When it comes to side hustles, South Africans are favouring the second-hand industry, especially apparel. According to Mobility Foresight, the local apparel resale market alone is projected to hit $17,9 billion by 2031. This is being driven by South Africans trying to keep up with the economy through an extra income, and the growth of online marketplaces.
There are various online marketplaces in South Africa, such as Yaga and the Facebook Marketplace. But one local marketplace is bringing artificial intelligence (AI) to its platform to help sellers with professional-grade tools; it’s called Uhuru Marketplace (Uhuru).
What is Uhuru Marketplace?
Uhuru Marketplace is a peer-to-peer AI-powered marketplace designed to reduce the barrier to entry for South Africans selling second-hand tools and services to the local market. The platform provides a professional, customisable, AI-embedded marketplace to anyone with a mobile phone and an idea, simplifying the seller journey and amplifying access to a growing second-hand buyer market.
“The name Uhuru is Swahili for freedom, and that’s exactly what this platform is designed for – freedom to sell, shop with confidence, and earn on their own terms,” says Shaheen Price, CEO and Founder, Uhuru Marketplace.
How Uhuru Marketplace Works
Much like other online marketplaces, Uhuru is a simple platform with an easy sign-up process.
Sellers
For sellers, the freemium model gives sellers access to the core marketplace. A subscription tier (called the plus tier) at R99 per month opens up the full suite of AI tools, including the image cleaner, quality scoring, description guidance, and pricing intelligence.
Buyers
Buyers can pick an item, add it to their cart and proceed through the checkout process. The money for the purchase is held securely in Uhuru’s account until the item reaches the buyer. Once the buyer receives the item, they will click “item received”, and then the funds will be released to the seller.
Both buyers and sellers can earn rewards through the platform’s loyalty programme, with more than 60 partner brands confirmed, including Pick ‘n Pay, Checkers, and Nando’s. Additionally, buyers and sellers can split fees between them to reduce the cost burden on buyers.
How Uhuru is Leveraging AI
Uhuru leverages AI on different levels, with most of it dedicated to helping sellers perfect their listings. Where other platforms expect sellers to manage photography, pricing and content on their own, Uhuru has an embedded AI assistant that works directly with sellers throughout the listing process.
How AI Works on Uhuru
When a seller uploads an item on Uhuru, they are provided with guided, AI-assisted listing tools. The tools do the following:
- Image-cleaning: The image-cleaning tool removes cluttered or distracting backgrounds automatically, producing the clean white background that professional product photography delivers without the cost.
- AI Description Assistant: The AI assistant analyses the item and recommends the best way to write the listing to maximise buyer engagement.
- AI Score: Each completed listing is scored by an AI quality checker out of 100 with an itemised breakdown of what elements are reducing the score, so sellers can apply the improvements quickly and easily.
- Pricing: The AI benchmarking tool compares each listing against comparable items and recommends a price range, guiding sellers towards market value.
Fees Breakdown
Although the platform has free and paid tiers, there are other ways to break down the costs.
- Six-month breakdown: R540 for six months at R90 per month
- 12-month breakdown: R960 for 12 months at R80 per month
- Platform fee structure: 5% platform fee per sale on the free tier, 3% platform fee on the plus tier.
“Most people have clothes they don’t wear and things in their house they don’t use. A lot of it is still good and in working condition. This platform gives you the tools to turn that into income without needing to know anything about photography, pricing, or marketing,” explains Price.
Virtual Try-On for Buyers
For buyers, the platform offers a try-on functionality, which is a virtual outfit builder that lets buyers see how any item on the platform would look on them, across the full range of categories, including tops, dresses, skirts, swimwear, shoes, socks, and hats.
Buyers can upload images of items from their existing wardrobe and combine them with listings on the platform, effectively asking the question most buyers ask in a physical store: does this new piece work with what I already own? The answer is now available before checkout, not after delivery.
How to Join Uhuru Marketplace as a Seller
Here are the steps to follow to join Uhuru as a seller.
Step 1: Sign-up on Uhuru
The first thing you need to do is sign-up on the platform. You will need to provide your email address and choose a unique password. You will also be asked to select the type of account you want to start; this can be a buyer or seller account, or both.
Step 2: Complete Your Profile
The second step involves completing your seller profile. You will need to provide the following:
- Shop name
- Shop website (automatically generated from your shop name)
- Instagram handle
- Province and city (optional)
- Shop description
- E-mail address
Step 3: Customise Your Shop
Here you customise how your shop looks to buyers. You will be able to customise the following elements:
- Choose a pre-designed theme for your shop
- Display mode (choose between light, dark or auto mode)
- Transition speed of themes
- Shipping time
- Brand colours customisation
- Customise welcome animation colours
- The layout style of your products
Step 3: Create Your Listings
Now you can create your listings. You will need to provide images for each item (up to 6 images), all with clear backgrounds. Each item will need a description, and you must disclose any wear and tear.
Additionally, you will need to set a price for the item. You can use the auto price drop feature, which automatically reduces the displayed price after a set number of days to help move your item faster.
Lastly, you will need to list your item under a main category, choosing from categories such as ‘women’, ‘men’, ‘beauty’ or ‘homeware’, amongst others. Following that, you will need to choose the item condition (either new, like new, good or fair) and the delivery method.
The AI quality checker can be used at the end and will give you a score on each listing as well as recommendations for improvement.
Entrepreneurs need to leverage online marketplaces to access a large customer base, increase sales and make steady revenue.
