Terms of Service

Eligibility

Sellers / Vendors: You must be 18 years or older, hold a valid South African ID or passport, and have the legal capacity to contract. No person under 18 may register as a seller or vendor on SAILOR MARKETPLACE.

Close Corporations / Companies: The representative registering the business must be 18 years or older and duly authorised to bind the entity to these terms.

Buyers: You must be 18 years or older. If you are between 13 and 17, you may only make purchases with the consent and under the supervision of a parent or legal guardian.

Verification

SAILOR MARKETPLACE may request identity verification at any time to confirm your age and identity. Any seller or vendor account found to belong to a person under 18 will be suspended immediately and any pending payouts withheld pending verification.

Children & POPIA

In line with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), we do not knowingly allow children under 13 to register an account or have personal information processed on the platform. If you believe a child under 13 has registered, please contact us immediately so we can remove the account.

Sellers agree

You are an independent contractor, not an employee. You warrant that your goods are legal, not counterfeit, and you own them. We charge 10% commission on each sale.

Independent Resellers

Independent resellers are third parties. Sailor does not verify authenticity beyond the seller's own warranty. Buyers must verify authenticity before purchasing. Sailor is not liable for counterfeit claims between a buyer and a reseller, but will suspend the seller if a product is proven to be fake. Independent resellers must confirm at registration that they are solely responsible for authenticity, warranty, and returns of the products they list.

Payments

All payments are processed by Paystack South Africa in South African Rand. Funds are held in escrow in Paystack's balance, not in our trading bank account, until the buyer confirms delivery or until 7 days after delivery pass without a dispute. Food orders are paid out to the restaurant once the driver confirms delivery. Sailor charges 10% commission on every sale and the seller receives 90%. See our Seller Terms for the full payout, subscription plan, verification and conduct rules.

Marketing emails

By creating a Sailor account you agree that we may email you about Sailor, at most once a week. Sellers receive reminders to add listings, renew or enlarge a listing pack and take part in our video promotion; other users receive reminders that they can shop from local businesses or open a store. Every marketing email includes a one-click unsubscribe link and you may withdraw consent at any time under section 69 of POPIA. Unsubscribing stops marketing email only — service messages such as receipts, order and delivery updates, verification notices, security alerts and changes to these terms will still be sent. Our Privacy Policy explains how we process your information.

Store links, QR codes and video promotion

Every business is given a public storefront link and a QR code that points to it, and may share both freely, including on packaging, in store, on social media and in messaging apps. A link or QR code only publishes the business profile and listings that the seller has chosen to make public.

Sailor may, at its discretion and free of charge, feature up to three videos per seller of 90 seconds or less on Sailor's marketing channels, where the video mentions that the seller sells on Sailor. You keep ownership of your video and grant Sailor a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to repost, crop and caption it for promotion while it is featured. Sailor may decline or remove a video that is misleading, unlawful, or shows prohibited items, and featuring a video is never a guarantee of sales or reach.

Suspension, warnings, fines and bans

We may suspend or ban any seller who fails KYC, sells illegal or counterfeit goods, asks a buyer to transact outside Sailor, or receives repeated valid disputes. Upheld reports first result in a warning, and may lead to a temporary or permanent ban. Where an account is banned, a fine of 20% of the payout value of orders still held in escrow may be retained by Sailor as commission. See our Seller Terms.

Sailor Delivery

Sailor Delivery connects buyers with independent delivery drivers using motorized vehicles only. Bicycles are not permitted. Vehicle types, base fees and per-kilometre rates are set out in the app and may change. Driver eligibility, the 24-hour earnings hold, withdrawals and trip limits are set out in our Sailor Delivery Terms.

Driver eligibility: Drivers must hold a valid South African ID, a driver's licence appropriate to their vehicle (A1/A for motorbikes, Code 8/B for cars, Code 10 for bakkies/vans, Code 14 for trucks), a vehicle licence disc, and next-of-kin contact. Driver accounts are pending approval until an administrator verifies the licence and documents.

Insurance & liability: Drivers are independent contractors, not employees. Drivers must carry their own insurance. Sailor is not liable for accidents, theft, injury or loss arising from a delivery. Drivers declare their vehicle roadworthy at registration.

Double-PIN verification: Each order is assigned a pickup PIN (given to the seller) and a delivery PIN (given to the buyer). The driver must enter the correct pickup PIN at collection and the correct delivery PIN at drop-off to complete the delivery and release earnings. Three failed attempts temporarily suspend the driver and alert support. PINs expire 24 hours after generation.

Bulk collection: Bakkies, vans and trucks may carry multiple marketplace orders in one trip (up to 8). Food and furniture deliveries are never mixed. Food deliveries are capped at 4 active orders. Customers may pay an Express fee to avoid shared stops.

Driver earnings & wallet: The customer pays the delivery fee at checkout. Sailor retains a commission (R5 motorbike, R8 car, R20 bakkie, R30 van, 15% for trucks); the balance is credited to the driver's wallet as pending for 24 hours, then becomes available to withdraw. Drivers must save accurate bank or eWallet details before withdrawing. Withdrawals (minimum R100, R10 eWallet fee) are subject to administrator approval and paid by EFT or eWallet.

Surge & cancellation: Surge, night and rain fees may apply during high demand; the driver receives 100% of surge fees. A cancellation fee may be charged to a buyer who cancels after a driver has accepted.