Takealot flooded with Chinese sellers that take long to deliver orders
Takealot Marketplace merchants and customers alike are reporting that the platform is awash with sellers from China offering items at lower prices but with much longer delivery times.
Merchants say it appears that Takealot is giving these overseas sellers preferential treatment, as locals have not been allowed to offer products with lead times as long as two or three weeks.
Additionally, sellers offering electronics say that they must now compete against overseas merchants who simply ignore local certification and type-approval requirements.
One local merchant said they have spent over R100,000 on certifications and regulatory approvals for products, which they are certain the foreign merchants sidestep.
Another said that, after being a Takealot seller for almost 7 years, they noticed a sudden and severe decline in sales in mid-2025.
“There were no changes on our side. Over the past seven years, we have invested heavily in building a compliant, legitimate, and sustainable business on the platform,” they said.
“This includes certifying products in line with Takealot’s requirements, registering and protecting our trademark, and becoming VAT registered.”
They also built and maintain a dedicated website, and spend hundreds of thousands of rands on sponsored listings to grow visibility and sales.
“Despite this long-term investment, we are now in a position where offshore operations are able to compete directly, often on the same listings, without having carried the same regulatory, financial, or operational burden,” they said.
“Had this level of dedication, cost, and compliance been applied in almost any other industry over a seven-year period, it would have resulted in a stable and growing business.”
Instead, the seller said that they were watching their company deteriorate due to factors entirely beyond their control.
“It is deeply disheartening to see years of effort, financial investment, and commitment undermined in this way.”
Influx of foreign sellers
MyBroadband asked South African e-commerce automation company Wherehouse what trends it was seeing in this regard.
“We can definitely see foreign, high lead time accounts — most likely items shipping directly from China — attach to listings,” said Wherehouse founder Giovanni Joubert.
However, for the most part, the items on which Wherehouse sees these sellers compete are rarely those that would require regulatory approvals.
“For the most part, their direct competition in SA would be importer businesses that have been bringing in items, holding stock in local warehouses and reselling them on marketplaces.”
Furthermore, Joubert said they have seen listings where Takealot itself is listed as a competitor with an exceptionally long lead time.
“We cannot comment whether this is a technical glitch or whether Takealot is listing items from external suppliers as well,” he said.
“Usually a listing sold by Takealot directly would be in stock and have same or next day delivery available.”
Joubert explained that from a consumer perspective, it’s a price-to-patience calculation. “If the price gap is only R50, the local seller wins on speed,” he said.
“However, if the gap is R500, the local seller loses unless they have a strong brand.”
Tackling the problem
Joubert said that, as a marketplace facilitating sales between merchants and end consumers, it makes sense for Takealot to offer customers all the options.
“Where goods are counterfeit or subpar, we’d expect Takealot’s quality control team to rectify and remove the sellers from the listings as soon as possible,” he said.
One area where Takealot can improve is better Buy Box transparency. Currently, the ‘Buy’ button often defaults to the cheapest price, even if the lead time is 3 weeks.
Joubert said a fix to protect the customer experience would be to prioritise local, 24-hour delivery sellers with a history of high-quality sales in the Buy Box.
“Further, Takealot could reward local support, something like a local warranty badge,” he said.
“Overseas sellers cannot easily process a physical return or repair, whereas local sellers with local stock could have your item swapped within a couple of days.”
Joubert said they were still seeing local sellers do well and build sustainable businesses on Takealot and other marketplaces, provided they differentiate themselves. This includes:
- Vetted, quality products with good packaging
- Re-branded or bespoke items that have a local warranty
- High-quality listings and lifestyle images
- Content, like videos, that build brand trust with the local seller and their differentiated product
- Specialisation — Sellers known for selling high-quality items in a single category
“This exact play has already run its course with Amazon in the US. Previously, sellers could import and resell goods on the marketplace for profit,” said Joubert.
“These days, without sufficient differentiation, the sales would simply go to the direct-from-source overseas seller.”
Takealot responds
MyBroadband contacted Takealot for comment, and a spokesperson assured that all sellers on its platform must abide by the same rules and local compliance requirements.
“Cross-border commerce is now standard in modern e-commerce,” stated Takealot.
“Leading global platforms operate hybrid marketplaces that combine local ecosystems with international supply, responding to customer expectations for greater choice and competitive pricing.”
As South Africa’s e-commerce sector matures, Takealot said it was evolving alongside global best practices.
“We’re responsibly piloting international sourcing channels to expand choice and affordability while protecting our local ecosystem’s integrity,” it said.
“All sellers, regardless of origin, face the same regulatory, tax, and platform governance requirements.”
Takealot said expanding sourcing capabilities also creates opportunities for South African sellers, including access to new supply channels, logistics infrastructure, and platform capabilities to help them scale.
“Takealot remains a proudly South African platform built with thousands of local entrepreneurs whose success is directly tied to ours,” it stated.
“As a responsible corporate citizen, we’re committed to a measured, transparent approach that balances customer value, seller sustainability, and fair competition.”
The Competition Commission problem
MyBroadband also asked whether rules imposed by the Competition Commission made it impossible for Takealot to address problems created by its Buy Box algorithm, but it did not answer the question.
In 2023, the Competition Commission demanded that Takealot re-engineer the Buy Box to reflect the cheapest option, regardless of delivery time, as well as the fastest option.
James Hodge, the acting deputy commissioner and chairman of the inquiry, explained that Takealot’s Buy Box was programmed to favour the item that would get delivered in the shortest time.
This old behaviour is precisely what Wherehouse has proposed as a fix for the current situation, where consumers are being defaulted to long lead-time listings.
However, the Competition Commission wants Takealot to show consumers the offers with the lowest price and the fastest delivery times. It also doesn’t want Takealot to favour speedier delivery.
At the time, the Commission argued that the Buy Box’s preference for items with faster delivery times advantaged Takealot retail, as its products are generally in its warehouse, whereas this is not the case for sellers.
“It cannot be inferred that consumers prefer the fastest over the cheapest,” the Commission stated.
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