Bikehub Business Unfair to Small Dealers?

[Mo79]

I believe BikeHub is being unfair in the way they convert certain users to business accounts and then force them to pay for ads.

South Africa has an unemployment rate of over 30%. Many people rely on platforms like this to earn an honest living, yet the system seems to block the very people who need it most. What’s even more concerning is that it’s often ordinary working-class people—who end up suffering.

Meanwhile, there are individuals on this platform with significant wealth who still haven’t been converted to business profiles. Yet someone like ejohnmcford, who has only been on the hub for a year and is clearly hustling to survive, is suddenly told he must pay for ads. That’s not fair. I raised this issue with you a couple of years ago and suggested a more reasonable solution: instead of pushing struggling small sellers into business accounts, charge them a modest subscription fee.

On top of that, large dealers selling R100k bikes end up paying proportionally far less than someone trying to sell a R10k bike. The system feels skewed toward wealthier sellers—those you quietly allow to operate without converting their profiles to business accounts. So I have to ask: Is it really fair to force someone like ejohn—a previously disadvantaged person who may very well be living in a shack—to pay for ads just to make a living?

 

Edited November 18, 2025 by Mo79

[Guest Mike Dewing]

What you saying may be true.. but you lost me by bringing race and making assumptions about other bikehub users and their financial situations.. especially when you just sound like a child whining about what’s fair or not.. sorry not sorry

 

[wessie12]

Lost me at " especially coloured and black users".

[Nick]

2 hours ago, Mo79 said:

I believe BikeHub is being unfair in the way they convert certain users to business accounts and then force them to pay for ads.

South Africa has an unemployment rate of over 30%. Many people rely on platforms like this to earn an honest living, yet the system seems to block the very people who need it most. What’s even more concerning is that it’s often ordinary working-class people—especially coloured and black users—who end up suffering.

Meanwhile, there are individuals on this platform with significant wealth who still haven’t been converted to business profiles. Yet someone like ejohnmcford, who has only been on the hub for a year and is clearly hustling to survive, is suddenly told he must pay for ads. That’s not fair. I raised this issue with you a couple of years ago and suggested a more reasonable solution: instead of pushing struggling small sellers into business accounts, charge them a modest subscription fee.

On top of that, large dealers selling R100k bikes end up paying proportionally far less than someone trying to sell a R10k bike. The system feels skewed toward wealthier sellers—those you quietly allow to operate without converting their profiles to business accounts. So I have to ask: Is it really fair to force someone like ejohn—a previously disadvantaged person who may very well be living in a shack—to pay for ads just to make a living?

Thanks for your message. We always welcome feedback. We've discussed this with you previously, and our position remains unchanged. But I suppose you're wanting public input and not ours?

Since our last conversation, you created an account specifically to avoid dealer fees and have been operating two accounts in parallel for over a year; one as a dealer with adverts below the fee threshold, and the other as a private account for higher-value items that would otherwise incur fees. Although this is a serious violation of at least two of our rules, the only action taken was converting your latest account to a dealer profile rather than suspending all three accounts (that we can identify) entirely.

Regarding the account you highlighted, we cannot make broad assumptions based on a profile name or photo. That leads to inaccuracies and discrimination. Additionally, that user self-selected as a dealer from the outset.

As always, if you notice any accounts operating as dealers without the appropriate classification (as was the case with your own activity), please report them. We investigate all such cases thoroughly.

[Bro Derek]

I also think the OP forgets that BikeHub is also a small business with people on the back end trying to make an honest living

Trying to monetize parts of BikeHub in order for it to continue existing is essential

If you are making a living from BikeHub, through a service they provide through quite a lot of hard work, they probably also deserve some remuneration. 

Keeping this thing going isn't free for them

[Spookie]

If a seller doesnt like/agree with the terms of the platform, there are other available options (eg marketplace) to use instead…

[Guest Mike Dewing]

3 minutes ago, Bro Derek said:

I also think the OP forgets that BikeHub is also a small business with people on the back end trying to make an honest living

Trying to monetize parts of BikeHub in order for it to continue existing is essential

If you are making a living from BikeHub, through a service they provide through quite a lot of hard work, they probably also deserve some remuneration. 

Keeping this thing going isn't free for them

I mean Nicks laid out this okes operation pretty clearly.. how he is trying to get around their rules and regulations regarding fees.. it hasn’t worked and he’s having a tantrum.. simple🤷🏼‍♂️ I’m gonna go enjoy my week now🤣🤣

[The Ouzo]

43 minutes ago, Mike Dewing said:

I mean Nicks laid out this okes operation pretty clearly.. how he is trying to get around their rules and regulations regarding fees.. it hasn’t worked and he’s having a tantrum.. simple🤷🏼‍♂️ I’m gonna go enjoy my week now🤣🤣

even before Nicks post, just reading the opening post in this thread, I suspected this was the case.

 

[BuffsVintageBikes]

Yup, plenty of other places to hustle, like FB Marketplace, Gumtree and Buy/Sell whatsapp groups.

Rules are there for a reason and the reason isn't discrimination.

[Naidy]

Wow! 3 accounts 🙈. 

Here I'm trying to run 1 reputable account.

2 hours ago, Nick said:

Thanks for your message. We always welcome feedback. We've discussed this with you previously, and our position remains unchanged. But I suppose you're wanting public input and not ours?

