What is Wildberries and how does it work?

Wildberries is an online marketplace that connects buyers with suppliers from all over the world. Suppliers list their products on the platform, and buyers can browse and purchase them directly.

How does order processing work on Wildberries?

Order processing on Wildberries is actually easier than on other marketplaces. Suppliers can save their data in a draft and then finalize the order when they're ready.

What happens if my goods are lost or stolen?

Unfortunately, there have been instances of lost or stolen goods on Wildberries. If this happens, suppliers should contact customer support immediately to report the issue and work towards a resolution.

How does customer support work on Wildberries?

Customer support on Wildberries is lacking, which can make it difficult to resolve issues. Suppliers should be prepared to handle issues on their own or contact support directly.

What are the terms of service like on Wildberries?

The terms of service on Wildberries can change rapidly, which can be frustrating for suppliers. Suppliers should be prepared to adapt to new terms and conditions as they arise.

How does the payment system work on Wildberries?

The payment system on Wildberries can be a bit tricky. Suppliers should be prepared for potential delays or lost revenue if issues arise with the payment system.

What happens if I'm forced to participate in a promotion?

Some suppliers have reported being forced to participate in certain promotions on Wildberries. If this happens, suppliers should contact customer support to report the issue and work towards a resolution.

How does Wildberries handle technical issues?

Wildberries is prone to technical issues, which can cause downtime and lost sales. Suppliers should be prepared to adapt to technical issues as they arise.

What is the return policy like on Wildberries?

The return policy on Wildberries can be a bit confusing. Suppliers should be prepared to handle returns and refunds according to the platform's policies.

How do I get customer support on Wildberries?

Unfortunately, customer support on Wildberries can be a bit lacking. Suppliers should be prepared to handle issues on their own or contact support directly.

Wildberries Review: Is it Worth the Chaos?

Hello there!

I've been using Wildberries for a while now, and I've gotta say, my experience has been a wild ride. There's been some good stuff, some bad stuff, and some just plain crazy stuff.

Over the years, I've worked with over 30 suppliers, each with their own product groups. The reason everyone wants to be on this platform is simple: the popularity of the Wildberries marketplace among buyers is huge.

Official website

Wildberries partners seller.wildberries.ru➡ Supplies. Order processing, acceptance, and packagingLet's talk about the good stuff first. Order processing on Wildberries is actually easier than on Ozon or Yandex Market. The data is saved in a draft, which you can continue from later. It's all step-by-step, even a beginner can handle it.

Wildberries' acceptance process, on the other hand, is a bit of a lottery. You pay for acceptance on days when it's supposed to be free, the speed of unpacking goods, the final storage location, and daily shipping queues during peak season - I've had to deal with all of this and more.

They brought it to Kolpino, supposedly to get it to Moscow quickly, but they might send it to St. Petersburg without your knowledge.

Now, let's get to the elephant in the room – returns and refunds. I've had my fair share of experiences with this, and I want to share them with you.

Partnered with seller.wildberries.ruFrom my own experience, the warehouse might not accept your order, and it'll be sent back to you as a generic item. I've seen this happen multiple times, and the last big return was in August 2023 – 177 items were sent back. The partner re-labeled the items themselves, but didn't notify the supplier or me, and they didn't scan them either. The labels were barely readable, and it was a mistake on our part.

I've also seen some major issues with returns in the past. In January 2023, the warehouse in Krasnodar broke down, and two shipments totaling over 1000 items were sent back. No explanation was given, and, of course, the partner didn't compensate us for anything. To make matters worse, they not only kept the return fee for each item but also charged us for re-labeling and new logistics to get the items back to them. I'm not even going to get into the sales issues.

➡ Prices and Promotions

The calendar of promotions is always available and never takes a break – 365 days a year.

Partnered with seller.wildberries.ruItems are constantly being pushed from one promotion to another. If you want to participate, they'll give you a discount – if not, they'll increase the commission, remove the items from sale, lower the SPP, reduce the number of pages in search results, and so on. Everything I mentioned is not just my imagination, but real tools used by the partner to encourage sellers to participate in promotions.

