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Table of Contents
What is Africatrademarket.com?
Africatrademarket.com is Africa’s premier and fastest growing Business-to-Business trade portal and export/import directory. We provide an interactive trade platform where African business can meet the world, an online marketplace where buyers and sellers can find trade opportunities and promote their businesses on the internet. Africatrademarket.com is not a trading company but rather an online business platform, where you can search or post information to find potential business partners. To find out more about Africatrademarket.com, please visit About Us.
Key Processes on this site:
- A seller (or exporter) posts his company information and product photos (together with descriptions, specifications, shipping terms, etc.) on Africatrademarket.com.
- Buyers (or importers) search and browse the seller's products and then make inquiries to negotiate or place orders.
NB: To sell or buy at Africatrademarket.com, you will need to join free!
How To register:
By following the instructions below, you can initiate your FREE membership at Africatrademarket.com.
- Click on the link at the top-right corner of any Africatrademarket.com page.
- Complete the registration form (including choosing your membership plan and desired company homepage name) and click on ‘Register Now’.
- Await your notification email that will inform you when your account has been approved. This usually takes 24 hours or less.
- Once your account has been approved, you may log in to Africatrademarket.com using your email ID (email address) and password to enjoy the services offered at Africatrademarket.com, Africa’s premier b2b trade portal.
PS. If you have your own company website, you may enter your company’s website address on Africatrademarket.com when registering to enable buyers and sellers visit your website. You will still be able to have a compact website on Africatrademarket.com to showcase your products.
Different Membership Plans
FOR BUYERS
It is free to buy on Africatrademarket.com. With a free membership you can use our sourcing tools, send inquiries to suppliers, and post your Buying Leads, all free of charge. In addition, you get your own free website to showcase your business.
FOR SELLERS
(a) Free Members
Free members may post products to sell, search for buyers and contact certain buyers who accept quotations from free members. However, free members may be limited in the number of products and trade leads they can post, the number of enquiries they can send and also the number of keywords allowed.
(b) Standard Members
Standard membership is a paid membership. It provides extensive additional promotion advantages and benefits. A Standard Member displays a  icon to demonstrate credibility to buyers online.
(c) Premium Members
Premium membership is the highest level of membership on Africatrademarket.com and is a paid service. It provides even more promotion advantages and benefits. A Premium Member proudly displays a  icon to demonstrate the highest credibility to buyers online.
Premium membership Advantages:
- Your own website on Africatrademarket.com and other selling tools. You get a compact website within our website that displays your Company Profile, product information and Contact details.
- Unrestricted access to all buyers. This equals to more business for your company
- Your company on the Africatrademarket.com homepage for 14 days
- Your company/products/tradeleads appear top in all search results
- Your tradeleads highlighted in our scrolling ticker for increased visibility
- Increased credibility when displaying the icon.
- Unlimited products/tradeleads
- Unlimited trade enquiries
- Featured premium products displayed rotationally on the Africatrademarket.com homepage with photos
- Featured premium tradeleads displayed rotationally on the Africatrademarket.com homepage
Membership Upgrading
You may register as a Free Member and then elect to upgrade to either Standard or Premium membership at any time. Or you may register as a Standard or Premium Member at the time of registration.
To upgrade your membership, click on the ‘Upgrade Membership’ link in ‘My Account’ and follow the instructions.
Payment
Payment for premium membership may be made by either:
- Wire transfer
- Bank transfer (Kenyan members only)
- Credit Card (via Paypal)
Once payment has been received, your membership will be upgraded immediately. In the meantime, you may continue using our services in your current membership level. Time taken to receive payment depends on the payment method chosen by you. You will be given all the necessary information to enable you complete your payment when you click on ‘Upgrade Membership’
My Account
My Account is a private communication and trade management tool provided to all members for:
- Tracking and storing buyer-seller communications.
- Managing Buying Leads, products and Selling Leads.
- Subscribing to and managing Trade Alerts.
The main sections and their functions are:
- MY INQUIRIES: View all messages received and sent and also manage your Contact list and Block List
- MY PRODUCTS: Post and Manage your Products from here
- MY TRADELEADS: Post and Manage your Buying and Selling Leads from here
- MY ACCOUNT: Edit and manage your Company Profile and Login info.
