Why we verify
The single biggest reason South African online marketplaces struggle to earn consumer trust is that anyone can register in five seconds and disappear the same day. SAFM is a curated marketplace — every designer you see on the storefront has gone through a two-step verification loop with our compliance team before their products are visible to the public.
This is a burden the platform carries so that our customers can shop with the same confidence they'd have walking into a physical concept store in Sandton or Kloof.
What you'll upload
On your onboarding page (/vendor-dashboard after signup), you must upload two files:
- CIPC Registration Certificate — PDF, up to 5 MB. This is the official certificate from the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission proving that your company is a registered legal entity (Pty) Ltd, CC or sole proprietor with a tax reference.
- Studio Tour Video — MP4, MOV or WEBM, up to 30 MB. A 60-90 second phone-shot walkthrough of your actual cutting / sewing space. It does not have to be beautiful, it just has to be real.
What the admin looks at
Our admin queue receives your onboarding submission the moment both files upload successfully. A reviewer opens the CIPC PDF, reads the studio-tour video captions and watches it end-to-end, and then either Approves you (which unlocks the product listing UI) or Rejects with a specific written reason (which you receive as an in-app notification and can act on by re-uploading corrected documents).
Turnaround time is typically 2-3 business days. We do not queue-jump for any vendor.
Once you're approved
Approved vendors immediately gain access to:
- Product listing CRUD — create, edit and delete your own garments. Each product requires a title, description, gender, department, sub-category, minimum one image URL, price in ZAR, stock count, local + national shipping fees, and the list of tailor measurements you need from customers.
- Order Stream — every incoming customer order with the buyer's delivery address, tailor measurements, chosen shipping type and your exact payout figure.
- Ship-with-tracking — mark orders Shipped by entering a tracking number. The customer is notified in-app immediately.
- Escrow ledger — see your Pending escrow balance (funds held pending delivery confirmation) and your Total earnings (funds released and available for withdrawal).
Ongoing conduct expectations
Being approved is not a lifetime pass. SAFM reserves the right to un-approve vendors who repeatedly ship late, ignore customer messages, use stock imagery in place of their own product photography, or receive a pattern of disputes we cannot resolve in their favour. Un-approval preserves already-released funds but freezes the pending escrow ledger while we settle open orders.
Fees, taxes and payouts
SAFM retains 15% of every garment subtotal as platform commission. This is a flat rate — there are no hidden per-listing fees, no monthly subscription, no featured-slot upsell. Shipping fees you charge the customer are passed to you at 100%. All figures are ZAR-only and computed server-side to two decimal places.
Your Total Earnings ledger is a book-entry balance. Withdrawal to your bank account is currently manual (we EFT you on invoice) — automatic payout is on the Phase 5 roadmap.