Questions
How does payment work? You find an item, start a conversation, agree on price, handover and payment method on mr.bid, then pay the seller directly. Sellers can mark Cash, Bank Transfer, Mobile Money and optional Cryptocurrency as methods they accept. mr.bid does not collect, hold or convert those funds.
Does mr.bid accept cryptocurrency? mr.bid does not hold, convert or transfer cryptocurrency, and it does not run a crypto wallet. Some sellers mark Cryptocurrency as a method they are willing to accept. If a listing shows Crypto Accepted, you and the seller agree the asset, network and amount in the conversation, then you pay them directly. That is a seller preference, not a mr.bid payment or escrow.
What happens when I use Buy Now? Buy Now opens a conversation at the listed price. On the listing you pick how you would like to pay (Cash, Bank Transfer, Mobile Money, or Cryptocurrency if the seller accepts it). That records your preference — it does not take a unit or collect payment. When both sides agree, mr.bid records the agreement and holds one unit so two people cannot take the last one. If that deal is cancelled, the unit is put back. Start Transaction in Messages is the same Buy Now start. It does not show after the item is sold or on an auction-only listing — you can still message the seller about similar items.
How do offers work? Buyers can make an offer on negotiable Buy Now listings. You take turns: the seller accepts, declines, or counters, then the buyer replies. There is no cap on how many counters, but only one person replies at a time. A new amount on the same listing replaces your pending offer, or answers the seller's counter. Pending offers expire in 3 days. You can send 8 new offers every 15 minutes and 20 replies every 15 minutes. Accepting records the agreement on mr.bid. It is not a payment through mr.bid.
What is the watchlist? Save a listing with the heart to follow price and auction time. Ending soon is a tab on Watchlist. Saving a listing is not a bid or a purchase. You also get a listing-sold alert if it sells while you are watching.
Can I compare listings? Yes. Use Compare on a search result card or the listing page to keep up to four items in this browser. Open compare loads live prices for those same four. That list is not saved to your account.
Where are recently viewed items? Open Recently viewed. The list of what you opened stays in this browser. The homepage rail, For You, and that page show the same live listing cards as the rest of mr.bid, eight at a time. They are not a watchlist and they are not saved to your account. For You can use those slugs for Similar to What You Viewed after this browser sends them on the URL.
How does For You pick listings? For You is not random newest posts. It uses categories from your watchlist, offers, bids, completed deals, and saved searches that name a category, plus listings you opened in this browser. Empty rails stay off the page. Continue Shopping uses open deals and pending offers. Based on Your Watchlist skips items you already saved. Popular Near You only shows when Shop Near Me or your profile city is set — it does not fall back to listings around Ghana. Similar to What You Viewed ranks from the last listing you opened, with the same score as the listing page (category, place, watchlist, recency). Recently viewed stays in this browser, not on your account. See all on those rails opens /for-you with a cursor, except Recently viewed (/recently-viewed) and Popular Near You (Search near you). We do not keep a buyer search log or a unique-viewer graph.
How do I show a seller contact number? On a listing, Show contact number works if the seller allows it and you are signed in. mr.bid logs that reveal. Use messages when you can so there is a record. The number is the seller's, not a mr.bid phone.
How do I search messages? On Messages, search looks at names, listing titles, and message text across your conversations. Inside a conversation, use the search box to jump to matching lines. Enter sends the chat, including the conversation Buy Now opens. Shift+Enter starts a new line. Your own messages show ticks like WhatsApp: one tick is sent, two grey ticks is delivered, two blue ticks is read. Turn read receipts off in My Account if you do not want that; you then also cannot see when they have read yours. Start Transaction is Buy Now from the conversation; it stays off after the item is sold and on auction-only listings.
Do messages show when they were read? Yes, on your own messages. One tick means sent, two grey ticks means delivered to their mr.bid session, two blue ticks means they opened the conversation. Delivered still shows if they turn read receipts off. If you turn receipts off in My Account, you also cannot see when they have read yours. Staff opening a conversation case does not mark the thread read.
Does Agree & Continue take payment? No. It records that both of you accept the price, handover note, and payment method. You still pay the seller directly. mr.bid does not collect that money. After you pick how you will pay — including on Buy Now — the conversation shows that choice instead of asking again. The other person still taps Agree & Continue to lock the deal.
How does delivery work? After you agree the deal, either of you records how the item will move: buyer pickup, seller delivery, buyer-arranged delivery, a third party, or shipping. You can add a fee you will pay each other, an estimated time, a pickup place, and a tracking link. mr.bid stores that record. It does not run vans, collect the fee, or ping a carrier. Confirming delivery does not complete the deal or move money. Mr.bid Delivery Partners is not live. Sellers save pickup places at /seller/pickup.
