To keep your bidorbuy buying (or selling) habits privileged information, take care to choose a user name that does not identify you as – you.

Lower prices, wide selection, 24/7 availability, convenience… all that is well and fine, but there is one less often talked about reason why people shop online: privacy.

Even when we put aside bizarre or quirky, there are plenty of standard, everyday products that many of us are embarrassed to buy from a real human salesperson, in front of real fellow shoppers. Some of us are even ready to pay a little more to avoid that awkward feeling.

And even if we only buy straight-laced and non-embarrassing goods online, we still do not want every Dick, Tom and Harry to be able to stick their noses into our shopping bags.

Having said all that, it is easy to imagine the utter bafflement of this online shopper, who wrote to us a while ago to say:

“I am an avid bidorbuy shopper, but I have a question. When a colleague searched for my name on the internet, he came upon a link to my bidorbuy profile – which shows exactly what I had purchased. Is there no way to protect such personal information from being so easily obtainable on the ‘net? Please advise me, as I truly love your service but cannot continue to support if my info is easily accessed.”

We looked around, and guess what we discovered? This privacy-concerned shopper chose a bidorbuy user name that consisted of… wait for it… his (or her – we’re not giving anything away!) real Christian name and surname.

We advised accordingly, and got this feedback: “Have taken your advice and changed my username; that makes all the difference. Very happy!”

Since bidorbuy is a public place, everybody can see what everybody else is buying or selling, but only under their bidorbuy user names. So, if you do not want everyone and their uncle to be able to take a peek into your shopping habits, choose a bidorbuy user name that cannot be associated with you. That way, your real name will not be linked to your bidorbuy transactions in search engines.

You can easily change your user name by logging into My bidorbuy and clicking on the Update your Account Details link (top right).

As for our side, rest assured that we take your privacy seriously and do everything in our power to protect the personal information you entrust to us. Read more in our privacy policy document and do not hesitate to contact our customer support at hello@bidorbuy.co.za if you have any questions or concerns.

Have an enjoyable and privileged shopping experience on bidorbuy!