Onbuy dodgy new subscription hidden in fine print
I listed on Onbuy in 2019 because it was free, and I make a whopping 8 sales per year on there! None the less, it did no harm to keep my listings up on it.
Last month they made a big deal out of switching from paypal to direct payments, asking everyone to make sure their bank details were updated, and to tick accepting the new payment terms. Like most humans, I just scrolled to the bottom of a very long text box, and clicked agree, thinking I was agreeing to direct payments.
Well, the fine print in the new “direct payments” terms included that they’re now charging subscriptions, and I got a surprise invoice for £22.80 this month!
I know they’re not in profit as a company yet, so I suspect this is some final cash grab before they collapse. Anyone selling on there should check if they’ve been charged. I’ve removed my listings and opened a ticket to close my account and cancel the scam subscription. I suspect they’ll be getting lots of chargebacks!
They’re delusional if they think they’re big enough to charge similar to ebay or etsy when nobody’s even heard of them, and it’s completely unprofessional to try scamming sellers into hidden subscription agreements.
If they had been able to charge my expired card, I’d be filing a chargeback just to make sure they pay that extra processing fee for my refund!
58 replies
Seller_77IcbQKVGdZo0
I have been with them since the start of the year and the T&C’s I signed up to then allowed them to charge me a subscription. They however waived the subscription fee first couple of months as I didn’t reach the sales threshold but in March they charged the subscription.
I always said I would give them a year but the sales are poor on there with around 3-4 a month so far. It seems to be rife with drop shippers/chancers charging extremely high prices in some categories which doesn’t do its reputation any good. Also they do need to promote themselves a bit more so people are aware of them.
I think with some advertising and promotion they could do really well. However so few people have heard of them
Seller_JcPDFivdut5IY
Thanks for posting this ,I was not aware of their new subscription plan either,
I have now also closed my account which I suspect the majority of their sellers will also be doing once they realise
Seller_pHcaBfRrv7QoP
I have been caught out the same. I opened a ticket to close the account yesterday as well. Onbuy will be no loss to me as the last sale I had was two years ago. It’s mad they think they can charge £22.80 a month for such a small marketplace.
Seller_TUZga5dEWVkqw
I also got caught out! Closed my account as only ever sold a few items a month.
Seller_ZjZ4slOF0jHpk
I was wondering who was funding them. From Oct 2022 - https://fuel.ventures/onbuy-raises-a-35-million-series-a-funding-round/. Beggars belief they could lose so much when we all had to switch to online! Anyway…
They invited me twice to join them. The first time they actually turned me down when I explained I don’t have barcodes (Handmade) and even a small amount of images, means lots of barcodes as there can be dozens of variations for each image - A6 to A1 size, unmounted or mounted, framed in black, white or oak. All with vastly different postage costs and packaging. Hence why I have nearly 3000 listings on here, for just under 500 images. (yes, there may be ways to reduce that, but it’s done now)
Something Amazon FBA don’t seem to understand at all. Constantly getting emails and calls asking me to move to FBA.
I wasn’t going to buy barcodes every year just to ‘try out’ a site I’d never heard of - as ppl have said above - its visibility is appalling. I’d never heard of it until last year.
A few months later they asked again and I just sent them their previous rejection.
Seller_GTQV2zDar8YQQ
Thanks for posting this ,I thought it was still free no contact from them at all .
I haven’t been charged yet, but apparently I will be charged £19.99 on the 28/4.
Seller_OCPQ5x3o5snzU
Stay clear of this company … Its not all its seems to be. The guy who owns it is a self proclaimed online genius worth millions… I was once along time ago unfortunate to let a company he owed make me a website… They pretend to have hundreds of customers and sellers and in reality they have very few real customers. They have copied all my listings from Amazon and have inflated the price and are being offered by a bogus company who by the way own 10 companies doing just the same.
Seller_OirO3dEHuuKi0
Wow, thanks for the heads up. I’ll be cancelling and giving them a piece of my mind.
Steve
Seller_pD4k5nUkDbIgP
I opened an account with them about a year ago, before Amazon. I sold 3-4 times and in August they charged me a monthly subscription. I left immediately, I had already lost interest in it. I still get emails from them.
