Can You Sell Diabetic Test Strips on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist?
If you have extra diabetic test strips sitting in a closet, the first idea most people have is to list them on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist. It seems simple enough — post a photo, name a price, meet someone in a parking lot. In practice, most people who try it end up frustrated, and a fair number end up with their listing removed or their account flagged.
Here is an honest look at what actually happens when you try to sell diabetic supplies on the big classifieds platforms, and what the alternatives look like in the Albany area.
Facebook Marketplace Removes Most of These Listings
Facebook's commerce rules restrict the sale of medical and healthcare items, and diabetic test strips fall squarely inside that category. It does not matter that your boxes are sealed, unexpired, and legitimately yours. The listing gets caught by automated review, and it usually comes down within hours.
What makes it worse is that removals are not free. Repeated commerce violations can restrict your ability to sell anything on Marketplace at all — including the furniture and the bike you actually wanted to move. People routinely lose Marketplace access over a test strip listing they did not realize was against the rules.
Facebook groups have the same problem. Diabetes support groups are generally moderated by people who do not want the group turned into a sales channel, and admins remove sale posts quickly.
Craigslist Is Permitted, But It Attracts the Wrong Responses
Craigslist is more permissive than Facebook, and listings for diabetic supplies do stay up. The trouble is who answers them.
A public listing with a phone number attached tends to bring in a lot of noise:
Lowball offers from people who want you to drive to them for a fraction of what your supplies are worth.
Check and payment-app scams — someone offers to "overpay" and have you send the difference back, or sends a fake payment confirmation screenshot.
Shipping-first requests — a buyer who insists you mail the boxes and promises payment once they arrive. That money often never comes.
Time-wasters who agree to a meetup and never show.
You also end up publishing your phone number on a public board, which brings in spam long after the supplies are gone.
The Real Problem: You Are Selling to Someone Who Does Not Know the Product
Even when a Craigslist sale goes through cleanly, there is a pricing problem underneath it. A private buyer on a classifieds site usually has no idea what a given brand, count, or expiration date is worth. So they anchor low, because guessing low is the safe move for them.
That is why the same box can get wildly different offers from two strangers on the same day. Neither of them is working from anything real.
It also means the odds and ends get ignored. If you have a mixed pile — a few boxes of strips, some sensors, a couple of pods, a bag of lancets — a private buyer typically wants only the one item they came for. You are left re-listing the rest. If that sounds familiar, our guide on selling diabetic supplies in bulk covers how mixed lots are usually handled.
Is It Even Allowed to Sell Them?
Selling sealed, unexpired diabetic test strips that you obtained legitimately is, in most cases, permitted in New York. The boxes are sold over the counter, they are not a controlled substance, and there is no prescription requirement to buy them.
The platform rules are a separate matter from the law. Facebook is not saying the sale is illegal — it is saying it does not want that category on its platform. Those are two different questions, and people conflate them constantly. We go deeper on this in is it legal to sell test strips in New York.
What a Local Buyer Does Differently
The practical alternative is selling to a buyer who does this every day and already knows the market.
You get a number before you go anywhere. Text a photo of your boxes, get a quote back, and decide from your kitchen table. No listing, no negotiating with strangers.
The whole pile gets quoted, not just the popular box. Strips, CGM sensors, pods, lancets, pen needles — quoted together as one lot.
Nothing ships first. The exchange and the payment happen at the same moment, in person.
Your phone number stays private. It goes to one buyer, not onto a public board.
We meet people at their home or at a public spot — a bank lobby, a grocery store parking lot, wherever you are comfortable. More on that in how public meetups work.
If You Do List Publicly, Protect Yourself
Some people prefer to try it themselves first, and that is fine. A few rules worth keeping:
Never ship before you are paid, and treat "I'll pay on arrival" as a red flag.
Take cash in person, or use a payment method that cannot be reversed after the fact.
Refuse any deal where the buyer sends more than the agreed amount and asks for the difference back. That is always a scam.
Meet somewhere public and well-lit, ideally with cameras.
Cover your name and any prescription details on the box label before you photograph it.
Our post on what a safe transaction looks like goes through the rest of the warning signs.
What We Buy
Test strips — Contour Next, OneTouch Ultra and Verio, Accu-Chek Guide and Aviva, FreeStyle Lite, True Metrix, and more
CGM sensors — Dexcom G6 and G7, FreeStyle Libre 1, 2, and 3
Insulin pump supplies — Omnipod 5, Omnipod DASH, Tandem t:slim cartridges, Medtronic infusion sets and reservoirs
Accessories — lancets, pen needles, and unopened meters
Boxes need to be factory-sealed and unexpired for full consideration, though supplies closer to their expiration date are still worth asking about.
Serving Albany and the Capital Region
We cover a wide radius from Albany — Troy, Schenectady, Saratoga Springs, Clifton Park, Colonie, Glens Falls, Hudson, Kingston, Poughkeepsie, Utica and much of Upstate New York. If you are not sure whether you are in range, just ask.
Getting a Quote
Text or call (518) 779-9751 with a photo of what you have. Make sure the brand and the expiration date are readable in the picture. You will usually have a number back within about fifteen minutes, and most people go from that first text to cash in hand the same day.
No listing to write, no account to risk, and no strangers with your phone number.
