OnBuy

RFW

We've had a bit of talk about other marketplaces recently.
I see reports that OnBuy is fast growing yet as a buyer or seller it never seems to appear anywhere for me.

They did aggressively (in a marketing/calling way) try to get me on board a few years ago but it didn't seem like a good fit and wasn't particularly more competitive.

I'm fairly sure it's just business sellers only. I'm interested to know if anyone here has bought or sold on there.

soolin

Like many business sellers I am always on the look out for new markets and new opportunities and prefer not to have everything 'invested' in just one site - although I am scaling back a lot. Onbuy did contact me quite a while ago, I can't think how they got hold of my details but it was in connection with my ebay account somehow and suggested I might like to have a look at their selling model , but apart from a quick look I rather neglected to do anything about it. 

Recently though I've seen a few mentions, but really haven't given much thought to really investigating it, or seeing what the general opinion of it is. 

elsien

I bought from them once, never got the item or any communication from the seller. Good seller ratings when I bought, which dropped like a stone shortly after.
 I did get a refund although it took a little while. 

Now thinking that if things are cheap on there, they’re cheap for a reason so I’m avoiding from here on in. 

soolin

elsien said:

I bought from them once, never got the item or any communication from the seller. Good seller ratings when I bought, which dropped like a stone shortly after.
 I did get a refund although it took a little while. 

Now thinking that if things are cheap on there, they’re cheap for a reason so I’m avoiding from here on in. 

Thank you, it's always useful to hear it from a buying point of view. 

elsien

I was buying a branded item from a well-known brand - I was looking for value rather than dirt cheap.
I’ve now come to the view there’s not many UK based sellers on there, which is another reason to avoid. 

RFW

elsien said:

I was buying a branded item from a well-known brand - I was looking for value rather than dirt cheap.
I’ve now come to the view there’s not many UK based sellers on there, which is another reason to avoid. 

I look periodically and see the same. They don't look like they're breaking through in the UK although I've read that they are. Perhaps there's some markets they do well on that I don't see.

Spoonie_Turtle

My brother has bought computer components on there in the past, but he now defaults to Amazon.  I don't think he had any problems though.

I bought a couple of electric blankets there, specific ones, and it was fine. 

I always forget they exist though, and it was only my brother using them that gave me the confidence to give them a go.  I'd never been sure whether they were sketchy or not before that; I don't know whether that's because of anything about their website or if it was just I wasn't used to them like I am with the usual three (eBay, Amazon, Etsy - the latter I am picky and avoid anything that's not supposed to be on there). 

Thinking about it, maybe it's that I get Groupon vibes from OnBuy, where I'm never sure if you'll get something that looks like the photos or a poor imitation and I would have no clue how to go about resolving any problems.  Whereas the sites I use - even AliExpress and DHGate in the past - I'm confident I know how to resolve any issues and that their processes are reliable* for me as a buyer.

*Not perfect, but reliable.  I don't expect perfection, but on the rare occasion it doesn't go smoothly I do expect to still be able to get it sorted with being able to contact a human.

CMol723

Bought from onbuy twice, both within the 12 months to Jan 2025. Bucket-fed power washer and drill, both cordless. Both arrived and functioned as described, well packaged and in good time.  Can't remember how I was led to onbuy, but I access them via TopCashback now, gives you an extra little kick back on top of the price! For some items they don't seem to have a good range (lawn mowers) or cheap options (mop slippers).  No experience of their customer service or returns offer. Happy shopping folks!