CropBid
Questions

Frequently asked questions

How buying, selling and getting paid actually work on CropBid. If your question isn't here, write to us at info@cropbid.in and we'll answer it.

Buying for your home

Ordering a few kilos for the kitchen.

Which cities do you deliver to?

Household delivery runs in Nagpur only for now. Fresh food does not travel well across a state and a few kilos cannot be freighted economically, so we only show you shops that can actually reach you. The wholesale side of CropBid, where lots move by the tonne, works across India.

How soon will my order arrive?

It depends who you buy from, and every shop says which it is before you add anything. A local shop is already holding the stock near you and delivers the same day. A farm picks your order after you place it and sends it in overnight, so it reaches you the next morning. If your basket has both, it arrives as two deliveries and the cart tells you so before you pay.

What is the smallest amount I can buy?

Half a kilo. Everything on the shop side is priced and sold by the kilogram, and the quantity picker moves in 500 g steps, so you can buy 500 g of chillies without taking on a sack. There is no minimum order: delivery is free on ₹200 or more from a shop, and ₹30 for that shop’s order below ₹200. The quintal and tonne prices you may see elsewhere on CropBid are the wholesale market, which is a different part of the site.

Why does the same vegetable cost different amounts at different shops?

Because each shop sets its own price on its own stock, exactly as it does on the street. CropBid does not average those into a single price for a product, and you browse by shop rather than by item so you can see the difference and choose. What a shop paid, how fresh the stock is and what it costs them to hold it all show up in that number.

Can I cancel an order?

Yes, yourself, until the shop marks it as on the way. Open the order on the website or in the app and cancel it there. It calls off everything you bought from that shop in that order, because it comes as one delivery, and anything you have paid comes back to you including the delivery charge. After the shop has sent it you cannot cancel: the produce has been picked for you. A shop can also cancel before it sends an order if it cannot fulfil it, and has to tell you why.

When do I pay, and what if the order never turns up?

You pay after placing the order, and CropBid holds the money rather than passing it straight on. The seller only becomes due their share once you confirm the delivery arrived. If it never arrives, do not confirm it: the money stays held, and you can report the problem to us.

Selling on CropBid

Farmers, local shops and wholesalers.

How do farmers sell crops on CropBid?

Sellers apply first: farmers, local shops and wholesalers submit an application with their location, licence numbers and payout details, and CropBid reviews it before the account can trade. Once approved, a seller lists the crop with quantity, quality grade and an asking price. Buyers place bids; the farmer accepts, rejects or counters. The listing can also be run as a live timed auction, or handed to an AI agent that negotiates within price limits the farmer sets. Live government mandi rates sit alongside every listing so both sides negotiate against the same reference price.

Can I sell to households as well as to bulk buyers?

Yes, from the same listing. A lot can be open for bidding by businesses and also carry a retail price for households buying by the kilo. The stock is shared, so anything sold direct comes off what a bulk buyer can bid for, and the listing closes when it runs out.

How long does seller approval take?

Applications are reviewed by a person, usually within 24 to 48 hours. Until an application is approved the account can sign in and look around but cannot list stock or trade. If something is missing we send the application back with a note saying what is needed rather than rejecting it.

Money and pricing

Fees, escrow and where the rates come from.

How does payment work on CropBid?

Once a price is agreed the buyer pays through Razorpay and the money is held by CropBid rather than passed straight on. The crop then ships. When the buyer confirms delivery the deal is marked settled and the seller is due their money less our 2% fee. That transfer is made by us separately and is not instant, so allow several working days for it to reach the seller’s bank. Until a buyer confirms, nothing is owed to anyone: the buyer is protected against non-delivery and the seller against non-payment.

Does it cost anything to join CropBid?

Creating an account, listing crops and checking mandi rates are free; CropBid charges a flat 2% only when a deal settles. Households also pay ₹30 for delivery on a shop’s order under ₹200. You sign up with your name, an email address or phone number, and a password, and sign in with the same, or on the website, continue with your Google account instead. CropBid is available in English, Hindi and Marathi.

What are live mandi rates and where do they come from?

Mandi rates are the daily wholesale prices set at India’s regulated APMC markets. CropBid pulls them from government data covering more than 4,600 mandis and shows them free, so a farmer can see what a crop is actually fetching nearby before agreeing to any price. They are a reference price, not what you pay at a shop: a retail price includes handling, delivery and the shop’s own margin on top.

Who buys on CropBid?

Buyers of every size use the same exchange — restaurants and cafés, small food businesses, wholesalers, food processors, FMCG companies, exporters and retailers buying in bulk, alongside individual consumers buying household quantities direct from the seller. Business buyers apply and are reviewed the same way sellers are.

Your account

Signing in, languages and your data.

I did not get my sign-in code. What now?

Codes go to WhatsApp first and fall back to email if we cannot reach your number there. A code lasts a few minutes, and you can ask for another after a short wait. If neither arrives, check that the number on your account is the one you are typing, and write to info@cropbid.in if it still does not come through.

Can I sign in with Google?

Yes, on the website: choose Continue with Google in the sign-in window, and you are signed in, or a new account is made for you, with no password to remember. If your Google email already belongs to a CropBid account, the first time you use Google it opens that account, and the password set on it before then stops working, because we cannot tell who set it. You can choose a new one with Forgot password, and a password you set after that keeps working. An account already linked to a different Google account cannot be opened this way: sign in with its password if it has one, or write to info@cropbid.in. A suspended account cannot be signed in to at all; write to info@cropbid.in. The phone app does not offer Google sign-in yet.

Do I need an email address?

No. You can sign up with a phone number instead, because many farmers do not have an email address. Without an email we cannot send you a password-reset link, so if you forget your password, sign in with a code sent to your phone instead.

How do I delete my account and what happens to my data?

You can delete your account from Settings. If you have no settled trades, the account and its data are deleted outright. If you do have settled trades we cannot erase a completed transaction the other party is equally entitled to, so we anonymise instead: your name, phone number, location, photo and bank details are removed, your login is permanently disabled, and the transaction survives with no personal details attached. The privacy policy sets this out in full.

Still stuck?

Mail us and a person will reply. For how the whole flow fits together, the step-by-step walkthrough goes deeper than this page does.