Can I cancel a completed deal? No. Once a deal is completed or cancelled, Decline deal will not put stock back. Open a dispute while the deal is still open if something went wrong.
What if something goes wrong? Open the deal conversation and use Open dispute or Cancel deal. The Dispute resolution page explains that and links to My transactions. Keep talking on mr.bid messages. mr.bid does not hold funds, so it cannot reverse a mobile-money or cash payment.
How do I find sellers? Open the Sellers directory for shops with live listings. Verified shops appear first. You can also open a shop from any listing. Cancellation rate shows after a shop has closed deals.
How does Nearby work? Shop Near Me in the header remembers a region, city/town, or area in this browser. Nearby and search follow that place. Search can sort Nearest to your Shop Near Me city using Ghana city centroids only — never a street address. You can use your current location, or pick a region or city without walking Ghana → region → city first.
Does the homepage hide listings after the first 40? No. Each merchandising rail (Hot Deals, Ending Soon, Premium Finds, Under GH₵500, Most Watched, Popular Auctions, Near You, Just Listed, Buy Now, Pre-Owned) is a live query of eight cards. Hot Deals also appears in the homepage sidebar with the same live cards. Professional Sellers shows six shops with an active subscription. Empty rails stay empty. Nearby uses your city or area cookie. Recommended For You uses categories from your watchlist, offers, bids, completed deals, and saved searches — not just-listed fill. Empty Recommended stays empty. See all opens /for-you. Featured categories show nine plus More, with live listing counts. More and View all open Categories. See all on merchandising rails opens Search, Auctions, Buy It Now, or Sellers with the same filter. Buy Now See all opens /buy. Premium Finds on the homepage is live Homepage Featured slots, not a quality grade. See all opens Search of listings currently marked featured. The Sponsored rail is paid display campaigns — paid placement, not a quality grade — and stays empty when none are live. Under GH₵500 uses the Buy Now price or the live bid. Pre-owned is used, like-new, refurbished, and parts — not new. When ENABLE_REWARDS is on, the homepage shows your live points balance and links to /rewards. The homepage itself is not cursor-paged so it can stay in the public index. The seller strip shows six shops. Signed-out visitors also see a join banner at the bottom. Sign Up Free opens /register. Explore Now opens Search. The headline says thousands only when live active users are at least 1,000.
What are the homepage collections? They are live filters, not paid ranking (except Premium Finds on the homepage, which is a Homepage Featured slot). Hot Deals uses the activity bar. Ending Soon is live auctions by end time, with paid auction promotions first. Under GH₵500 is Buy Now or the current bid. Most Watched sorts by watchers. Popular Auctions is live auctions sorted by watchers. Near You uses your location cookie. Just Listed is newest. Buy Now is fixed-price and opens /buy. Pre-Owned is not new. Professional Sellers are shops with an active paid subscription. See all opens Search, Auctions, Buy It Now, or Sellers with that filter. For You is a separate personalization center at /for-you — it is not a merchandising fill of newest listings.
Where are all the categories? Categories in the header, or Browse categories in the footer, opens /categories. That page lists every category and how many active listings it has. Those counts are live listings, not sales. A category with zero stays listed so you can still open it. Featured Categories on the homepage shows nine plus More; More and View all go to the same directory.
What do listing cards show? The same listing card is used on the homepage (including Recently viewed), search, Buy It Now, categories, shops, recommendations, For You, auctions, You May Also Like, and the listing page Similar / Related / seller's other rails. Those rails sit full width under the item. You May Also Like and the seller's other items group cards by category when more than one category is on that rail. Empty rails stay off the page. Cards are 240px wide from sm so the shop or seller name fits on its own line with verified and positive % under it — the name is not cut off. It answers what it is, how much, where, whether the shop is trusted, and whether it is an auction, without opening the listing. Buy Now shows the price with an eye and the live watchlist count (“N watching”) on that same line, then “N views” (the listing page puts that same row beside the price), Crypto Accepted under the price when the seller marked cryptocurrency (a preference label, not a mr.bid payment), condition, Negotiable or Fixed Price, seller and positive %, then area and city or city and region (not a street address) under the shop name, sold when the listing has sales, and posted time. Auction shows current bid, bid count, and time left first. Buy Now + Auction shows current bid and the Buy Now price. Quantity left sits beside the item name when more than one unit remains. The photo always carries Buy Now, Auction, Buy Now + Auction, Starts soon, or Auctioned, plus the watchlist heart and a count when there is more than one image. An auction that closed with a winner (SOLD or COMPLETED) shows Auctioned on the photo and Sold in the caption — not a live Auction badge and not Buy Now. The listing page uses the same Auctioned mark in ink, not a live red Auction badge. Auctioned or sold listings do not keep Hot or Trending. Hot sits beside that type badge when a live listing passes the Hot Deals activity bar — a deep red fire outline and the word Hot. New is only on listings published in the last 24 hours; it is not a staff or paid mark, and it clears itself after that. Relisting sets a new published time, so New can appear again. New sits in front of Featured or Sponsored on the photo when both apply; it does not replace it. Sponsored sits ahead of Featured when a live search or sponsored campaign is serving. Reserved or Promoted can sit behind New the same way. Cards do not show last-seen, response time, phone, cash, bank transfer, mobile money, or the description. Search result cards also have Compare. Recommended cards may say Because you watch a category, From your activity on mr.bid, Similar to what you viewed, You started a deal or offer in a category, or Near you, when that is why they are on that rail. If a card has no Hot mark, sold count, or Verified mark, that listing does not have those events — nothing is invented.
