Bidorbuy's biggest challenge

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Jamie McKane

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Bidorbuy's biggest challenge

Bidorbuy is one of South Africa’s oldest and best-known ecommerce platforms and allows people to buy and sell virtually anything online.

Founded in 1999 as an online auction website, it has grown to become one of South Africa's top online shopping destinations.
 
What was the sellers rating? I only deal with Sellers that are >98%
 
This doesnt actually happen that often. Most of my purchases go fine. Occasionally there is someone who is slow, but most of the time you get the order at a cheaper price.
 
One of my biggest issues with BoB is the fact that most of the sellers appear to be dropshippers. I think, this is where their problem lies. These people seems to circumvent BoB's systems and advertise their products as local products. If you check their shipping terms you will find it could take months before the product is delivered, even if the system shows 1 week, as they import products.

Due to this I have not bought anything on BoB since around 2015. It is just easier for me to order on eBay, Amazon for international purchases or simply on Takealot for local purchases. BoB has too many rabbit holes when buying.

Too proof my point, here is just one such listing:

1.png

But, thinking the product is located in SA, you need to scroll down and read the fine print:

2.png

BoB has no control over this and their website means nothing to me in that sense.
 
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This article reads more like a "Takealot is king" piece.
 
Death said:
This article reads more like a "Takealot is king" piece.
Click to expand...

Doesn't matter, because Takealot is better. If you need a local product delivered faster, Takealot is King. With BoB, you are never guaranteed about delivery. There is a 90% chance your product will take months to be delivered due to it being imported. I know of only a small number of sellers who really do have stock locally and can deliver in a day or two. The biggest part of BoB is dropshippers and you are never sure about the quality of their products either.
 
rvZA said:
One of my biggest issues with BoB is the fact that most of the sellers appear to be dropshippers. I think, this is where their problem lies. These people seems to circumvent BoB's systems and advertise their products as local products. If you check their shipping terms you will find it could take months before the product is delivered, even if the system shows 1 week.

Due to this I have not bought anything on BoB since around 2015. It is just easier for me to order on eBay, Amazon for international purchases or simply on Takealot for local purchases. BoB has too many rabbit holes when buying.
Click to expand...

And then you get the self entitled aholes, when you give them a bad rating, they get all in your face and return a bad rating to you for screwing them over.
 
wizardofid said:
And then you get the self entitled aholes, when you give them a bad rating, they get all in your face and return a bad rating to you for screwing them over.
Click to expand...

Yep, I had that too many years ago. BoB will always be my last place to go, if absolutely necessary to go there at all.
 
rvZA said:
Doesn't matter, because Takealot is better. If you need a local product delivered faster, Takealot is King. With BoB, you are never guaranteed about delivery. There is a 90% chance your product will take months to be delivered due to it being imported. I know of only a small number of sellers who really do have stock locally and can deliver in a day or two. The biggest part of BoB is dropshippers and you are never sure about the quality of their products either.
Click to expand...
Agree 100%. Takealot is king of delivery (including returns etc).

I've used BoB a lot. Had 1 issue with a seller which I couldn't contact after the item Ireceived was a dud.
BoB buyer protection stepped in, threatened them with sanctions and the issue got resolved rather timeously.

BoB sellers are a mixed bag. If the seller has a high rating, it's for a reason and I feel Ican trust them.
I've even had a buyer be local and offer to rather deliver it to me than bothering with courier which was fantastic.

However, BoB is like Wish.com Often you get shafted because the pictures mislead you or otherwise you don't read all the fine print (like dimensions) and you end up feeling like a real dummy. I've been burnt and learned my lesson.

I do like the fact that you can ask the seller questions - a feature I feel is lacking on Takealot.
 
I never had any bad experience with BIDORBUY, but I can add my experience is much better with takealot.
 
rvZA said:
One of my biggest issues with BoB is the fact that most of the sellers appear to be dropshippers. I think, this is where their problem lies. These people seems to circumvent BoB's systems and advertise their products as local products. If you check their shipping terms you will find it could take months before the product is delivered, even if the system shows 1 week, as they import products.

Due to this I have not bought anything on BoB since around 2015. It is just easier for me to order on eBay, Amazon for international purchases or simply on Takealot for local purchases. BoB has too many rabbit holes when buying.

Too proof my point, here is just one such listing:

View attachment 987526

But, thinking the product is located in SA, you need to scroll down and read the fine print:

View attachment 987528

BoB has no control over this and their website means nothing to me in that sense.
Click to expand...
Do you have the link to this page?
 
Eric said:
BoB is a C2C, B2C and B2B marketplace

Takealot is B2C only.

Completely different models. I can't sell used goods on Takealot ad-hoc as a private individual.

BoB are leagues ahead of the alternatives (Gumtree and OLX).
Click to expand...
Auction + Marketplace vs Classifieds
Ebay vs Craiglist
apples vs bananas
 
You do get a lot of entitled ******* sellers on Bob. I find that most of the assholes tend to be big sellers.

In the forum, they usually are like little babies. They want a protected bubble for themselves, bitch about other listings. Some bitch about cost of packaging, charging for standing in long lines at the post office. They normally do not rate you first. Seller should always rate first since the buyer took a chance with his money.

Heck, i think the system should give buyers an initial positive rating by default at checkout.

They do seem too lenient to bad sellers that feed their commission income. Like this seller, Sunrose Online. I know a shop owner that lost R6000 on a dead bread mixer. Bob, side with the seller story that the buyer should've tested it before accepting it. This seller has a schitty record, but still is active. You would think as a high value item seller, Bob would be more strict with him, but no. Just read his ratings.
 
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rvZA said:
One of my biggest issues with BoB is the fact that most of the sellers appear to be dropshippers. I think, this is where their problem lies. These people seems to circumvent BoB's systems and advertise their products as local products. If you check their shipping terms you will find it could take months before the product is delivered, even if the system shows 1 week, as they import products.

Due to this I have not bought anything on BoB since around 2015. It is just easier for me to order on eBay, Amazon for international purchases or simply on Takealot for local purchases. BoB has too many rabbit holes when buying.

Too proof my point, here is just one such listing:

View attachment 987526

But, thinking the product is located in SA, you need to scroll down and read the fine print:

View attachment 987528

BoB has no control over this and their website means nothing to me in that sense.
Click to expand...

Funny:
www.bidorbuy.co.za

Android 9.0 Smart TV BOX S905W Quad Core HDMI Media Player 4K 3D Movies Films US | bidorbuy.co.za

Buy Android 9.0 Smart TV BOX S905W Quad Core HDMI Media Player 4K 3D Movies Films US for R1,350.00
www.bidorbuy.co.za www.bidorbuy.co.za

1609842244369.png
 
rvZA said:
Then this was changed after I have posted here.
Click to expand...
Probably, but it goes to show that their category managers are actively looking out for dropshippers. By default the filter to exclude international sellers are switched on.

EDIT: If you now search for "Tanix TX3 Pro" you won't find that one unless you specifically select that International/All Listings filter.

1609843346416.png
 
Hamster said:
Probably, but it goes to show that their category managers are actively looking out for dropshippers. By default the filter to exclude international sellers are switched on.
Click to expand...

It will be great if category managers would monitor this. I have been looking for a Droid player since October and this seller, and at least 4 or 5 others did exactly the same. I bought my Droid player in December and it was still the same on BoB - they all advertised a SA product but hidden in their shipping terms they state it is imports and there may be delays. This morning I quickly checked again, this was the first listing and it showed South Africa, basically still the same since October last year.
 
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