Online cattle market for Eid brings relief to buyers

Online cattle markets have grown quite popular among people to buy and sell cattle for the Eid-ul-Azha Korbani ritual.

Customers say they prefer to buy cattle from home and avoid the hassle of overcrowded markets.

The online markets have responded to the increasing demand by providing to a wide range of sacrificial animals at various price points.

After browsing several online sites, this bdnews24.com found various photographs, video clips and details of Korbani cattle available for sale online. In addition to selling the animals themselves, some sites also specified a designated place for the sacrifice and the services of a butcher.

Bikroy.com, an online storefront, first began advertising Korbani sales in 2012 before eventually starting sales in 2015.

The site has published advertisements for cows ranging from Tk 65,000 to Tk 2.2 million along with free delivery, said Bikroy.com Head of Marketing Ishita Sharmin.

“Buying cattle online has slowly grown more popular. This year’s sales doubled those of last year,” Sharmin told bdnews24.com.

“Many customers are busy and can’t go to the markets. In many families the member of the household who usually buys cattle is living abroad. Some of the buyers complain of exorbitant prices while others say they are concerned about purchasing cattle raised on artificial hormones. So they pick us to opt out of such troubles.”

More than 3,000 sacrificial cattle ‘raised in a completely organic way’ at different farms are available on Bikroy.com, said Ishita.

Bengal Meat, a meat processing company, has offered more than 400 cows for sale, and all of them have been booked in advance, said Bengal Meat Head of Marketing H U M Mehdi Sazzad.

“The price of Korbani cattle differs based on demand and supply of in the local markets, causing inefficiencies and losses to both the buyer and the seller. Cattle fattened through artificial means cannot be sacrificed during the Korbani. This has raised the demand for cattle raised in farms,” he said.

Bengal Meat has sold cows at prices ranging from Tk 50,000 to Tk 300,000.

Palli Sanchay Bank’s e-commerce initiative is selling locally-raised cattle in its online cattle market ‘Palli Qurbani Haat’.

The prices of goats range from Tk 13,000 to Tk 28,000 depending on the species while prices of cows range between Tk 50,000 to Tk 300,000 on the market.

Prices on other online platforms like clickBD, amardeshbd range between Tk 10,000 to Tk 15,000.

“There’s no hidden cost in online markets like the ‘hasil’ in local markets. The delivery is free and the price is fixed beforehand, leaving no scope for haggling,” said Ishita Sharmin in response to complaints that online storefront prices were higher than at local markets.

Zahidur Rahman Sujan, working in a private company plans to buy his sacrificial cattle online. “I’ll be celebrating Eid in Dhaka, but all of my relatives live outside of Dhaka. It isn’t possible for me to go to the cattle market alone, so I will buy it online,” he said.