How to Sell Online in South Africa: Honest Guide

Most advice on how to sell online in South Africa either pushes dropshipping or ranks platforms without asking what you sell. The useful question is where you should sell, given your products and your customers. There are three main routes: a marketplace like Takealot, social selling through Instagram, WhatsApp or Facebook, or your own online store. Each wins in different situations, and many sellers end up using more than one.

I build and run WooCommerce stores, so the own-store part of this is first-hand. The marketplace and social figures come from the platforms and from South African sellers.

Where to sell online in South Africa: the three routes

• Marketplace: you list on someone else's platform and borrow its shoppers. Fast to start, but you pay fees on every sale, and what customer details you get and how you may contact buyers depends on each marketplace's seller terms.
• Social selling: you sell through your Instagram, WhatsApp or Facebook audience and arrange payment yourself. Almost free to start, but hard to scale.
• Your own store: a website you control, with checkout, data and margins that are yours. More setup and you must bring your own traffic.

The market is there. Xero's South African guide, citing Statistics South Africa, reports that retail e-commerce income grew from R37.4 billion to R86.8 billion between 2018 and 2022 ^[1]. Online buying is no longer a niche habit, so the question is less whether to sell online and more which route gives you the best margin and control.

Which one fits depends on three things: whether your products are commodities that shoppers search marketplaces for, or branded and visual products people discover through social media; how your customers prefer to pay; and whether you want to own the customer relationship.

Marketplaces: renting Takealot's audience

A marketplace wins when your product is something people already search for, you have no audience yet, and you do not want to build anything. Takealot is the obvious one, and it is not free: Takealot charges a monthly subscription of R400 per seller account ^[5], checked on 4 October 2026. One South African seller summed up the rest as a commission of between 5% and 18% on every sale, plus fulfilment, storage and logistics costs that can exceed R50 per product ^[6].

There are smaller, niche marketplaces too, such as Hello Pretty for local craft and design ^[2], each with its own commission and terms. The trade-off to check on any marketplace is how much of the customer relationship you get under its seller terms, and how its fees can change. I go deeper into that choice in selling on Takealot vs your own store.

Social selling: Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook

Social selling wins early on, for visual or impulse products, and for testing demand before you invest in anything. In its simplest form, you post for free, take orders in messages, and arrange payment and courier yourself.

The payment gap is easier to close than it used to be. Yoco Payment Links let you get paid without a website by sharing a link on WhatsApp, Instagram or email ^[4], and Yoco charges 2.55% to 2.95% excluding VAT per online transaction with no monthly fee ^[4].

The limit is time. Once you are answering the same price and stock questions all day and tracking orders in chats, you have outgrown it. I compare the two directly in Instagram shop vs your own online store.

Your own online store: owning the whole thing

Your own store wins when you have a brand, repeat customers or a product range that a listing cannot show well. WooCommerce, which I use for my own store and for clients such as discreet420 and Brother Elite SA, describes itself as giving you full control of your checkout, your data and your costs, and it is free to download ^[9].

The honest downside: a new store starts with no visitors. Nobody finds it unless you send them there through Google, social media, WhatsApp or existing customers, and you carry hosting, updates and security. If this is your route, the step-by-step is in how to start an online store in South Africa.

“A marketplace gives you customers today. Your own store gives you customers you keep.”

What each route actually costs

What you pay depends on how customers pay. Card and Instant EFT through a gateway carry processing fees, direct bank transfers can carry bank charges, and marketplaces take their own fees. Figures checked on 4 October 2026 (the gateway fees exclude VAT):

• PayFast: 3.2% plus R2.00 per card payment, and 2.0% (minimum R2.00) for Instant EFT and Capitec Pay, excluding VAT ^[3]. On a R500 card sale that is R18.00 excluding VAT ^[3].
• Yoco online: 2.55% to 2.95% per transaction, no monthly fee ^[4].
• Takealot: R400 a month (check the seller terms for its VAT basis) plus category commission and, if Takealot fulfils, per-item fees ^{[5] [6]}.
• Own store: the gateway fee above, plus hosting, a domain and maintenance.

Not every customer wants to pay by card, so ask your own customers how they prefer to pay; in my experience offering Instant EFT or Capitec Pay alongside cards is worth it whichever route you take. Several ranking guides still quote old marketplace fees, so confirm every number with the provider before you plan your margins.

The legal basics: POPIA, VAT and registration

As soon as you collect a customer's name, phone number or address, POPIA applies. The Protection of Personal Information Act sets conditions for the lawful processing of personal information by public and private bodies, enforced by the Information Regulator ^[7]. That applies to an order book in WhatsApp as much as to a website.

On VAT, the compulsory registration threshold increased from R1 million to R2.3 million, effective 1 April 2026, and the voluntary threshold from R50,000 to R120,000 ^[8]. Some guides still quote R1 million. For VAT, registration and business structure, speak to an accountant.

What to do next

• Decide which route fits: marketplace for searchable products and no audience, social for testing and visual products, own store for a brand and repeat buyers.
• Choose payment methods your buyers actually use, including instant EFT, and confirm current fees with the provider.
• Work out your margin per item after every fee on your chosen route before you set prices.
• Start with one route, and add a second once the first is working.

If your own store is the next step, tell me what you sell and how you sell it now, and I will tell you what the store needs.