- TRADE ALERT: Manage your Trade Alerts.
- MY SAVED: Manage your Saved tradeleads, products and companies for multiple enquiries.
- MY HOMEPAGE: Access your company’s Homepage
- UPGRADE YOUR MEMBERSHIP: Upgrade your membership at any time from here.
When you log into ‘My Account’, the following information is displayed for your information:
- Your current membership plan and Expiry date
- The number of new (unread) messages in your Inbox
- The date of your last visit
- Number of tradeleads posted
- Number of products posted
- Number of Trade Alerts created
- ‘Post New Sell Leads’ link and info on maximum number allowed under your membership plan
- ‘Post New Buy Leads’ link and info on maximum number allowed under your membership plan
- ‘Post New Products’ link and info on maximum number allowed under your membership plan
You can either send messages to your intended party by clicking the "Send Inquiry" button in the product page or in search results. You can also save your tradeleads, companies and products in ‘My Account’ as you browse the site and then send the inquiries at a later time. You can check your enquires and sent messages in your ‘Inbox’ and ‘Sent Box’ respectively. The number of messages that can be held in your our Inbox depends on your membership plan. Generally, the higher the membership level, the more messages you can have in your inbox. Messages are stored chronologically and older messages can be accessed by clicking on the ‘Next’ button.
Your contact list is your list of people and companies with whom you correspond through Africatrademarket.com. Sometimes members receive unwanted correspondence. You can use "Block List" in ‘My Inquiries’ to filter out unwanted messages. With this control method, messages from particular Member Ids and email addresses you wish to block will be deleted automatically.
To sign out from ‘My Account’ click on the ‘Sign Out’ link at the top right corner of each page on Africatrademarket.com
Buying
Buying on Africatrademarket.com is easy. Follow these steps to begin your buying experience:
Sending enquiries
- If you are new to Africatrademarket.com, Join free as an Africatrademarket.com member first.
- Look for Products and Suppliers.
- Contact Sellers after you find products.
- Post Buying Leads to get instant seller quotations.
You can send inquiries to sellers you find through browse or search. Use these steps:
- Select the checkbox beside each product or supplier you are interested in.
- Click the ‘Send Inquiry’ button.
- Complete the inquiry form and submit.
- If you check more than one product or supplier, your inquiries will be sent to these suppliers simultaneously.
- Once you send out your inquiry, it will probably take sellers a few days to respond.
Send multiple enquiries
- Select the checkbox beside each product or supplier you are interested in.
- Click ‘Save In My Account’ button.
- When you are ready to make your inquiry, go to ‘My Saved’ located in ‘My Account’.
- Choose either saved Tradeleads, Products or Companies
- Check multiple checkboxes and click "Send Inquiry" button.
- Complete the inquiry form and submit.
‘My Saved’ works like a shopping cart, thus offering buyers greater convenience. You can send enquiries on saved tradeleads/products or to saved companies at any time.
Looking for products and suppliers
If you want to find a product, or the suppliers who produce that product, you can either use our search function or browse by category.
Search
- If you already know what you are looking for, enter the product name in the search box to start a search. The results will include product name, summary, seller's name, country and the icon(s) denoting the membership type of the seller.
- Results are sorted by relevance and by membership type.
- Use the filters list that appear above the search results to refine your search results.
Search Tips
- To refine your search results, use the filters list that appear above the search results
- If the results are unsatisfactory, reduce the number of words
- Avoid keywords which are too specific or specialized (e.g., "masai authentic bead necklace")
- Only search one product at a time.
- Don't include a country/region's name in your search (e.g., "tea Kenya").
- Don't include the word "buyer" or "seller" in your keyword phrase (e.g., "sisal seller").