What are Saved Searches & Alerts? Notify me of new matches keeps the current filters — keyword, category, city, price, and listing type. Sort order is not part of the saved search. The label is clipped to 80 characters of the keyword, category, city, or price line. Example: iPhone 15 Pro under GH₵10,000 in Accra. When a new matching listing goes live, the alert title is New iPhone 15 Pro listing matches your saved search, and email if mail is connected and you have not muted Other. An optional daily digest on My Account recaps shops and searches you follow. You can save up to 20 searches, including categories. Manage them on /saved-searches. Following still lists the same searches.
How do I follow a shop, category, or search? Follow seller on a shop page. Follow category on a category page. Notify me of new matches from Search, Auctions, Buy It Now, or a shop filter. Shops you follow ping you when they add a product, start an auction, or post a promotion. Categories and saved searches ping you when a new listing matches. Following is not a purchase and an alert is not a sale. Manage shops and categories on Following. Manage keyword alerts on Saved searches. Mute Other to stop those in-app and email alerts.
What is escrow? Request Escrow is optional. The button is marked Optional, and you can finish a deal without it. It asks mr.bid to provide manual escrow on that deal. It includes a mr.bid service fee of the item price (default 1.5%, set by staff on Admin → Settings or the escrow desk), paid to mr.bid — not taken from a wallet, and not the seller item payment. Staff review the conversation and stay involved until the buyer has received and inspected the item. When mr.bid is given the green light, the seller is paid by the method you already agreed. Payment secured stays locked until a licensed provider is connected.
Does mr.bid sell gift cards, airtime, or eSIM? Only when Super Admin turns ENABLE_DIGITAL_PRODUCTS on, plus the matching catalog flag (gift cards, airtime, eSIM). /digital lists staff SKUs. Requesting an item opens a staff queue. mr.bid does not charge a card and does not send a code until staff fulfill after off-platform confirmation. Instant delivery stays off until a payment provider is connected.
Why did Buy Now not message the seller again? If you already have an open deal on that listing, Buy Now reopens the same conversation. It does not ping the seller again unless you change how you want to pay.
Where is How mr.bid works? About is the company page — who mr.bid is, that it does not hold funds, and that App Store and Google Play apps are coming soon. It is not a second Buyer guide. Header How It Works and the homepage strip are the Buyer-guide preview (#how-it-works); the strip heading is Buyer guide. Help → Buyer guide is the full walkthrough. Seller fees is fee honesty, not a second Seller guide. Privacy is cookie and data copy. Terms and Community guidelines keep their own copy. Safety tips on /safety is the Safety walkthrough; Help → Safety questions is /help/safety. Contact is the ticket form. Report a listing and Dispute resolution explain those flows and link to Safety tips.
Where are the buyer and seller guides? Help Center opens onto Buyer, Seller, Auction, Account, and Safety questions. The homepage help strip lists the same five. Header How It Works jumps to the homepage Buyer-guide preview. Header and footer Safety tips both go to /safety (the walkthrough). Help → Safety questions is /help/safety — answers for that guide, with a link to the walkthrough. Search on Help finds member topics — how to buy, sell, bid, and use your account. Server setup (Redis, AUTH_SECRET, CI) is not in that search. Seller guide in the footer opens the selling walkthrough, not the full FAQ dump.
Is there an mr.bid app? The App Store and Google Play apps are coming soon. The footer Our apps marks say Coming soon and do not open a store listing. Use mr.bid in the browser. Some phones can add the site to the home screen. That is still the website, not a store app.