By SA Business Lens
Prepared 24 October 2026
A Cape Town startup is preparing an escrow-backed marketplace for private and small-business sales, with launch targeted for 18 November subject to testing.
Editorial composite using the founder photograph and company logo supplied by Pakstoor.
A Cape Town startup is preparing to launch an online marketplace that brings payment, courier booking and dispute handling into one process for private buyers and sellers. Pakstoor is targeting 18 November 2026 for its public launch, subject to final end-to-end testing, according to its 23 October media release.
The idea began with a kettle that never arrived. Founder Tertius Wait says his mother paid for a discounted SMEG kettle advertised on social media and received nothing. Tertius Wait, a Durbanville-based cybersecurity engineer, says he brings around 25 years of IT experience to the venture.
“I wanted to build a marketplace where the buyer has a proper process when a deal goes wrong,” Wait says in the release.
The problem extends beyond one family’s experience. The Banking Association South Africa warns that online shopping scams can leave buyers having paid in full, with no goods delivered and no response from the retailer.
A transaction process for both sides
Pakstoor’s proposed answer is to put the transaction, rather than just the advert, on the platform. According to the company, buyers pay through TradeSafe escrow, while sellers check payment status in their own accounts before shipping. Pakstoor says it does not hold buyers’ money itself.
The seller then requests a waybill through Pakstoor, which books The Courier Guy and records tracking events against the deal. This is intended to reduce reliance on payment messages or tracking details supplied by a stranger.
The company’s published process makes an important distinction between courier purchases and meeting a seller in person:
| Stage | How Pakstoor says it works | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| 01Payment & dispatch | TradeSafe holds the buyer’s payment. The seller books The Courier Guy through Pakstoor. | Seller check: Confirm payment in your own Pakstoor account and note the shipping deadline. Do not rely on a screenshot. |
| 02Courier inspection | The buyer has 72 hours from courier-confirmed delivery to inspect the item. | Release point: Funds may be released when the buyer accepts, or when the 72-hour window expires without an open return request or Formal Protected Review. |
| 03Resolving a problem | A Formal Protected Review pauses release while the evidence is assessed. | Important: Opening a case, or receiving permission to return an item, does not automatically approve a refund. |
| 04In-person handover | Buyer and seller must each confirm completion in their own accounts before funds are released. | Before confirming: Inspect the item. There is no later inspection window or item-condition review. |
What buyers and sellers would pay
Pakstoor says private listings are free and seller commission is currently zero. Buyers pay its 2.5% Buyer Protection Fee, calculated on the item price, plus TradeSafe’s payment-processing charge and courier delivery where applicable. Processing fees vary by payment method, so 2.5% is not the total cost of buying. The current terms set out the separate charges.
The platform fee is refunded if a sale is cancelled or fully refunded. That does not necessarily mean every charge comes back: the terms allow the escrow provider’s fee and already-spent courier costs to be retained on cancellation.
Pakstoor’s Trust Center also says the protection fee is not insurance and does not guarantee a refund. The platform does not provide shipping insurance; sellers are responsible for insuring goods until courier-confirmed delivery. Its protections apply to transactions kept within the platform.
A small-business route alongside private sales
The startup is also offering Local Businesses storefronts for registered businesses and sole proprietors. Its release puts the annual charge at R199, with a branded page and listings intended to give smaller operators an online presence without commissioning a separate shop.
The rollout is not complete. Pakstoor describes in-stock purchasing as available, but says ordering for made-to-order products and bookings for services and rentals are still to follow. These should not be read as launch-ready capabilities across the board.
Pakstoor says TradeSafe has approved its production environment. SBL has not independently confirmed that claim or tested a transaction. The November target is therefore a launch plan, not evidence of an established trading record. For buyers and small sellers, the useful test will be whether the proposed process makes completing an ordinary sale, and resolving a difficult one, more straightforward.
[…] A missing SMEG kettle inspired Pakstoor’s marketplace […]