Select Country
This helps you narrow matching results by country. Eg search only results from Kenya
Select Post Time
This helps you narrow tradeleads/products matching results by posting date Eg ‘Last 3 days’ or ‘Last 30 days’
Select Lead Type
For Tradeleads: This helps you narrow trade leads matching results by type eg ‘Sell’ “Buy’ or ‘Biz Offer’
Select Business Type
For Companies Search: This helps you narrow matching results by member business type. Business type means the primary role the company engages in within its trading sector. Africatrademarket.com currently recognizes six major business types: Manufacturer, Importer, Exporter, Distributor/wholesaler, Service Provider and Agent. An Agent is a business person or company who buys or sells for another in exchange for a commission. A Manufacturer is a producer of products. A Distributor is a businessperson or company that markets or sells merchandise. A Wholesaler sells products in bulk to various retailers and then receives a percentage of the mark-up price. In other words, a wholesaler buys directly (and usually rather inexpensively) from the manufacturer and then arranges a deal with a retailer who desires to purchase the same product.
Posting a Buy Lead
A buying lead is an invitation to suppliers to send you a quotation. To send a buying lead:
- Sign in at ‘My Account, and click "Post New Buy Leads"
- Choose ‘Buy Lead’ from the drop down menu
- Fill in the buying lead form with all essential information, remembering to enter relevant keywords*
- We suggest you attach a photo of your desired product. Click "Post" when finished.
NB. Photos posted for products/trade leads must be at least 200*200 pixels to avoid pixellation (distortion) of images
*Keyword: Keyword means the word that your company/product/Trade Lead is searched with. Four out of five customers will search for what they need directly. Keyword is at the heart of searching because if your keyword is matched with a customer's sought products, your Trade Leads or products can be listed for buyers instantly.
After completing the buying lead form, you will receive a message telling you that your buying lead has been submitted and is pending approval. If your information is approved, it will be published on Africatrademarket.com within 24 hours.
Please note: This approval process applies to all postings to Africatrademarket.com, including Company Profile, products, buying leads and selling leads
Viewing/Editing your Tradeleads
Go to My Account. On the "My Tradeleads" section, you can view the status of your Trade Leads at any time. You can also edit or delete your tradeleads at any time. They are classified under two headings:
- "Unapproved" includes buying leads that have been posted but have yet to be approved. The approval process usually takes 24 hours.
- "Approved" includes buying leads approved by and published on Africatrademarket.com
Selling
Please follow the steps below to sell your products on Africatrademarket.com.
1. Register
To sell or promote your products on Africatrademarket.com, you first need to become a member. Simply click on the "Join Free" link on the top-right corner of any Africatrademarket.com page and follow the process. Then you can promote your products to attract buyers.
2. Post Products and Selling Leads
You can add detailed specifications to your products and edit them at any time. You will also have a Company Profile page to present a general introduction of your business. Newly posted information will be added to the Trade Alert section and sent to interested buyers.
3. Explore Buying Leads
Browse buying requests (Buying Leads) by category or open searching.
4. Contact buyers
Once you find a potential buyer for your products, you can contact him/her by sending a quotation.
5. Promotion Opportunities
You can also promote your business on Africatrademarket.com by upgrading your membership to a paid membership in order to obtain priority listing for products in search result listings. You may also have a banner for your company displayed on Africatrademarket.com. To advertise using banner ads, click here
Posting a Product
Go to "My Products" in ‘My Account’ and click "Post New Product." When you get to the "Post New Product" page, provide the required information and click "Post" when finished. NOTE!! To add more optional information about your product, click the  button located slightly above the ‘Preview’ button at the bottom of the "Post New Product" page
To edit your products, go to My Account. In the "View My Products" section, you can view all of your products' status at any time. They are classified under two sections:
- "Inactive" includes products that have been posted but have yet to be approved. The approval process usually takes 24 hours.
- "Active" includes those products that are on display on Africatrademarket.com
Please note: You may edit or delete these products at any time from the "View My Products" page.
Posting Sell Leads and Products
Posting your product images, specifications and descriptions on Africatrademarket.com increases your exposure to buyers. On Africatrademarket.com, a member can post multiple products. Selling Lead means a Trade Lead posted by a seller. It can contain product information, images, quality certifications, quantities and so forth.