Partnered with seller.wildberries.ruI've gotta say, Ozon has never used tactics like this before - they've only limited shipping to certain warehouses when you're not participating.

Partnered with seller.wildberries.ruRecently, Ozon introduced an auto-participation feature in their sales - where products automatically get discounted when announced. Doesn't matter if you're on vacation or the whole country is on a weekend - just make sure to check the sales, or you'll end up participating in every single one.

➡ Customer Reviews

People are all different, and it's great when you get a product that exceeds your expectations and you're genuinely thrilled. Thanks for the reviews, it's nice to read the positive ones and see the silent ratings from all the sellers who appreciate their customers who take the time to leave comments.

It's way easier to share your negative experiences when someone's let you down before you even receive the product. Add to this the mistakes in receiving, mix-ups during assembly, substitutions, and theft of more expensive items or parts of the set (we often get cheaper items in our packages, and the receiving team doesn't check when returning, resulting in us getting this kind of negative feedback). The example below shows customers assigning part of a swimsuit.

Partnered with seller.wildberries.ruI'm not surprised the customer got upset. The issue lies with the marketplace staff, not the customer. One of the staff members assembled the product, another took a substitute, and now I'm left with a negative review that'll scare off future buyers.

From my end, I've already approved the customer's return and now I'm stuck with someone else's product to deal with.

Partnered with seller.wildberries.ruAs for resolving the issue, there's no way to communicate directly with the customer, aside from the chat support. No personal details are allowed, no emails, no phone numbers for exchanging or returning products. All that's left is a heavenly punishment. Partnered with seller.wildberries.ruCustomer questions

I love it when customers ask specific questions about sizing, product availability, and other relevant details. It shows they're interested in getting things right, and I'm always happy to help. No need to send them to the size chart for me to figure out.

Partnered with seller.wildberries.ruI've had a lot of questions about returns, but unfortunately, we can't see your money. If you've taken the product, we'll add it to your balance on Monday. If you've returned the product, we'll hold onto it and return it to you.

We don't have a function to return your money in any form. And, honestly, angry reviews with one star or questions won't help us resolve the issue.

➡ Fines

This is my favorite part. With suppliers who did influencer marketing and sent direct traffic to Wildberries, sometimes they'd get hit with a fine. In that case, Wildberries would simply issue a UPP (Unified Payment Document) for the requested amount and hold onto it in the next accounting period, without any evidence or confirmation. So, even the list of articles with unauthorized traffic and dates aren't provided, nor is the reasoning behind the fine. It's all spelled out differently in the offer, of course.

So, Wildberries just takes it and writes it off. On my experience, I've seen fines of up to 40,000 rubles (which they later returned after a couple of weeks), and 100,000 rubles for three weeks straight when the constant traffic from influencers fell under banned promotion mechanisms. The supplier would prepare a lawsuit and then resolve it through lawyers.

Partnered with seller.wildberries.ruI've had my fair share of weird issues with Wildberries, but this one takes the cake. I tried setting up a new balance for daily withdrawals, with a limit on the amount from the previous period. We tested this for two weeks, and it worked like a charm – no extra fees or weird charges. We were withdrawing the same amount every day that we would have withdrawn weekly, and the figures were spot on.

But then, on a Monday, I logged in to check our financial reports – and our balance was minus 21 million. Apparently, Wildberries was holding us back for that amount, and they wanted us to keep paying it off until our balance hit zero. I was freaking out, to be honest!I reached out to my supplier, and they were super helpful. They escalated the issue to their support team, and after a bit of back-and-forth, they finally returned our positive balance. Whew!

➡️ The great content theft

I've had some issues with Wildberries that set them apart from Ozon, where you can just send the sources to support and they'll block the card with stolen content. We've had our photos copied more than once, and support doesn't even bother to investigate - their response is always the same, and there's no resolution. It's just a bunch of nonsense.

