Facebook Marketplace alerts in Australia

Can you get Facebook Marketplace alerts in Australia?

Yes. Marketplace is the same product here as anywhere else, and every way of getting alerts works in Australia: Facebook’s own notifications, and alert apps that run your search on a schedule and push new matches to your phone. Our main guide to Facebook Marketplace alerts covers both, and notifications not working covers what to check when Facebook’s alerts do not arrive.

What is different in Australia is the map. Our cities sprawl, most people live near the coast, and a regional buyer may need to drive a long way for the right car or caravan. Getting the centre point and radius right matters more here than almost anything else.

Where to put the pin, and how wide to go

Marketplace searches around one place and a distance. An alert should do the same, so start by asking where you would actually drive from, and how far you would drive for this item.

These straight-line distances (as the crow flies, rounded) help you pick a radius. Road distances are longer.

From	To	Distance
Brisbane CBD	Ipswich	31 km
Brisbane CBD	Caboolture	43 km
Brisbane CBD	Surfers Paradise	71 km
Brisbane CBD	Maroochydore	91 km
Sydney CBD	Penrith	49 km
Sydney CBD	Gosford	51 km
Sydney CBD	Wollongong	69 km
Sydney CBD	Newcastle	117 km
Melbourne CBD	Geelong	65 km
Melbourne CBD	Ballarat	102 km
Perth CBD	Mandurah	65 km
Toowoomba	Warwick	73 km
Toowoomba	Dalby	80 km
Dubbo	Orange	123 km
Townsville	Cairns	282 km

Some rules of thumb that follow from the map:

• Capital cities: 25 to 50 km from your suburb. A pin in your own suburb, not the CBD, keeps distances honest. If you live in Penrith, a 50 km circle around Penrith covers western Sydney far better than one around the city.
• Big items travel: widen for cars, caravans and boats. Two hours on the road can be worth it for the right HiLux. It is rarely worth it for a bookshelf.
• Furniture and white goods: keep it tight. Most of it is pick-up only, so you need a trailer or a mate with a ute. Ten or twenty kilometres saves a wasted Saturday.
• Regional towns: go wide. Around Toowoomba, 100 km takes in Warwick, Dalby and Ipswich. Around Dubbo, Orange is 123 km away, so a 100 km circle misses it.
• Two cities, two areas. If you would buy in Brisbane or Toowoomba but not in the paddocks between, two smaller circles beat one big one. You see fewer irrelevant listings, and every distance on an alert means something.

Prices in Australian dollars

Marketplace shows prices in the listing’s currency, which here is Australian dollars. Set your price range in whole dollars and leave a little room at the top: many private sellers leave room to negotiate, and some say so with “ONO” (or nearest offer). Our guide to checking a Marketplace price helps you judge whether a price is fair before you message.

What Australians hunt for, and how to set each one up

Hunting	Example set-up	Worth knowing
Cars and utes	Toyota HiLux or Ford Ranger, 2016 to 2021, under 180,000 km, A$25,000 to A$42,000, 100 km	Search by make and model, not keywords. See car alerts
Caravans and camper trailers	Keywords “Jayco” or “camper trailer”, A$8,000 to A$30,000, 250 km	The PPSR covers caravans, campervans and camper trailers too
Power tools	“Makita 18V”, “Milwaukee M18” or “Ryobi One+”, 30 km	Decide whether you want bare tools (“skin only”) or kits with batteries, and hide the other
Furniture	“Tasmanian oak dining table”, “3 seater leather couch”, 20 km	Add “free” as a keyword if you are happy to collect giveaways; hide it if not
iPhones	A model and storage, and the most you would pay	Hide “delivery” and “warranty” to cut down on shop listings
Bikes and kids’ gear	Brand plus type (“Trek mountain bike”), 25 km	Sizes matter: add the frame or wheel size to the keywords

Buying a car? Know your rego and PPSR checks

If your alert is for a car, the checks after the alert matter more than the alert itself. In short:

• PPSR search. At the time of writing (September 2026), a search on the Personal Property Securities Register costs $2 online. You need the car’s VIN, not the plate. It tells you if money is owing on the car, and usually whether it is recorded as written off or stolen. Search again on the day you buy.
• Rego check. Every state has an online registration check. Make sure the plate, VIN and details match the car in front of you.
• Roadworthy rules differ by state. Queensland needs a safety certificate and Victoria a roadworthy certificate to transfer the rego. The ACT and the NT need an inspection for older light vehicles. NSW, WA, SA and Tasmania do not need one to transfer a registered car.
• Transfer within 14 days in most states, and pay the transfer fee and stamp duty.
• Pay safely. Scamwatch warns that scammers sell cars, boats and caravans on marketplaces, and says to inspect big-ticket items in person before paying. When paying by PayID or bank transfer, check the account name matches the seller.

The full, printable version with every state’s rules is our guide to buying a used car on Facebook Marketplace in Australia. For damaged cars, see how to spot written-off and salvage cars.

Dealer cars: AutoTrader Australia alongside Marketplace

Marketplace mixes private sellers and dealers (see how to filter out dealers). If you are open to a dealer car, it is worth watching a dedicated dealer marketplace as well. Our AutoTrader Australia alerts guide explains AutoTrader’s own saved searches and how to watch its dealer stock next to Marketplace.

How fast can alerts be in Australia?

Be wary of any promise of alerts “in seconds”. Facebook keeps a new listing out of public search for about six to seven minutes after the seller posts it, for everyone, whatever tool they use. A good alert tool reaches you soon after that point; no search-based tool can show you the listing before it.

For searching further than one circle, from a whole region to the whole country, read how to search Facebook Marketplace across a wide area.

Sources

1. Sort by distance or new listings on Facebook Marketplace, Facebook Help Centre.
2. Facebook Marketplace: Vehicles near Brisbane, checked logged out on 26 September 2026.
3. Do a used car or vehicle search, Personal Property Securities Register.
4. Buying a used vehicle, Queensland Government; Buying a used vehicle, VicRoads; Buying a vehicle, Service NSW.
5. Buying an ACT registered vehicle, Access Canberra; Check if your vehicle needs an inspection, NT.GOV.AU.
6. Buying and selling scams, Scamwatch (Australian Government).