I heard about Yaga through Instagram from influencers I follow who were listing items on there. It looked like a platform aimed for influencers, known as the marketplace for new and preloved fashion.

Yaga

It makes sense for those who don’t use items as much and go through more clothing than regular folks – like not wearing the same outfit twice. In those instances, it makes sense to sell them off.

I decided to share my experience in December because I wanted to help with a “spring clean” your closet idea while you’re on festive break. Assuming you’re not going away on holiday. I made about R3 800 so far, and will be using it for my holiday spending.

Biting the bullet

I was hesitant to sign up last year because I saw influencers complain about asking buyers to mark items as ‘received’ once they did indeed receive it. Reading this feedback put me off from signing up.

I didn’t quite understand how it worked then but fast forward to a few months ago, I decided to give a try. This came after chatting to another friend who said her friend had found success on Yaga and it was so easy to sell. While abroad, I was convinced I needed to get onto it.

I also used it as an opportunity to clear items I stopped wearing and to justify making new purchases. I thought if I could sell an item, it would make sense then only to replace it.

Yaga has a full on support section to help with any kind of question or concern. You can find it here: support.yaga.co.za

Yaga – Quick Look:

  1. Register an account and create a shop
  2. Upload items to Yaga shop with photos and description
  3. Choose a delivery method that works for you
  4. Once a buyer makes payment, you ship it and input a tracking number if applicable
  5. The money is paid to Yaga, who is the middleman
  6. Once the buyer receives the item, they mark it as “received”
  7. Yaga then pays you for the sale

The buyer pays a buyer protection fee of 5% + R14.90. If the seller does not ship, the buyer will be refunded in full.

The seller can list and sell for free, there is no commission as of November 2023. I had previously sold items where commission was taken but fortunately, I did the bulk of my sales from November onwards.

You can also generate discount codes for buyers if you’re having a sale or want to offer exclusivity to followers.

Using the Yaga app

I downloaded the app and found it easier to manage my account and ship with it because I was taking photos from my phone anyway.

The app is well-built, I like the UX, easy to navigate and understand where things are. It is not at all intimidating.

My only gripe is that when I get ‘like’ notifications, it takes me to one and then marks all as read. So, I must back and remember which marked as read item I did not actually click. I don’t know why such a poor experience slipped through an otherwise wonderful app.

You can easily go into you shop, messages, wallet, purchases etc. There are also options to help you get going on how it works, support, etc. People who want to potentially purchase your items can message you.

It is a bit time consuming to list items you want to sell that you no longer use. With the clothing items listed, you can see the person wearing it at least to know that someone is selling items from their closet. Or if it from an influencer, you may find that they hardly wear the items, and in that case, it could be worthwhile.

I first listed a bunch of pumps and All Stars sneakers as I was no longer wearing them. Call it getting older, and the lack of foot support, ha! I solely use the app to list items to sell, I don’t use it to purchase items.

Making a listing

It is so simple to add an item to your shop. From the app’s home page, there’s an orange “+Add item” button that is very easily accessible. You can also do this directly from your shop view.

Once you go into add item, you can upload up to 6 images, share a description, choose a category, sub-category, quantity, condition, size, location, etc. And of course, price.

Under sub-category, you can then choose a brand; think adidas, Cotton On, Forever New, and tons of other brands and department stores. You can also choose up to two colours.

Thereafter you choose a shipping – or multiple – options and even bundling. This lets the seller save on shipping if they purchase another item from your shop within an hour of the first purchase.

Shipping options

What I like about Yaga is the multiple options to ship. They include:

  1. PDP Door-to-door for R89
  2. Paxi PEP Store R59/R109 (size dependent)
  3. Pudo Locker-to-locker from R50/R60 (size dependent)
  4. Postnet-to-Postnet R109
  5. Aramex Stoor-to-door R99
  6. Pick up from seller
  7. Bundling (for multiple items)

I think they cover just about all the options available. Based on previous comments I’ve seen online about items getting stolen, I avoided using Paxi. If the package get stolen, there is no insurance on that.

I am familiar with Aramex as I send stuff to my sisters all the time with it, so I found it easier to pre-buy the bags and keep it at home, which made shipping easier. Then I’d just have to drop it off at my nearest PnP or Checkers.

Yaga payments

There have been over 1.1 million things sold on Yaga to date, which has over 700 000 monthly users. They appear to have good ratings online. Yaga accepts payments from Ozow, Visa, Mastercard and EFT payments.

What I’ve learnt

While there are other categories on the app besides fashion, but if I’m honest, a lot of the tech and high-end brands appeared fake to me, and I also don’t know if the items could potentially be scams or stolen.

This is just my personal take; I would never buy these items on there. We hear of far too many scams gone wrong on FB Marketplace. But some are glaringly obvious fakes (if the price is too good to be true, it’s fake).

Every now and then I found that potential buyers would message me immediately after a listing to offer me a super low price; I have declined these. They appear to be chancers who think you are desperate and will take a lower price.

This is subjective, maybe there are folks who would take a cheaper price immediately, but I don’t respond to accept those offers. I simply reply to say that I will decide within a few weeks.

On that note, I also think most people don’t want to pay R99 shipping. So if you have an option to do cheaper shipping, consider that. I’ve had a few messages about shipping, but I’ve not looked into the other options yet.

I also noticed that winter items don’t even get considered in summer. I listed a bunch of blazers and coats in now in Spring and there were no takers on that. It seems to be seasonal, rather sell items in the season, except for shoes probably.

I’ve not found that I had to message potential buyers to ask them to mark their items as received, fortunately.

I like the idea of sending my preloved items to a new home, it’s environmentally friendly and in way, good to know it’s going to be used more.

I listed a friend’s designer item sneaker and found that there were no takers, not even likes on the item. Yaga is not the platform for luxury second hand goods unless you’re already a celebrity/influencer levering other social platforms to sell them.

If you don’t want to be scammed, do not take the transaction off the platform. Always do it on Yaga, and if you have a credit card, pay with that so you are protected, even from your bank.

I think it’s a wonderful platform to sell items you don’t use. Just always be aware of the person you are buying from. Have a look at the other items listed to get a better idea of the seller.

All in all, super recommend for selling items. If you’re a buyer, please do your necessary checks for non-fashion items and apply some common sense for tech items that are cheap/too good to be true.

Visit Yaga.co.za to check it out.