In the past I’ve been referred to as a Facebook Fiend, a Facebook Pirate, I’m going to become an Ebay whore once my new bank card arrives and if Amazon bothered delivering anything meaningful to deepest, darkest Africa, then I’d be an Amazon slut too.

So I like buying things online, only because South Africa is generally useless at stocking anything in it’s stores. Nudie Jeans, Fudge hair products and American Crew hair products are some of the things that keep me alive, but I have to order them online. I’ve used Kalahari.net plenty of times although I find their affiliate program for website owners bordering on useless (Although I hear that will change soon-ish) So the launch of their new trading platform is quite exciting then!

Here are the edited details from the press release:

The new and used platform was launched as part of the kalahari.net website in February this year.  It already boasts more than 500 000 products for sale and the company expects this number to double by the end of the year.  The launch categories include books, CDs, DVDs and games.

“Books, CDs, DVDs and games remain the most popular online purchases for South Africans, probably because they are low-cost items that people have become used to buying online.  Also, people trust the credible websites that they purchase these on, like kalahari.net.  The launch of our marketplace allows online users to sell their new or used products on a platform that has an enormous database of existing customers and that is safe and easy to use. We are really excited about the massive growth that we’ve seen since the launch in February,” says Gary Novitzkas, general manager for kalahari.net.

Not only is kalahari.net offering individuals and companies a fun and almost addictive way to dispose of their unwanted novels, textbooks, cookbooks, CDs, DVDs and games as a way to make extra cash, but it has also created the enterprise tools that allow companies to upload their entire inventory.  This means that a little book shop in the Karoo is no longer hampered by its location and a high-street shop is now able to launch an instant out-of-the-box internet offering.

“It is the perfect solution for creating a successful online business, especially since we already have the customers and their trust,” continues Novitzkas.

How the trading platform works:

kalahari.net has made the upload process really simple.  Sellers register and their banking details are verified.  Once this step is complete, they upload their products by entering the name of the book, DVD, CD or game or by entering the ISBN number on the product.  The system searches for the product and once found, the seller nominates a price that he or she would like to sell the item for, as well as the delivery method (courier or postal service). Once uploaded, the item is automatically live on the kalahari.net website.

A buyer browsing kalahari.net has the option of buying a new item or a new or used item from registered sellers on kalahari.net’s new marketplace.  If the buyer selects the used item, the money paid by the buyer is held in kalahari.net’s escrow account until the buyer confirms receipt of the purchase.  Once this is done, the money is paid directly into the sellers bank account.

What makes kalahari.net’s marketplace different is that it holds the buyers funds in an escrow account until the buyer received the product and confirms that it is in the condition that the seller advertised. Unlike other websites, once a product is purchased it is automatically removed from the website, which means that the only products that customers see are those which are actively available.

Although there are currently no fees charged on kalahari.net, it will introduce nominal success fees on sales in September this year.

I think that’s an awesome idea wjereby smaller shops can upload their entire inventory online. Obviously this is great for local markets, and if you’re keen on selling to the international market, check out Ebay. Think of something that you cannot get overseas, but would want if you were there…with the favourable exchange rate, there is a huge market on Ebay for goods from South Africa. Everything is just cheaper from here, and if you have a good product, you can sell it on Ebay, creating your own online store. Just saying…

It would also be quite rad if we could sell illegal stuff online. Like people. And narcotics.

I mean, how many books do we need to sell to buy a house? CRACK on the other hand…well I suppose we could sell meths and loaves of bread. But our target market don’t really have internet. And you can buy meths and bread around the corner.

DAMMIT why is business so difficult!

Click here for the Kalahari.net Marketplace.

(Thanks Tarryn & Stacy)