You ever wanted something on sites like Amazon or eBay but you’ve been scared away because of the shipping fees? Usually, the shipping fees are more expensive than the thing you’ve actually bought which makes for a terrible.
It costs more to ship the thing over to Zimbabwe than it does to actually buy. Therein lies the problem. As long as shipping is that expensive then people simply won’t buy online.
PS: A previous version of this article referred to Gizmo Tech Store as ZimBid. This was a name they used before but switched. Apologies for the mistake
This is where Gizmo Tech Store enters. Gizmo Tech Store is a company that acts as a middleman and reduces that shipping fee when you need shipping services. Overall, however, they have actually connected with suppliers to reduce the cost at which they sell their tech items – making them cheaper than some other online stores.
They are also an authorised UGREEN Dealer. UGREEN makes accessories like chargers, power banks, truly wireless headphones, chargers and more. One of Gizmo Tech Store’s representatives also mentioned that they are working to acquire similar dealership licences with other brands.
A fellow workmate of mine and I have used the store to buy a number of gadgets and this is how our experience went.
The orders we make best illustrate why I felt it was necessary to review Gizmo Tech Store. Here’s how much we spent:
Order 1
| Item | Retail Price (US$) + Shipping | Gizmo Tech Store price (US$) | Deposit (US$) | |
| Huawei Freebuds 3 | Freebuds = $116 Shipping not available | $160 | ||
| Lexar 1TB NVMe SSD | Lexar SSD = $115 Shipping = $126.42 Total = $241.41 | $160 | ||
| Total (US$) | *$398 | $320 | Total (US$) | $40 |
*price will be much higher if we include shipping for the Huawei Buds
Order 2
| Item | Retail Price (US$) + Shipping | Gizmo Tech Store price (US$) | Deposit (US$) | |
| Thrustmaster T80 Ferrari Edition 488GTB (PS4) | T80 = $99 Shipping =$270 | $190 | ||
| Total | $369 | $190 | Total | $20 |
Order 3
| Item | Gizmo Tech Store price (US$) | Total (US$) | Deposit (US$) |
| HP Envy 17t battery | $58 | ||
| Lexar 512GB NVMe SSD | $160 | ||
| Ugreen NVMe SSD enclosure | $20 | ||
| $240 | $84 |
* We’re not sure of the retail price+shipping costs of these items as Gizmo Tech Store was provided with a list of names and not links
From these 3 orders, it’s pretty clear that the Gizmo Tech Store option whilst not inexpensive was actually far better than what just buying straight from Amazon and relying on their shipping fees would end up costing.
The buying process
In the case of my colleague, he sent Gizmo Tech Store a list of the products (on two occasions – order 1 & 3) he wanted. Gizmo Tech Store quoted him the price and collected the upfront deposit highlighted in the tables above.
In one of his orders, there was a mixup but Gizmo Tech Store addressed the situation within a fortnight.
For my order, it took 20 days to get the racing wheel at my doorstep and there weren’t any issues or challenges I faced.
The money we used to buy these gadgets was our own and so there was obviously a lot of risks associated with giving the funds to a dishonest service provider. Thankfully, Gizmo Tech Store has delivered a good service on 3 different occasions. If you’re interested in getting in touch with them to buy something online, you WhatsApp them on 0717554924 or visit their site. -techzim