Wildberries partners on seller.wildberries.ru➡ Seller's cabinet

I've been a seller on Wildberries for over 5 years, and they've given me access to my account to manage my cabinet. But about a year ago, they decided to introduce paid registration, and suddenly all the old cabinets without sales were deleted. No warning, no consent, just gone. Now you have to pay to re-register - nice move.

➡ Returns

I've seen some crazy things.

Dresses returned with deodorant stains, toner marks, and a strong smell of sweat after proms.

Swimsuits returned after a couple of weeks with nose marks.

Kids' bodysuits that are either stained or dirty.

And don't even get me started on the resellers - they send back similar products from other suppliers, or even completely different items from other categories. We're stuck paying 230 rubles for delivery of this nonsense to our warehouse. Our staff picks it up, and it's someone else's product. We didn't sell it, and they don't need it. And Wildberries will still charge us for the mistake. Comments without profanity are not welcome here.

Up until recently, sellers weren't protected either - until the compensation for misrepresentation and stricter return procedures were introduced in the platform. At least now, we get to see photos of the swimsuits before approval, so we can assess the return item's appearance.

➡ What I do as an analyst

Alongside the managerial functions across all sections - from searching for products to purchase to exporting to one page, I also handle:

- Analyzing stock levels on the MP and distributing them across warehouses

- Analyzing stock levels at the supplier's warehouse and preparing a specification for production

- Analyzing ABC, XYZ using the product matrix

- Analyzing competitors

- Working with analytics services like MPstats and Eggheads Solutions

I occasionally conduct training for newbies and consult on various topics (comparing niches on WB and OZON, and working conditions, finance report issues, card optimization, preparing a specification for a photographer and designer, even label designs)

➡ My take on VB

➕ The pros of working here

1. Fast logistics. In Moscow, the platform has warehouses almost everywhere, and the distribution network covers the entire country, making it possible to deliver goods to even the most remote regions.

2. A vast product catalog. Although there are restricted categories - partially (for example, syringes can only be shipped via FBS) or completely (e-cigarettes and hookahs have been removed from circulation), there's still a vast array of clothing, shoes, health and wellness products, home goods, auto parts, and more.

Having all this in one place is awesome.

I've been using Wildberries for a while now, and I've got to say, their travel feature is really powerful. It's great to be able to book flights, hotels, and even find a photographer or tour guide all in one place, without having to use extra services.

➖ Minus points

1. Lack of decent customer support. I've been trying to get help with a delivery issue, but I've had no response. And when it comes to fines, they just ignore me.

I used to work with a supplier chat in Telegram, where hundreds of sellers would try to get help every day. But did they ever get any assistance? Nope, they just shut down the chat.

The responses I get are just generic templates, without anyone actually reading my message.

2. Constant changes to fees, terms, and conditions. It's like they're changing everything every day without warning. Unlike Ozon, which gives you a heads up on price changes and contract updates, Wildberries just does it without telling you. One day, you're looking at your dashboard, and suddenly there's a new offer, and a bunch of other changes.

I'm talking about the example on November 2nd - they changed the offer, the promotion, and the fees all in one day. You need to be a super-attentive manager to keep up with all these changes.

Wildberries partners seller.wildberries.ru3. The calendar of promotions.

When I dig deeper, I can find even more pros and cons. It seems like everyone around me wants to make a quick buck or get sucked into the VK ad craze, spending four hours a day filling out cards and earning a measly hundred bucks.

Wildberries sellers on VKThe only good thing about all this chaos on the marketplace is that sellers like me, who are experts in operation, are needed. We can delegate tasks, free up our time, and avoid getting bogged down in the mess. So, VK, thanks for the job, but for the portal's implementation and all the above, I'm giving you two stars!

Good luck to everyone working with the portal, and patience during these crazy times! If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments or DM me.

Best, Gerastikez ❤️