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Listing boosts

A boost runs your listing as a Facebook and Instagram ad for people who live near you. We build the ad from your listing, send it to Facebook for review, and run it for the days you choose. You pick where it shows and for how long. We handle the rest. Every listing comes with a $45 boost credit, so a boost up to $45 costs you nothing.

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What your ad looks like

The ad uses your listing’s title, description, photos and videos, in the order you set them. With two or more photos or videos it’s a carousel people can swipe through, up to 10 cards. Each card shows your listing title, the price and your town, with a Learn more button that opens your listing in The Animal Traders. Facebook chooses where each ad shows: in the Facebook feed on phones and computers, in Reels, in the Instagram feed, or in Stories. These examples show one sample listing in each place.
A Facebook feed on a phone with a Sponsored post from The Animal Traders: the start of the listing description, then a carousel card with a photo of a Holland Lop bunny on grass, the title Holland Lop Bunnies, Litter Ready for New Homes, From $65 in Springfield, MO, and a Learn more button, with the next card's photo of three bunnies in a basket at the edge

Facebook feed on a phone. The carousel shows one card at a time; people swipe for your other photos.

These are illustrations with a sample listing. Your ad uses your own title, description, photos and price, and Facebook and Instagram may lay it out a little differently.
The ad is posted by The Animal Traders. It doesn’t use your Facebook or Instagram account, and you don’t need one.

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What it costs

You choose an area and a length. The price covers the ad spend plus our fee for setting up and running the ad. Each area is measured from your listing’s pickup location, and the app names your own town and state, for example “Within 50 miles of Springfield, MO”. Prices are shown in the app before you pay, and may change.

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Your boost credit

Each listing comes with a $45 boost credit:
  • A boost up to $45 is free. That’s any Quick boost, or a Standard boost in your local area.
  • A bigger boost costs $45 less. A Max boost in your local area costs $45 instead of $90.
  • One credit per listing. Once a boost uses it, the next boost on that listing is full price.
  • You get it back if your ad doesn’t run. If Facebook doesn’t approve the ad, or it can’t be set up, the credit returns to the listing.
The boost picker shows the credit on every choice it covers, with the full price struck through.

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Choose where your ad shows

The ad is shown to people who live in the area you pick. Each area is measured from your listing’s pickup location. We suggest an area based on your animal and its price; it’s marked Recommended. You can pick any area shown. Each area lists about how many people on Facebook and Instagram live there. An area with too few people for an ad to work isn’t offered. We measure from your pickup location’s approximate point, rounded to about 1 km (just over half a mile), never your exact address. Your address isn’t in the ad.
The boost picker: a note that the listing comes with a $45 boost credit, then three areas, Within 50 miles of Springfield, MO marked Recommended with an audience of about 310K to 365K people, Within about 200 miles of Springfield, MO with about 2.9M to 3.4M people, and Missouri and the 8 states around it with about 14M to 17M people, each free with your credit

Pick where the ad shows. Each area shows its audience, and the credit note at the top tells you what's free.

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Choose how long it runs

Pick Quick (3 days), Standard (7 days) or Max (14 days). A longer boost reaches more people and shows your ad to them more often.
How long should it run: Quick, free instead of $20, 3 days; Standard, marked Most popular and selected, free instead of $45, 7 days; Max, $45 instead of $90, 14 days. Below: Free with your boost credit. Your Standard boost starts when the listing goes live. Learn more

Pick a length. With the credit, Quick and Standard are free in the local area and Max costs $45.

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Boost when you publish

On Step 5 (Review & Activate), tap Promote on Facebook & Instagram and pick an area and a length.
The Promote on Facebook and Instagram row on Step 5, reading Quick boost, free with your credit, within 50 miles of Springfield, MO

The boost row on Step 5 shows what you picked. Tap it to change the area or the length.

  • A boost the credit covers is listed in the pricing summary as free. It starts when your listing goes live.
  • A bigger boost is added to the same checkout as your listing fee, less your $45 credit. Stripe Checkout shows the listing fee and the boost as two lines. The boost starts when your listing goes live.
The boost isn’t offered when you extend or renew a listing. Boost a live listing from Manage Listing instead.

