Souq.com won’t allow auctions anymore

“I pay 180dhs cash now, call !@$%^” – a staple quote at most Souq.com auctions where a buyer with seemingly minimal linguistic skills quotes a price for an item even though it costs four times as more. It is so common, in fact it happens in almost all auctions, that it has become a part of Souq’s culture.

However, come Jan 1, 2011, you won’t be seeing much of those. Souq.com is officially retiring the ‘auction’ method of sale, leaving with only the ‘Buy Now’ method. In a statement by Maurizio Valentini, GCC General Manager, the move was decided after internal research showed that most buyers preferred to sell their wares at a fixed price that reading ridiculously low quotes from ‘interested’ buyers.

“Our Researches clearly show that our buyers, when given the option, prefer to shop in Buy Now, our fix price format, because it accelerates the buying process and it allows them to combine different items to reduce the delivery costs.

Therefore we will be discontinuing the auction format starting from the 1st of January 2011 optimizing the buying experience.”

Personally, I am not quite sure if I like the change. Bidding leaves you with that window of opportunity to get a good deal, to get an item for a slightly cheaper price. Making it completely ‘buy now’ gives an advantage to the buyer alone, and taking the power negotiation from the seller.

Source: Souq.