Speaking as someone who has sold quite a lot on Bidorbuy (700+ ratings, 100% positive feedback), I actually did complain to them about the new shipping rules, I didn't think about taking it to the competition commission, but it wasn't a bad idea, because the rules are quite unfair to both buyers and sellers I think.
For a start, it was never explained well how exactly the shipping charges work now, and the verbage seemed to suggest that there was a R30 charge to the client which BOB takes and also a R30 charge to the seller that gets refunded if you meet your stated turn around. The reality is that there's a R30 rand charge to the client and a R60 charge to the seller, and you'll get R30 back if you ship in your turn around time. So if like me, you had a few cheaper items listed, for R150 or whatever, and someone buys one, instead of getting 150 less the sellers fees, you're also getting penalised an additional R30. At the time I looked through their help instructions and no where could I find a place where it clearly laid out that they are taking R30 extra from your selling price, so you might be excused for not taking that into account when listing the items.
Secondly, there's no longer a choice really on what shipping company you use. Yes they have options, but the only one that gives you the cheapest rate is actually RAM. And you have to book a collection with them. So instead of the previous options where my buyers would have a choice, to select Pargo, pudo, or Postnet, or another courier that was convenient to them, I am forced to send it door to door delivery. And whereas in the past I was able to go on the same day the order was placed and drop it off at the courier, I now have to wait sometimes 3 days for Ram to come and collect at their convenience. Which is probably a worse experience for the buyer as well, as many times they would get their item the next day. And oftentimes people would prefer the choice of picking up when it was convenient from a locker or postnet counter. Now it's Ram or nothing, because that's the cheapest.
Thirdly, this argument that sellers abused the shipping costs might be valid in some cases, but this was not the way to solve it. BOB already took sellers commissions out of the shipping costs, so it's not like they were losing out. And the shipping costs were always nominated when the item was listed, so if the buyer didn't read that, it was maybe also partially their fault. Personally I would always list the cost the courier charged me, so R120 for postnet, R60 for pudo etc. And so I would lose out a bit from extra commissions and packaging costs, but it was fine and customers never complained.
And then finally this argument that they are just copying the takealot/ amazon model is nonsense. This is not those sites. Yes some stores might list items on BOB, but it's also an auction site with many one of a kind and specialized items. In many cases it might just be something some one is doing on the side, or once off because they have something they want to sell. Forcing all sellers to come into line with professional marketplace sellers is just going to mean that they don't list on the platform because it's not worth the hassle and stick with facebook marketplace instead. Which is what I've done. So basically BOB is just going to end up as a poor imitation of the other e-tailers, as buyers and sellers looking for something unique go elsewhere.
A big selling point is their R1 auctions, where you could often find cheap little bargains, but now people will be scared off of listing there, because if your item goes for over R100, instantly you're losing another R30 from that sale price. Alright if it's a few thousand rand item, but maybe not great if you weren't really making money on it anyway.
So yes, I'm not one of the complainants, but I did have complaints, and I think this move is going to kill BOB, which was already not in the best position. I even said to their support department that I wanted them to record my comments, so in a few years when they are having a brainstorming session to find out where it all went wrong, they can refer back to them and save themselves the time.
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