Facebook Marketplace alerts on Android

To get Facebook Marketplace alerts on an Android phone, open the Facebook app, search Marketplace for the item, set your distance and price, and tap Notify Me (or Save search) under the search bar. Then turn on Saved searches in Marketplace's notification settings, and in the phone's own settings set Facebook's battery use to Unrestricted and its notification categories to Alerting. That's free and takes five minutes. Battery optimization is the step people skip, and it's the one that quietly kills the alert. Even with everything right, Facebook's alerts land hours to days after the listing in our use, filter loosely and turn themselves off. Every step is below, plus the Android settings for an app that watches for you.

Step 1: save the search in the Facebook app

1. Open the Facebook app and tap Marketplace (the shop icon in the top or bottom bar, or under the menu).
2. Tap the search bar and name the item. "John Deere riding mower," not "mower." "PS5," not "game system." Specific words mean less junk.
3. Set the filters first: your location and radius, a price range, condition. The alert only uses what's set when you save.
4. Tap Notify Me, the bell, or Save search near the top of the results. The name changes between app versions; it's the same button.
5. To see or delete it later: Marketplace → your profile (the person icon) → Saved searches or Alerts.

Step 2: turn on Marketplace's own notification switch

Saving the search doesn't turn on the notification. A separate switch does.

1. In Marketplace, tap your profile icon, then Settings (the gear).
2. Tap Notifications and switch on Saved searches. Leave Marketplace on in Facebook's main notification settings too: Menu → Settings & privacy → Settings → Notifications → Marketplace, with Push on.

Skip this and the search saves fine and never says a word.

Step 3: the Android settings that decide whether it buzzes

Menu names differ a little between Samsung, Pixel, Motorola and the rest. The settings are the same idea on all of them.

• Battery optimization. Settings → Apps → Facebook → Battery → Unrestricted (on some phones, Battery optimization → All apps → Facebook → Don't optimize). An "optimized" app gets stopped from waking in the background, and the phone doesn't tell you. This is the big one.
• Samsung's sleeping apps. Settings → Battery → Background usage limits. Make sure Facebook isn't under Sleeping apps or Deep sleeping apps, and add it to Never sleeping apps.
• Notification categories. Settings → Apps → Facebook → Notifications. Allow notifications, then open the categories and make sure the Marketplace and general ones are on and set to Alerting, not Silent.
• Do Not Disturb and Bedtime. Settings → Notifications → Do Not Disturb (or Modes). A schedule you set months ago may be muting everything overnight. Add Facebook as an exception or change the schedule.
• Data Saver. Settings → Network → Data Saver. If it's on, give Facebook unrestricted data so it can receive in the background.

Still nothing? Work through Facebook Marketplace notifications not working on Android, which goes switch by switch, including clearing the cache and reinstalling.

What to expect once it's all on

Every Android setting above can be right and you'll still see this:

• Late. Facebook doesn't say how often it re-checks a saved search. In our use the alert comes hours after the listing, sometimes a day or more. By then it's posted two days ago, ten guys ahead of you.
• Loose. A search for "Pelican kayak" buzzes for paddles, roof racks and anything with "Pelican" in the description. There are no negative keywords and no real low price limit to keep them out.
• They turn themselves off. A search that worked last week goes quiet with no warning. Re-saving it sometimes brings it back for a while. More on saved search notifications not working.
• Facebook only. The same dirt bike or generator is often on OfferUp and Craigslist the same day, from the same seller. Facebook won't tell you.
• Meta AI isn't a watch. Meta AI's shopping mode and the Muse agent will search when you ask. It's a chat, not a watch. Nothing stands guard between your questions.

Facebook alerts vs an alert app on Android

The other alert apps with an Android app, each price checked on its own site, are on the best Facebook Marketplace alert apps for Android.

Setting up Deal Scanner on Android

Deal Scanner is on Google Play. Set one search: the item, your town, how far you'd drive, and a low and high price. Close the app. It watches Facebook Marketplace, OfferUp and Craigslist from our servers around the clock, drops most of the accessories and lookalikes, and buzzes your phone when a matching listing is posted. Every alert shows when it found the listing and a Deal Score for how far under the typical price near you it sits. If a listing it already showed you drops at least 5%, you get a "was $X, now $Y" alert too. It never asks for your Facebook login.

The Android side takes a minute:

1. When the app asks to send notifications, tap Allow. Missed it? Settings → Apps → Deal Scanner → Notifications.
2. Set Settings → Apps → Deal Scanner → Battery → Unrestricted, and on Samsung keep it out of Sleeping apps. Same reason as Facebook above.
3. Make sure its notification categories are set to Alerting.
4. Want a quiet night? Use Deal Scanner's own quiet hours and daily digest in the app's Settings instead of Do Not Disturb, so daytime alerts still come through.

The watching runs on our servers, not your phone, so it keeps going with the app closed and doesn't chew through battery. Tapping an alert opens the listing in the marketplace's own app so you message the seller as yourself.

Three searches are $3.99 a month, billed through Google Play, cancel anytime in Play Store → your profile → Payments & subscriptions. A lot of people only need it for one thing: the kid's first car, a four-wheeler, a snowblower before the first storm. Pay for the month you're looking. Cancel when you've got it. If you check Marketplace every day, whether flipping is your side thing, your whole job, or not the point at all, there are 6 searches for $9.99 and 12 for $19.99.

More on each marketplace: Facebook Marketplace alerts, OfferUp alerts, Craigslist alerts. On an iPhone instead? See Facebook Marketplace alerts on iPhone.

FAQ

How do I turn on Facebook Marketplace alerts on Android?

Search Marketplace for the item, set your filters, tap Notify Me or Save search, then turn on Saved searches in Marketplace → profile → Settings → Notifications. On the phone, set Facebook's battery to Unrestricted and its notification categories to Alerting.

Why don't I get Marketplace notifications on my Android phone?

Battery optimization, most of the time. The phone stops Facebook from waking in the background and doesn't tell you. Set it to Unrestricted, then check the notification categories and any Do Not Disturb schedule.

Why do my Facebook notifications only show up when I open the app?

That's battery optimization or Data Saver holding Facebook back in the background. Set the battery to Unrestricted and give Facebook unrestricted data.

My Samsung stopped showing Marketplace alerts. Why?

Samsung puts apps it thinks you don't use into Sleeping apps. Go to Settings → Battery → Background usage limits, take Facebook out of Sleeping and Deep sleeping apps, and add it to Never sleeping apps.

Can I get Facebook Marketplace alerts on Android without the Facebook app?

Yes. Deal Scanner watches Facebook Marketplace, OfferUp and Craigslist and sends its own push alert. It doesn't need your Facebook login or Facebook's notifications.

How much do Marketplace alerts cost on Android?

Facebook's are free. Deal Scanner is $3.99 a month for three searches, billed through Google Play, cancel anytime in your phone's subscription settings.

Sources checked

Google's Android Help on notification settings and battery restrictions; Samsung's support pages on sleeping apps and background usage limits; Facebook Help Center on Marketplace notifications and saved searches; Alphr's and uCompares' Marketplace alert setup guides; CarSnipe's iPhone vs Android alerts guide; our own notifications not working on Android page. Checked November 1, 2026.