Why you must be careful shopping online, even with major retailers

702’s Relebogile Mabotja speaks with consumer journalist Wendy Knowler.

Listen below:

When shopping on online marketplaces which allow third-party suppliers to sell their items, consumers can get caught in frustrating situations.

The Consumer Goods and Services Ombudsman (CGSO) says online shopping complaints made up 19% of all the complaints received in 2024/2025.

One major concern for both retailers and consumers is knock-off brands being sold on these sites.

“We tend to let down our guards a lot when we are dealing with the big players... Takealot, Amazon, Makro etc.” 

- Wendy Knowler, Consumer Journalist 

Third-party sellers often use the name, photos, and product description from a well-known brand... only to deliver an inferior product - according to the Wheco Group, which owns the Cielo brand.

Recently they had a case where a customer bought what they believed was a new Cielo piece from Makro, which opened its website to third party sellers in 2018.

Upon receiving the piece, they immediately saw it was not genuine, returned it, and reported the issue.

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Makro says third-party sellers are indicated on the product display page through a message saying, 'Sold by [business name]'.

If you are shopping online, Knowler suggests you always look very carefully at the listing and make sure that you read the reviews.

Scroll up to the audio player for more.