A failed purchase of a SMEG kettle has prompted Cape Town entrepreneur Tertius Wait to build Pakstoor, a new kind of online marketplace, one designed around the transaction itself rather than simply connecting buyers and sellers.

Wait, a cybersecurity engineer with about 25 years of experience in IT, is preparing to launch Pakstoor, a South African marketplace that combines escrow payments, platform-managed courier delivery and a 72-hour inspection period into a single transaction workflow.

The marketplace is targeting a public launch on November 18, 2026, subject to final end-to-end testing, with early registration already open.

The idea came from a personal experience. Wait’s mother bought a SMEG kettle advertised on social media at what appeared to be an unusually low price. She paid for it, but the product never arrived.

The experience highlighted what Wait sees as a broader problem with informal online commerce: buyers and sellers are often left to coordinate payment, delivery and proof of fulfilment themselves.

“My mother saw a kettle advertised at a price that was too good to be true, paid for it, and nothing arrived,” Wait said. “I wanted to build a marketplace where the buyer has a proper process when a deal goes wrong, and where an honest seller can see on their own screen that payment is secured before handing anything over.”

Pakstoor’s model is built around TradeSafe escrow. When a buyer makes a courier purchase, payment is made through TradeSafe and the funds are held by the escrow provider rather than Pakstoor.

The seller is then shown a “Payment secured” status on the transaction page. Instead of relying on an SMS, bank notification or screenshot supplied by a buyer, the seller can verify the payment directly through their Pakstoor account before shipping the item.

Once the seller is ready to dispatch, Pakstoor generates the waybill and books The Courier Guy. The platform also creates a Pakstoor Secure Tracking reference and feeds courier scans into the transaction record.

That means the seller does not manually enter a tracking number, while the buyer can follow the shipment through the same transaction interface.

The process is designed to address risks on both sides of a marketplace transaction. Buyers are protected from paying sellers who fail to deliver, while sellers are protected against fraudulent proof-of-payment claims.

After courier-confirmed delivery, buyers receive a 72-hour inspection period.

They can accept the transaction by selecting “Complete Transaction” or report a problem if the item does not meet expectations. A dispute triggers what Pakstoor calls a Formal Protected Review, during which the platform assesses the transaction record, courier scans and evidence submitted by both parties.

The escrow provider retains the funds while the review is conducted.

Pakstoor is careful to distinguish the mechanism from an unconditional reimbursement guarantee. Its press material says escrow is a safeguard rather than a blanket guarantee of reimbursement or product condition.

If a seller fails to generate a waybill by the specified ship-by date, the buyer can cancel and receive a refund. Orders without a waybill after 14 calendar days are automatically cancelled and refunded.

One of Pakstoor’s more notable commercial decisions is to charge private sellers no commission.

Registration and listings are free, meaning a person selling a used appliance, bicycle, furniture or other household item does not give Pakstoor a percentage of the eventual sale.

Once a protected transaction is completed, the seller receives the full sale price in their TradeSafe wallet. Monthly bank payouts are free, while TradeSafe charges R5 excluding VAT for sellers who opt for on-demand withdrawals.

Pakstoor also offers optional listing boosts starting at R50.

Buyers, meanwhile, pay a 2.5% Buyer Protection Fee calculated on the item price rather than the courier charge. The fee is refunded if a sale is cancelled.

The company says the fee supports the escrow-backed transaction process, transaction management, dispute handling and protected handover workflows. It is not an insurance premium.

Pakstoor is also attempting to move beyond the traditional second-hand marketplace model.

Its Local Businesses product gives registered businesses and sole proprietors the ability to create branded storefronts containing their name, logo, colours, contact information and opening hours, alongside product listings and a portfolio or merchandise album.

The storefront costs R199 annually once made public, while setting up the storefront and adding listings is free.

The company is positioning the product as a lower-cost alternative for small businesses that may not want to commission a dedicated e-commerce website.

Businesses can classify listings as “In stock,” “On order,” “Service” or “Rental,” although some of those transaction types are still being developed.

An in-stock product follows the same protected transaction process as a private sale, including TradeSafe escrow, courier delivery and the 72-hour inspection period.

Pakstoor’s transaction model is not limited to courier deliveries.

For an in-person handover, the buyer pays into escrow while the two parties are together. The seller only hands over the item once the seller’s own screen confirms that payment is secured.

Both parties then confirm the transaction on their own phones. The buyer enters a four-digit code displayed on the seller’s screen, with each confirmation requiring a device security method such as a fingerprint, facial recognition, screen lock or password.

Funds are released only after both parties confirm the transaction.

Cash transactions conducted outside Pakstoor are not protected.

The startup is positioning itself as an automation-led marketplace rather than simply another classifieds website.

Its system connects payment, courier booking, shipment tracking, seller workflows and transaction records into a single deal record.

TradeSafe has approved Pakstoor’s production environment, according to the company, while final end-to-end testing is being completed ahead of the targeted November launch.

Pakstoor’s Information Officer is registered with South Africa’s Information Regulator, and the company says it has submitted its PAIA annual report and published a POPIA disclosure, PAIA manual and public Trust Center.

The bigger proposition is not that Pakstoor can eliminate fraud altogether. Wait acknowledges that no marketplace can guarantee the quality of every item or remove the need for evidence when disputes arise.

Instead, the startup is betting that putting payment, fulfilment, delivery evidence and dispute resolution into one structured workflow can make online trading more accountable.

For consumers accustomed to buying through social media posts, classifieds and informal seller networks, that could prove to be the more important shift: not another place to find products, but a marketplace designed to make the transaction itself easier to trust.

Pakstoor is targeting a public launch on November 18, 2026. Early registration is available at pakstoor.co.za.