To post your products, click on ‘Post New Product’ within My Account, or from other page by clicking on the "Post Product" link on the homepage or wherever it appears on the site. Free members are restricted on the number of products they can post. Upon publication, buyers will be able to see your Products and Selling Leads, to which they can reply. All of the buyers' messages will be sent to your own Inbox in My Account.
The procedure for posting a Sell Lead is the same as that of posting a Buy Lead (discussed above)
Looking for Buyers
Though most buyers prefer to look for products and suppliers through searches and browsing, almost a third of them would rather publish buying Trade Leads to let sellers find them. As a seller, you can search the buying trade leads posted by those buyers and send instant quotations:
- You can either use the "Search" function or "Browse" function to look for buyers.
- Use refine search to narrow your matching results.
- Check the box(es) next to the buyers that fit your search criteria
- Click the ‘Send Inquiry” button to send your trade enquiry to the buyer(s).
Replying to enquiries
Once a buyer inquires about one of your products or Trade Leads, the inquiry will be sent to your own Inbox in My Account. You will also receive an ‘Inquiry Arrival Notice’ in your email address advising you to log into your Africatrademarket.com Account to read your enquiry email.
PLEASE NOTE!! Many buyers allow only paid (Standard and Premium members) to make contact.
TRADE ALERT
Trade Alert is a customized email that delivers the latest product information directly to you. If you are already an Africatrademarket.com member, sign in at My Account, go to "Trade Alert" and click "Create Trade Alert." Follow the instructions to set up your Trade Alert preferences. Once you have completed the process, you will receive Trade Alerts by email as soon as new content matching your preferences is published online at Africatrademarket.com. You can also click on "View My Trade Alerts” to view, delete, edit or add Trade Alerts.
If you are not yet an Africatrademarket.com member, you are strongly recommended to join Africatrademarket.com in order to receive Trade Alerts.
TRADESHOWS
You can view details of various tradeshows from Africa and across the world by clicking the ‘Tradeshow’ link at the top right corner of every page on Africatrademarket.com or on the ‘More Tradeshows’ link on the homepage. Featured tradeshows are displayed on the homepage and these will mainly be tradeshows on the African continent. However, tradeshows from all over the world are listed on Africatrademarket.com and updated regularly.
By clicking on the ‘Tradeshow’ link or on the ‘More Tradeshows’ link, you will be able to view a selection of the Tradeshows listed on the site. To view all the tradeshows listed on Africatrademarket.com, click on the ‘View All’ links. You can navigate the tradeshow listings by clicking on the ‘Next’ button to move between pages. You can also search the tradeshows by Category, Month and Location. Details included in each tradeshow listing include the dates, venue, industry focus, description, organizer, and organizer contacts.
TRADE FORUM
Africatrademarket.com Forum offers a useful platform where buyers and sellers can discuss trade matters and exchange useful information, helpful tips etc. To access the forum, click on the ‘Trade Forum’ link on the top right corner of any page on Africatrademarket.com. To login into the forum, you will need to register a username for use in the Trade Forum by clicking on the ‘Register’ link in the forum index page. Follow the instructions to complete your registration. You will need to login to the forum to post new messages or reply to posts. A helpful FAQ page can be accessed by clicking on the ‘FAQ’ link. You may also edit your profile by clicking on ‘Profile’ on the top menu and you can even change the time zone settings to match your country time zone. Using the Forum, members can also send each other private messages (PMs) and an Inbox is provided for these purpose once logged into the Forum.
To return to the main Africatrademarket.com homepage from the forum pages, click on the  icon located on the forum pages.
BANNER ADVERTISING
Africatrademarket.com offers you opportunities to advertise your company, products or services by means of banner ads that are prominently displayed in all search result pages. Banners are displayed on a rotational basis and must be 190 pixels (width) by 150pixels (height). Banner ads on Africatrademarket.com are a sure way to get your business noticed! Click here to advertise on our site. If you require creative (banner design), contact us for details on how we can help.
CONTACT US
You may contact us or send feedback to us on any issues or concerns about the site. We would love to hear from you! We also welcome suggestions on categories or sub-categories that you would like added on the site. We hope you enjoy using our services!
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