Terms of Service
The agreement between you and Sokopana when you buy from, or sell on, Tanzania's marketplace.
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Agreement to these terms
These terms form a legal agreement between you and Sokopana when you create an account, browse the marketplace, place an order, or sell on it. By doing any of these you accept them — together with our Privacy Policy.
When you register we record your acceptance on your account, and you can review that history at any time under Account → Agreements.
- You must be at least 18 years old, or have the consent of a parent or guardian, to transact.
- If you do not agree with any part of these terms, please do not use the platform.
- Headings are for guidance only; the full text of each section applies.
Your account
Accounts are created with your email address and a password. We send a verification link to that address, and your account becomes active once you confirm it — this keeps fake sign-ups off the marketplace.
- Keep your password confidential and sign out on shared devices — you are responsible for activity on your account.
- Your registration details must be accurate and kept up to date.
- You can close or request deletion of your account from the Account page. Records tied to real orders are kept afterwards where the law, returns or disputes require it.
- We may suspend or close accounts that break these terms, and we may be required to do so by law.
Buying on Sokopana
Prices are set by sellers and shown in Tanzanian shillings (TZS). Your order is a request to buy, which the seller may accept or decline.
- An order becomes binding once the seller accepts it and your payment is confirmed.
- The delivery estimate shown at checkout is an estimate, not a guarantee.
- If a seller declines your order, or an item becomes unavailable after you pay, you are refunded in full to your original payment method.
- Keep payment and communication on the platform — orders and messages created outside Sokopana are not protected by these terms.
Payments
Payments are processed for us by TouchPay, a secure third-party payment gateway. Card details are entered on TouchPay’s hosted page and are never seen or stored by Sokopana. Mobile-money payments are pushed to your phone for you to approve.
Everything on Sokopana is priced and charged in Tanzanian shillings (TZS). Your bank or mobile-money provider applies its own exchange rate if you pay from another currency.
- Cards: Visa and Mastercard, secured by TouchPay.
- Mobile money: Vodacom M-Pesa, Mixx by Yas (Tigo), and Airtel Money.
- Sokopana will never ask for your mobile-money PIN or your card one-time code — approvals always happen on your own phone or bank prompt.
- Refunds always go back to the original payment method — never to a different number or account.
Paying a Sokopana seller directly, outside the platform, for an order created on the platform is prohibited and removes your buyer protection.
Returns and refunds
You can request a return within 7 days of delivery if the item is unused and in its original packaging. The seller has 48 hours to respond, and unanswered requests escalate to our team automatically.
Once the returned item is received and checked, the refund is issued to your original payment method — usually within 24 hours for mobile money, and 5–10 working days for cards, depending on your bank.
- Faulty, damaged or wrongly described item: the seller pays return delivery and the refund is full.
- Changed your mind: you pay return delivery, and the refund covers the item price.
- Full details, exclusions and the dispute process are on the Returns & Refunds page.
Selling on Sokopana
Sellers are responsible for the accuracy of their listings, the condition of their stock, and dispatching within the stated time.
Before your store can list products or receive payouts you must complete seller verification (KYC): a government-issued photo ID, your business registration, and a tax identification (TIN) certificate where applicable.
- Honour verified orders. Repeated cancellations after payment damage your account standing and can lead to suspension.
- Payouts are made only to the mobile-money number or bank account registered on your verified store — never to a third party.
- Answer buyer questions and return requests promptly; unanswered messages escalate against you in disputes.
Fees, commission and payouts
Listing on Sokopana is free — no setup fees and no monthly subscription. A commission is charged only when you make a sale, at the rate published on our seller fees page (currently between 0% and 10%). The amount deducted is itemised on every payout.
Earnings become available for payout once the order is confirmed. Payout requests are paid to your registered mobile-money number or bank account, with a minimum withdrawal of TZS 20,000 and a flat TZS 500 processing fee, normally within 2 days.
We may change fees with 14 days’ notice. Fees already accepted on an order are not changed retrospectively.
Coupons and discounts
Sellers may issue coupons — a percentage off or a fixed amount in TZS — subject to the terms shown when you apply them, such as a minimum order value, a maximum discount cap, or an expiry date.
- A coupon only applies to the items and orders it was issued for, and cannot be exchanged for cash.
- Abusing coupons (for example, stacking accounts to reuse a single-use code) may lead to the coupon being withdrawn.
Supplier and dropship programmes
Sokopana also operates optional supplier and dropship programmes. Joining either requires an application and approval, and approved participants are held to the same conduct rules as everyone else.
Approved suppliers source products and fulfil orders for other sellers; dropshippers resell supplier stock without holding inventory themselves. Programmes may add their own requirements on top of these terms, and removal from a programme can follow a serious or repeated breach.
Reviews and messages
Reviews may only be left by buyers with a real order, and must reflect their genuine experience.
- We may remove reviews that are fake, abusive, manipulative, or that expose personal information.
- Messages between buyers and sellers on the platform are retained so disputes can be resolved fairly, in line with our Privacy Policy.
Prohibited conduct
These apply to buyers and sellers alike, and cover attempts that bypass the protections above.
- Payment outside the platform for an order created inside it.
- Fake reviews, manipulated ratings, or impersonating another seller.
- Listing illegal goods, counterfeit items, or anything that infringes another person’s rights.
- Harassment of buyers, sellers or our staff.
- Scraping, bulk copying or reverse-engineering the platform.
- Circumventing fees, abusing promotions, or manipulating prices or search results.
We may suspend or close accounts that breach these terms, and we may be required to do so by law.
Liability
Sokopana provides the marketplace. We are not a party to the contract between a buyer and a seller, though we step in when an order goes wrong.
To the extent permitted by law, our liability for any order is limited to the amount you paid for that order. Nothing here limits liability for fraud, or anything that cannot lawfully be limited.
Changes to these terms
We may update these terms as the platform evolves. Where a change is material we will give at least 14 days’ notice where possible, by posting it here with a new date on this page.
Continued use of Sokopana after a change takes effect means you accept it. Your record of past acceptances stays available on your account.
Governing law
These terms are governed by the laws of the United Republic of Tanzania. Disputes are first raised through our dispute process, and where that does not settle them, the matter is subject to the courts of Tanzania.
Contact us
Questions about these terms can be sent to [email protected], or through the contact form on our Contact page.