On OLX you will be able to bargain and get a discount of up to 40% on the product

A new bidding function has appeared on the OLX online classifieds platform, allowing buyers to reduce the price of a product by up to 40% of the original price with the seller’s consent. The option is already available in ads with the option of purchasing via the service’s delivery.

In the product cards under the “Buy with delivery” button, an additional element has appeared, with which you can offer your own price. After sending the offer, the seller receives it directly in the chat in the form of a separate card with the specified amount and a note that the price is valid exclusively for a specific buyer. In response, the seller can either agree to the proposed price or send a counteroffer at a different price.

If the parties agree, the OLX delivery purchase button is activated for the buyer, but with an updated price. The further process does not differ from the standard scenario of placing an order and sending the product.

Within the new functionality, the system limits the maximum discount amount. The buyer can reduce the price by only 40% of the amount specified in the ad. Thus, for a product costing 100 hryvnias, the minimum allowable price within the bidding will be 60 hryvnias, and the platform will not allow you to offer a lower amount.

Competitors’ response

The launch of the bidding function coincided with the appearance of the “monobazar” from monobank – a service that works directly in the banking application and is focused on selling used items. The new marketplace offers automated bidding mechanisms, the use of artificial intelligence to design ads, as well as the ability to direct proceeds from sales to charity funds, in particular to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Against this background, the OLX update looks like a response to increased competition in the segment of online sales of used goods.

The platform offers payment in installments, and ads can be quickly created using a built-in AI tool that generates an extended description of the product based on short text. The mechanics of the auction are also automated: the buyer makes a price offer, and the seller only confirms or rejects it.

The money is received by the seller after the buyer receives the product at the post office. If the parcel is not picked up, the payment is automatically returned. During testing until January 8, the commission is 0.1% for each sale, and after the end of the beta period it is planned to be raised to 1.9%. Buyers only pay for shipping in addition.

Among the individual features is a charity option: until January 8, sellers can transfer all sales proceeds to charity, and Monobank in this case doubles the amount of the contribution. The new service is available in the Monobank application in the “Market” section.