Russians began to actively purchase goods of brands that left Russia through intermediary buyers. In this respect Wrote The newspaper Izvestia, which refers to representatives of digital companies that collect advertisements for such services.
Avito told the newspaper that only a few hundred ads came from buyers in the first quarter of 2023, and now there are more than 13,000. The service also noted an increase in Russian demand to purchase goods from companies leaving Russia. Avito announced that in January-March 2023, tens of thousands of requests for buyers’ work were placed on Avito, compared to about 1,000 the previous year. At YouDo, demand for buyer services increased by 17% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022, a platform representative told the newspaper.
“Besides IKEA, brands such as Zara, Massimo Dutti, H&M, Uniqlo, Nike, and others are bought through buyers,” the article reads.
YouDo announced that Russians are ready to pay 5-25 thousand rubles for the services of buyers.
Leo Shevchenko, general manager of the Mercatus dealer school, noted that despite parallel imports, it is impossible to fully supply the entire range of the departing brands.
Experts interviewed by the newspaper also named the disadvantages of this method of purchasing goods from companies leaving Russia – a long wait for delivery and the possibility of encountering scammers and losing money.