If Facebook Marketplace shows the wrong city or listings far outside your radius, reset the location inside Marketplace first. Then set the distance, search for one specific item, sort by distance, and check the delivery and price filters. Do these in order so you know which setting fixed the problem.

1. Reset the Marketplace location

Open Marketplace and use its location control. Enter your city, neighbourhood, or postcode again. Choose the distance you are willing to travel, then apply the change.

Do not rely only on your phone’s GPS setting. Meta provides a separate Marketplace location and distance control for the items you are looking for.

After applying it, read the location shown on the results page. If it still shows the old area, repeat the change once before moving on.

Use an item name that should produce obvious local results, such as IKEA Kallax, Nintendo Switch OLED, or Makita 18V drill.

Avoid a broad word such as furniture or bike while testing. Broad searches make it hard to tell whether the location is wrong or the results are simply loose matches.

If the specific search is local, your location setting works. Tighten your normal search instead of changing the city again.

3. Sort by distance

In the Facebook app, open the search filters and choose distance. Meta says sorting by distance or newest listings is available in the iOS and Android apps.

Now check the pickup suburb on the first few listings. Do not judge the result by the picture or title alone. The listing location is the useful test.

4. Remove filters you did not mean to keep

Review the current search for:

  • delivery or shipping options
  • category
  • minimum and maximum price
  • condition
  • date listed

Clear anything you did not intentionally set, then reapply only the location and distance. A filter left over from another search can make a correct local search look broken.

5. Compare the app with facebook.com

Run the same item, location, and distance on the Facebook website.

  • Website looks right, app looks wrong: update the Facebook app, close it fully, reopen it, and run the search again.
  • Both look wrong: clear the search filters and set the Marketplace location again.
  • Only one saved search looks wrong: rebuild that saved search after the normal search results are correct.

Do not reinstall the app first. That adds work before you know whether the problem belongs to the app, the account, or the search settings.

6. Check each listing before you travel

Even after the results improve, read the pickup suburb on the listing and confirm it with the seller. A seller can move, choose a nearby area, or enter a broad location.

Send this:

Hi, before I travel, can you confirm the pickup suburb for this item? The listing is showing [suburb] for me.

That one question is cheaper than discovering the location after you have agreed on a price.

When the native results are still messy

Build a smaller set of specific searches before saving alerts. Spottable is useful when you want to narrow loose Marketplace matches, check the pickup area, compare the price, and ask the seller the important questions.

Try a specific search with Spottable on iPhone or check listings in Chrome. Facebook remains the place where you message the seller.

Sources

Frequently asked questions

Why is Facebook Marketplace showing listings from another city?

Marketplace may be using a saved search location, a wide distance setting, or filters left over from an earlier search. Open the location control inside Marketplace, enter your city or postcode again, set the distance, and apply the change.

Why does Facebook Marketplace show items outside my radius?

First confirm the location and distance displayed on the current search. Then sort by distance and check whether delivery or other filters are mixing different results into the page. Some recommendations may still appear, so verify the suburb on each listing before travelling.

How do I search Facebook Marketplace by distance?

In the Facebook app, search for a specific item, open the location or distance control, choose your area and radius, then apply it. Meta says sorting by distance or newest listings is available in the iOS and Android apps.

What if changing the Marketplace location does not work?

Test the same specific search on facebook.com. If the website is correct but the app is not, update and restart the app. If both are wrong, remove extra filters and set the location again before creating a new saved search.