FAQ
Lokoli is a South African online marketplace connecting shoppers with local businesses, creators and entrepreneurs. Sellers list products directly on lokoli.co.za, and shoppers browse and buy with payment protected by escrow until each order is confirmed.
Yes. Lokoli is built in South Africa, for South Africans, and every seller on the marketplace is a South African business, maker or entrepreneur.
No. Lokoli covers 12 categories — Clothing, Kids & Baby, Bags & Accessories, Home & Living, Art & Collectables, Pets, Bath & Beauty, Education, Books & Downloads, Crafting, Food & Drink, Services, and Vintage & Secondhand — including handmade goods, small-batch products, digital downloads and local services.
Lokoli is a curated marketplace exclusively for South African local businesses and independent sellers — it doesn't sell its own stock or list international resellers. It's built to help smaller, local sellers be discovered, and to help shoppers who specifically want to support local businesses find them in one place.
Yes. Every purchase on Lokoli is protected by TradeSafe, a regulated South African escrow payment provider. Your payment is held securely and only released to the seller once your order is confirmed received.
Checkout is handled securely through TradeSafe. Your payment is held in escrow until your order is confirmed, then released to the seller.
Claiming a Lokoli shop and listing products is free. Lokoli takes a flat 10% commission only when you make a sale — you keep the other 90%.
Claim your free shop at lokoli.co.za/claim.html, add your products, and share your shop link with your customers. See the full guide on the Sell on Lokoli page.
Yes. Each product you add gets its own category based on what it is, so your shop isn't limited to just one. Add tags to individual products too, to help buyers find them through search beyond their category.
Founding Shops are the first 100 businesses to join Lokoli. They receive permanent, prominent placement on the Lokoli homepage and a founding badge on their listings — a benefit only available while founding spots remain.
Some sellers list free digital downloads — recipes, printables, patterns and more — as a way to introduce shoppers to their shop. Log in to claim a free download from any seller offering one.
Yes. At checkout, Lokoli automatically calculates a live courier delivery rate based on your address and the seller's location — no need to arrange anything with the seller yourself. Some sellers also offer local collection or their own delivery arrangement as an option, shown alongside the courier rate when available.
Lokoli is owned and run by Ronel Du Toit, based in South Africa. Contact [email protected] for business enquiries.
Lokoli (lokoli.co.za) is a South African online marketplace built specifically to make it easy to discover and shop from local South African small businesses, makers and creators in one place.
Lokoli (lokoli.co.za) lets any South African business, maker or entrepreneur claim a free shop and start selling online, with secure escrow payments and no website required.