What should I ask a Facebook Marketplace baby monitor seller?

What should I paste into the Marketplace message?

Facebook Marketplace, Vinted and Gumtree are remote until collection. You cannot turn the unit over in a hall the way you can at a car-boot stall, so the message thread is the inspection. Which?’s second-hand baby-product reporting still puts a recall search and a view-before-you-pay step on the buyer. For a monitor, that starts with labels you can read on a phone screen.

1. Please photograph the back or underside of the parent unit so the model and serial are legible, and the same for the camera base.
2. Please photograph both plug bodies so the output voltage and current (for example 5V 1A) and the adapter model are readable.
3. If it is a Wi-Fi / app camera: please remove it from your app and factory-reset it, then send a screenshot of an empty device list.
4. At handover, can you stay while I add it on my phone or pair the parent unit, so we both see a live picture before I pay?
5. Was it bought in the UK, and do you still have the original charger(s) that came in the box?

If the reply is a cropped lifestyle photo or “it works, trust me”, you still do not have a serial to search on GOV.UK. That is the end of the useful thread, not a prompt to offer more money.

Why do those four photos matter on a used monitor?

Which?’s 2024 baby survey reported that some parents pass monitors on via marketplaces. Its second-hand monitor note is to set a new password and run software updates if you do take a unit on. That step only works after the seller has released the cloud lock.

What does a pairing demo at collection look like?

You are not asking for a review of picture quality. You are asking whether your account can own the camera.

1. 1
   You create the account Use your email, not theirs. Guest sharing is not a transfer.
2. 2
   They confirm the device list is empty If their app still shows the camera, they have not removed it. A pinhole reset alone often leaves the server lock in place.
3. 3
   You complete pairing on site Live view on your phone, or a paired parent-unit screen, before cash or a bank transfer. The National Cyber Security Centre’s second-hand-device guidance is to factory-reset what you buy and to set your own passwords before you rely on it.
4. 4
   You photograph the labels again in daylight Listing photos are easy to recycle from another ad. Match the serial in your hand to the one they sent.

Which seller replies mean you still cannot check the unit?

• “Box is long gone, no labels left” — you cannot match an OPSS serial range. See Where do I find the serial number on a used baby monitor?.
• “I’ll reset it tonight, just collect” — reset without a remove-device tap is the usual owned-by-another-account error. See Why does a baby monitor say the device is owned by another account?.
• “Generic USB charger included” — you cannot compare the printed output with the original adapter. Charging faults appear on UK monitor notices.
• “Recall-free, I checked last year” — notices are added and widened. Ask for the serial and search it yourself on GOV.UK.

This list is for the message thread. It is not a car-boot stall walk-around, and it is not a verdict on whether any named model is fine to take home.

After I have the serial, what do I search that night?

The model or type number on GOV.UK Product Safety Alerts, Reports and Recalls, then the maker’s UK safety page. MayTally’s order of lists is in How do I check whether a used baby monitor has been recalled?. The Lullaby Trust’s position is that a monitor is not a substitute for safer-sleep practice: back sleeping, clear cot, same room for the first six months.

In shortIn short: the useful Marketplace message asks for serial photos, a PSU label, an unlink screenshot, and a pairing demo at the door. Anything less leaves you unable to search a recall or take over the account.