CarHag blog · November 11, 2026

Facebook Marketplace vs Craigslist vs OfferUp for used cars

Published November 11, 2026, from CarHag's listing data for October 22 to 30, 2026

Facebook Marketplace has the most cars, the most private sellers and the most deals around Houston. In 9 days CarHag found 6,582 cars from $1,500 to $25,000, and 63% of them were on Facebook.

Side by side

Facebook Marketplace: start here

Facebook had more than half of all deals, 181 of 341. It's also where private sellers are: 68% of its listings looked like real owners. New cars showed up fast too. In October, CarHag found half of new Facebook cars within 12 minutes of posting.

OfferUp: more deals per car, harder to trust

OfferUp had fewer cars but the highest share flagged as deals, 8.1 per 100. Two cautions. Only 36% of its sellers looked private. And OfferUp doesn't show when a car sells, so a deal there may already be gone. Confirm it's still listed before you drive out.

Craigslist: small, and full of pros

CarHag only reads Craigslist's by-owner section, and even there just 34% of listings looked like true private sellers. It produced 26 deals in 9 days. It's worth a look, and it won't fill your week.

How to use this

1. Check Facebook first, and check it often. Posts peak from 3pm to 5pm.
2. Use OfferUp as a second source, and confirm each car is still for sale.
3. Filter out the pros on all three. See how to spot a dealer posing as a private seller.

How we counted

This covers cars first seen October 22 to 30, 2026, within 50 miles of the scan center. A deal is a car that cleared CarHag's bar: about 15% or more under its market estimate, with $1,500 or more in estimated profit. Estimates can be wrong. Facebook listings above $15,000 weren't collected, so Facebook's share of pricier cars is undercounted.

Common questions

Is Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist better for used cars?

Around Houston, Facebook Marketplace. In CarHag's 9-day count it had 4,168 cars and 181 deals, against 755 cars and 26 deals in Craigslist's by-owner section, and 68% of its sellers looked private against 34% on Craigslist.

Is OfferUp good for finding cheap cars?

It had the highest share of listings flagged as deals, 8.1 per 100 cars. But only 36% of its sellers looked private, and OfferUp doesn't show when a car has sold, so confirm a car is still available first.