxidermy, nothing animal-related)
- Healthcare/medical products (thermometers, first-aid kits, supplements, medications)
- Services (house cleaning, freelance work – Marketplace is for PHYSICAL items only)
- Intangible goods (“in search of” posts, lost and found, jokes, news articles)
- Recalled items (especially baby products like crib bumpers)
Makes sense right?!
But here’s where it gets stupid – Facebook’s bot often flags items that AREN’T on this prohibited list. You’re trying to sell a regular chair and it gets rejected for being a “medical device” because it has the word “support” in the description somewhere.
How To Actually Fix Rejected Listings
So your listing got rejected and you’re pissed off (understandable). Here’s what you need to do IMMEDIATELY.
Step 1: Check Your Notification
Go to Facebook Menu (three lines) → Help & Support → Support Inbox. Look under “Your Alerts” for messages about your listing. Sometimes Facebook actually DOES give you a hint about what triggered the rejection, buried in some notification you missed.
You can also check your “Your Listings” section in MARKETPLACE – the removed listing might appear there with more details.
Step 2: Review Facebook’s Commerce Policies
Yeah I know, reading policy documents is about as fun as watching paint dry.. But you gotta do it. Go check Facebook’s official commerce policies and see if anything you listed actually violates them. Maybe you missed something obvious.
Step 3: Edit Your Listing
If you can identify what might’ve triggered the rejection, edit your listing:
- Remove Brand Names – Like I mentioned, they trigger counterfeit flags even when you’re legit
- Change Problematic Keywords – Remove words like “medical,” “therapeutic,” “healing,” “supplement”
- Simplify Your Description – Sometimes overly detailed descriptions trigger flags
- Use Different Photos – The image recognition might be flagging something in your pics
Step 4: Request a Review
Look for the “Request Review” or “Appeal Decision” button near the rejected listing. Click it and explain CLEARLY and POLITELY why you think the rejection was a mistake.
Write something like: “This listing is for a standard dining chair. It does not violate any commerce policies. It’s a physical item in good condition with accurate photos and description. Please review.”
Keep it short, factual, professional. Don’t rant about how stupid Facebook’s system is (even though it totally is).
The Appeal Process Takes FOREVER
Here’s the thing nobody tells you – Facebook’s appeal process is SLOW AS HELL.
Some appeals get reviewed instantly.. Others take WEEKS or even MONTHS. And sometimes Facebook just… never responds at all. They ghost you like a bad Tinder date and your listing stays rejected forever.
So frustrating….
And here’s the kicker – even if you win your appeal and your listing gets approved, there’s no guarantee the NEXT listing won’t also get randomly rejected for no reason. Because the system is inconsistent and broken.
Why Do Other People’s Identical Listings Stay Up?
This is the part that makes people LOSE THEIR MINDS.
You search MARKETPLACE and see 50 other listings for the EXACT same product you’re trying to sell. Same brand name, same description style, same everything. But THEIR listings are fine and YOURS gets rejected.
What the hell??!
The truth is Facebook’s automated system is wildly inconsistent. It flags some listings and not others based on… nobody really knows. Timing? Your account history? Pure random chance? The algorithm’s mood that day?
Some sellers have been on MARKETPLACE for years and built up “trust” with the algorithm. Newer sellers get flagged more aggressively. If you’ve had listings rejected before, future listings might get extra scrutiny.
It’s basically a broken lottery system where nobody knows the actual rules lol.
Common Rejection Scenarios (And How To Handle Them)
Scenario: Medical Equipment Rejection
You’re trying to sell a wheelchair, walker, or mobility aid and it keeps getting rejected. As I mentioned earlier, Facebook flags anything remotely medical VERY aggressively because they don’t want liability issues.
Solution? List it in local FACEBOOK GROUPS instead of MARKETPLACE. Groups have different rules and less aggressive automated filtering. Or try specialized platforms for medical equipment where these items are actually allowed.
Scenario: Image Recognition Issues
Your photos are fine but Facebook’s AI thinks it sees something prohibited in the image.
Solution? Take new photos from different angles. Change the lighting. Remove any background items that might confuse the AI. Sometimes just reframing the shot fixes the problem.
The “Already Had Items Listed For Weeks” Problem
Here’s something WILD – sometimes Facebook will suddenly reject listings that have been live for WEEKS with no issues.
You’ve already sold similar items from that listing. It’s been up and visible for a month. Then one day Facebook decides “nope, this violates policies” and pulls it down with zero warning.
Absolutely ridiculous..
This happens because Facebook constantly updates their automated systems and what was “okay” yesterday might trigger new flags today. Your listing didn’t change – Facebook’s algorithm did.
Other Facebook Marketplace Nightmares You’re Probably Dealing With
Listing rejections aren’t the only disaster with this platform, for real.
Maybe you’re trying to access Marketplace and it won’t even load. Or you successfully list something but the Marketplace icon disappeared from your Facebook and now you can’t manage your listings.
Cool cool cool..
And don’t get me started on when you try to message potential buyers and Messenger won’t send messages. You’re trying to close a sale and Facebook’s broken messaging system is cockblocking your transaction.
Or maybe notifications aren’t working so you miss buyer inquiries completely and lose sales because Facebook decided you don’t need to know when people are interested in your stuff.
This platform drives me INSANE….
When Nothing Works (Last Resort Options)
Look..
Sometimes you’ve tried everything and Facebook just refuses to approve your listing no matter what you do. You’ve edited it 5 times, requested reviews, waited weeks, and nothing changes.
At that point you have a few options:
Give up on that specific item – Some things Facebook’s algorithm just hates and won’t ever approve. Move on and list something else.
Use local Facebook groups instead – Post in buy/sell/trade groups in your area. Different rules, less automated filtering, higher chance of success.
Try other platforms – EBAY, CRAIGSLIST, OFFERUP, MERCARI – there’s a whole world of selling platforms that aren’t Facebook.
Contact Facebook support directly – This is basically useless but you can try. Go to Help Center and submit a support request. Don’t expect a helpful response though, their support is notoriously terrible.
Wait it out..
Sometimes the algorithm just needs time to “forget” about your rejected listing. Wait a week or two, then try listing the same item again with slightly different wording and photos. Might work, might not, but worth a shot.
Final Thoughts on This Rejection Nightmare
Facebook Marketplace’s rejection system is fundamentally broken and everyone knows it. The automated filtering is overly aggressive, inconsistent, and provides zero useful feedback when it rejects your listings.
It’s absolutely maddening..
So yeah, try the fixes I mentioned – edit your listings, remove brand names, change keywords, request reviews. Sometimes that works. But also understand that sometimes there’s literally nothing you can do except move on and try selling somewhere else where the platform doesn’t actively fight against you.
At minimum Facebook should TELL people what specifically triggered the rejection so you can actually fix it. But they won’t, because that would require building a functional system instead of this half-assed automated nightmare we’re all stuck dealing with 😉
If this article helped you figure out why your Marketplace listing keeps getting rejected, share it with every seller you know who’s been pulling their hair out over Facebook’s broken rejection system – because trust me they NEED this info!