Since our last conversation, you created an account specifically to avoid dealer fees and have been operating two accounts in parallel for over a year; one as a dealer with adverts below the fee threshold, and the other as a private account for higher-value items that would otherwise incur fees. Although this is a serious violation of at least two of our rules, the only action taken was converting your latest account to a dealer profile rather than suspending all three accounts (that we can identify) entirely.

Regarding the account you highlighted, we cannot make broad assumptions based on a profile name or photo. That leads to inaccuracies and discrimination. Additionally, that user self-selected as a dealer from the outset.

As always, if you notice any accounts operating as dealers without the appropriate classification (as was the case with your own activity), please report them. We investigate all such cases thoroughly.

 

[Mo79]

There are quite a few people I’ve mentioned who have not been made into business accounts, even after I brought it to your attention.  Also your current model puts small guys under more pressure than the big guys.  On a R5k or less ad you are paying more percentage wise than a R100k or more ad.  A dealer with R1m in bikes will pay more than someone with R100k in smaller items over R499.

There are so many other people getting away with it and others you’ve overlook for whichever reasons.  Then there are people who just left Bikehub altogether.  I understand it’s your platform and you’ve got expenses, however I suggested subscriptions instead of per ad. Also the renewal is a major issue. I don’t mind paying for the first ad, but every time you renew?

 

[Milosh]

You lost me when you played the race card to try to get around the predefined rules.

[dave303e]

If the rules don't work for you, no one is forcing you to use bikehub you can stick to other platforms.

You can't step onto a soccer field and ask the ref to tie up the other players because of you are not prepared accordingly.

[Nick]

6 minutes ago, Mo79 said:

There are quite a few people I’ve mentioned who have not been made into business accounts, even after I brought it to your attention.  Also your current model puts small guys under more pressure than the big guys.  On a R5k or less ad you are paying more percentage wise than a R100k or more ad.  A dealer with R1m in bikes will pay more than someone with R100k in smaller items over R499.

There are so many other people getting away with it and others you’ve overlook for whichever reasons.  Then there are people who just left Bikehub altogether.  I understand it’s your platform and you’ve got expenses, however I suggested subscriptions instead of per ad. Also the renewal is a major issue. I don’t mind paying for the first ad, but every time you renew?

 

Admittedly, it’s not a perfect system, but we do our best with the information we have. If people were honest and labelled themselves correctly, it would be way simpler and fairer for everyone. The truth is, we can’t always know what’s going on behind an account, and constantly having to act like a security guard is frustrating and eats up a lot of our time.

We make business decisions knowing they won’t please everyone, and that some people will walk away. Those decisions aren’t taken lightly. We monitor feedback and real data, and some churn is just part of the process.

We’ve looked at a subscription model many times, but when we apply it to actual dealer behaviour, the range is so wide we’d end up needing multiple complicated tiers. Pay-as-you-list is far simpler and fits all use cases. What kind of subscription are you thinking? Keep in mind, to maintain the same revenue it wouldn’t automatically be cheaper. We'd be charging for the full usage of whatever the subscription tier allowed and if you reach the limits, you'd be stuck or have to spend more.

The current fee structure could use some tweaking, we haven't looked at it for awhile, and there might be room to adjust the higher end as you suggest. At the same time, we’d like to put some restrictions in place for the freebies below R500; some accounts have hundreds of them.

[Mo79]

I really didn’t want to do this publicly.

 

If you had just listened to me a few years ago.  I didn’t want to expose others and have their account also changed to business account, that goes against the core of my being.  But since it wasn’t handled in the private chat, I had to do this unfortunately.

 

This creates a toxic environment with dealers having them piemp (report) each other.

sidekickracer

steadycycles 

Kingofthedownhil

I knew about these guys for years and one of them I told you they were dealing 2500+ ads and many big items.  Now I had to publically mention them.  They gonna hate me forever for piemping on them. But I was forced to. Cause now I’m the laughing stock of Bikehub for asking for fairness and for alternatives to your current system.  I didn’t the right thing and messaged privately, but I didn’t get a resolution to my suggestions.  These policies are creating animosity between dealers. 

 

 

 

Edited November 18, 2025 by Mo79

[Nick]

8 minutes ago, Mo79 said:

I really didn’t want to do this publicly.

 

If you had just listened to me a few years ago.  I didn’t want to expose others and have their account also changed to business account, that goes against the core of my being.  But since it wasn’t handled in the private chat, I had to do this unfortunately.

 

This creates a toxic environment with dealers having them piemp (report) each other.

sidekickracer

steadycycles 

Kingofthedownhil

I knew about these guys for years and one of them I told you they were dealing.  Now I had to publically mention them.  They gonna hate me forever for piemping on them. But I was forced to. Cause now I’m the laughing stock of Bikehub for asking for fairness and for alternatives to your current system.  I didn’t the right thing and messaged privately, but I didn’t get a resolution to my suggestions.  These policies are creating animosity between dealers.

There’s a report button on every advert and profile page. If you have concerns about other accounts, please use that to report them privately if you prefer. I’ve noted the accounts you mentioned and will investigate them in due course.

You know how to contact us directly, but I’m responding here because this is where you chose to raise the issue.