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Boost a live listing

Open the listing in Manage Listing and tap Boost this listing. Pick an area and a length the same way. A boost the credit covers starts right away; anything else opens Stripe Checkout for what’s left to pay.
Manage Listing for an active listing, with a Boost this listing row reading Reach buyers on Facebook and Instagram, your $45 boost credit is ready

Boost this listing on Manage Listing. While the listing still has its credit, the row says so.

How long should it run with full prices: Quick $20, 3 days; Standard $45, 7 days, selected; Max $90, 14 days. Below: $45 today, the boost runs for 7 days

Once the credit is used, the picker shows full prices and what you pay today.

If you picked a boost on Step 5 that wasn’t part of your checkout, Manage Listing shows a row such as Pay $25 to start your Standard boost once the listing is live.

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What a listing needs before it can be boosted

  • It’s active
  • It has at least one photo
  • It has a pickup location
  • It doesn’t already have a boost running. A listing runs one boost at a time

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Follow your boost

After you start a boost, Manage Listing shows a badge next to your listing’s status, with a note about what’s happening.
Manage Listing with an Active badge and an amber Boost in review badge, the note Your ad is set up and Facebook is reviewing it. Most ads are approved within a day, and a View boost results row

Facebook reviews every ad first. Most are approved within a day.

The badge’s colour tells you where your boost stands:
Six boost badges: Boost starting soon in amber, Boost in review in amber, Boosted with 3 days left in green, Boost paused in amber, Boost refunded in red, and Boost ended in grey

The boost badges you can see on Manage Listing.

We also email you when Facebook approves your ad and it starts running, when the boost ends (with its results), and if your ad doesn’t run. Every payment gets an emailed receipt.

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Your results

Tap View boost results on Manage Listing to see how your boost is doing.
Boost results for a listing with a green Boosted, 3 days left badge, the line Shown to people who live within 50 miles of Springfield, MO, a map with a 50-mile circle around Springfield, the package Standard boost and its dates, then Reach 2,264, Impressions 3,412, Clicks 96 and Listing views 81

Example results. The map shows the area your ad runs in. Numbers update every few hours.

Below the numbers you’ll find a chart of listing views by day and a timeline of what happened to your boost.
The Messages tile reading 4, new buyers who messaged you, then a Listing views by day bar chart for Oct 25 to Oct 28 with a busiest day of 25 views, and Updated 2 hours ago

Example chart of listing views from the ad, by day.

Results are updated every few hours, so a new boost can show zeros for a while. The line under the chart says when they were last updated.

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What pauses a boost

Your ad stops when your listing stops being active:
  • Sold out: you marked every animal sold
  • Expired: the listing window ended
  • Under review: the listing is on hold while our team looks at it
The ad starts again on its own when the listing is active again before the boost’s end date. A boost still ends on its end date, and paused days aren’t refunded or added back.

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Rejected or failed ads

Facebook reviews every ad. If it doesn’t approve yours, or the ad can’t be set up:
  • You get a refund of what you paid for the boost, to the card you paid with. Your bank may take a few days to show it.
  • Your $45 boost credit comes back to the listing.
  • Your listing fee isn’t refunded. Your listing stays live and isn’t affected.
Manage Listing with an Active badge and a red Boost refunded badge, the note Facebook did not approve this ad. Your listing itself is not affected. Your $25 has been refunded to your card, and rows for Boost this listing and View boost results

When an ad isn't approved, Manage Listing tells you and confirms the refund.

You can boost the listing again. If Facebook keeps rejecting the ad, check the listing’s photos and description against our listing rules, or contact support. Once an ad has run, a boost isn’t refunded, including when it pauses because the listing sold out or expired.

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Boosting an organization’s listings

Organization Admins and Managers can boost the organization’s listings, from Step 5 when they publish and from Manage Listing afterward. Staff can’t. See Organization roles. The $45 credit belongs to each listing, whoever on the team uses it. A boost is charged at the same price for every seller. A nonprofit that lists for free still pays for boosts.

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Your privacy

To run the ad we share your listing’s title, description, photos, videos, price, town and approximate pickup point with Meta (Facebook and Instagram). A boost doesn’t send Meta your exact address, your email or your phone number. We keep your boost’s results so you can see them later. See the Privacy Policy.
Last modified on October 31, 2026