JOHANNESBURG - Tech-savvy South African shoppers hunting for a good deal this Black Friday have taken exception to the e-commerce giant, Takealot.comโs alleged mis-pricing.
Shoppers have taken to Twitter expressing their disappointment in Takealot, saying that the website are incorrectly pricing some of the items under their Black Friday promotions.
Shoppers claim that an original item was priced at a certain amount and on Black Friday, the site is advertising the item, as one of the Black Friday promotions, with the original price marked much higher than it actually was, making it appear that the customer is saving more on the item.
In response to one of these claims on Twitter, Takealot tweeted one of their customers and said, "Hi there. Thanks for reaching out to us. At times products that are on the Blue Dot Sale were previously discounted in our daily deals or another sale so they were already sold at a lower price."
*Update (13:51pm) - Takealot has responded to the claims made by customers on twitter.
Takealot said, "All products which are available on promotion as part of the Takealot Blue Dot Sale are easily identified through the Blue Dot Sale badge and can be found here.
Takealot added that they encourage shoppers to get in touch with them directly should they have any pricing queries so that they may investigate these on an individual basis.
Take a look at the claims made on Twitter below:
Hi there. Thanks for reaching out to us. At times products that are on the Blue Dot Sale were previously discounted in our daily deals or another sale so they were already sold at a lower price.
— takealot (@TAKEALOT) November 29, 2019
Hi there. Thanks for reaching out to us. At times products that are on the Blue Dot Sale were previously discounted in our daily deals or another sale so they were already sold at a lower price.
— takealot (@TAKEALOT) November 29, 2019
๐ ๐, that's a big lie, i bought these twice already from you guys at a price lower than R2500. But jah we understand
— Literally No-one (@Mappz_ep) November 29, 2019
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/TAKEALOT?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TAKEALOTis playing games here.
โ Zett (@Mqhayoyo)
Then that means what these companies are doing is unlawful ๐ฅบ false advertising
— Glee__sa๐ฟ๐ฆ (@Gali_Glee) November 29, 2019
My dog food was R599 on takealot then they pushed it up to R629 and then R700 now it's on a Black Friday special at R599 again ๐
— under construction (@danielsunss) November 29, 2019
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/TAKEALOT?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TAKEALOTWhat joke is this, I had these in my cart for months at the same price of R2512, all of the sudden the original price is R6028 ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐, had so much respect for this site, day light fraud #Takealot #BlackFridayMe pic.twitter.com/m9aFj0WTlN
โ Literally No-one (@Mappz_ep)
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/TAKEALOT?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TAKEALOTprices went UP on Black Friday ๐๐๐ the two laptops I was looking at were 9754 and 11999 and are now 10249 and 13127 ๐ you sneaky little bullshitters you !!! So much respect lost, wow.
โ Fillip Sklodowskaโs Cat (@stripper_oprah)
Could you explain how and/or why the price increased by more than R500 in the space of 3 days? Is this normal?
— LA PUTA AMA (@Murda11Nova) November 29, 2019
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/Takealot?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Takealotlol I'm ALWAYS shopping on Takealot and the items I'm seeing that are now apparently marked down for black Fridays their "Blue dot sale" are the very same items that have been marked down for months ๐คฃ๐คฃ I love Takealot but now they taking us for a ride.
โ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ฒ ๐ญ (@lemogang__)
TakeAlot is expensive even on promotion dealz pic.twitter.com/8bx3DnkCj8
— #PutSouthAfricaFirst (@syadiko) November 29, 2019
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/Takealot?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Takealot pic.twitter.com/kBnM8C98IN
โ ๐๐ฒ๐ท & ๐๐พ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ฎ (@Vuli_SA)
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/Takealot?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Takealot #BlackFriday2019 what a wow๐๐๐๐I bought this watch early this year by R205 ....Today is BlackFriday n they selling it ka R350๐.where is 41% discount mo? pic.twitter.com/2sfUsOkmC9
โ Chaska (@LeynChaska)
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/Takealot?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Takealotis practicing unfair and scrupulous business practices? @TAKEALOT care to respond? pic.twitter.com/xkiz04BTo8
โ Bra Thanos (@bra_thanos)
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/TAKEALOT?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TAKEALOThas really let me down this time. pic.twitter.com/PFghSMtGUe
โ Gentleman Jack (@TheGunJack23)
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlackFridayIsAMyth?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BlackFridayIsAMyth
โ #WATBSโข๏ธ๐ซ (@WiseOageng)
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/Takealot?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Takealotdevice advertised as R7999.00 but upon check out it goes back to normal price. #BlackFridaySA #BlackFridayMe @TAKEALOT pic.twitter.com/LnVYLlILyh
โ Cassius Maradona (@Cassius_Dona)
TakeAlot knows most South African people dont read.
— The Don (@Paps_Bacela) November 29, 2019
Takealot listed some of the individual items that some Twitter users took issue with. The website said that some of the confusion came in because there was a difference between the Blue dot sale that was taking place and the Takealot Marketplace sellers.
Takealot stated the below:
Helicute Petrel WIFI drone
- The Helicute Petrel WIFI drone is available on takealot.com through two different Takealot Marketplace sellers: Helicute (R299) included in the Blue Dot Sale and Simplicity Online (R879) which is not part of the Blue Dot Sale.
- Marketplace sellers are responsible for deciding and setting prices of their products on the Takealot platform. The Helicute Drone is on promotion on the Blue Dot Sale which is why its price is set lower than the non-promotional Simplicity Online Drone.
SanDisk 64GB
This SanDisk 64GB product is not part of the Blue Dot Sale. The first example at R159 price may have been taken during a previous promotion which is why the current price (R169) is higher.
Russell Hobbs Satin Jug Blender
- The Russell Hobbs Satin Jug Blender was on promotion (R599) as a part of our Blue Dot Sale. Unfortunately all of the deal stock sold out prior to the shopper completing their order. This resulted in the price reverting to its non-Blue Dot Sale price in check out.
- Blue Dot Sale deals are available on a first-come, first-serve basis and deal stock is only reserved once payment is received. Once a deal sells out it will unfortunately no longer be available at the Blue Dot Sale deal price.
Berlinger Haus Cookware Set
- This product is sold via a Takealot Marketplace seller. Marketplace sellers are responsible for deciding and setting prices of their products on the Takealot platform
- We have reached out to the seller and requested that they relook their list price to ensure it is correct.
*This story was updated at 13:51pm.