Seller Policy

Effective May 17, 2026 · The rules for selling on tondomarket — what to do, what to avoid, and how we keep the marketplace honest.

This Seller Policy works alongside our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. By applying to become a seller you accept all three. We've kept it practical — written for the person setting up a shop on a Sunday afternoon, not just for a lawyer.

1. Becoming a seller

Anyone aged 18 or over with a valid Ghanaian mobile number can apply to become a seller. To apply, sign in to your buyer account and click Become a Seller. You'll be asked for:

A shop name (this is public and must not impersonate another business or trademark).
A primary category that best describes what you'll sell.
A WhatsApp-reachable phone number — most buyer chat happens here.
A short shop description.
Your physical region and city (so buyers can filter by location).

Applications are usually reviewed within 24 hours. Common reasons for rejection: incomplete details, unreachable WhatsApp number, a category that doesn't match the products described, or a shop name that infringes another brand. You can re-apply after fixing the issue.

2. Setting up your shop

Once approved, you'll see the Seller Dashboard. Before you post your first listing, take five minutes to:

Upload a clear profile photo or logo. Square (1:1) images look best.
Add a banner image. 1600×400 px is the sweet spot.
Set your business hours so buyers know when to expect a reply.
Write a one-paragraph "About" that explains what you sell, your service area, and any specialities.
Choose whether to enable WhatsApp contact (recommended) or in-app chat only.

Sellers with a complete profile attract noticeably more contact-clicks than those who skip these steps. It's worth the time.

3. Listing rules

Every listing must follow these rules:

One item per listing. If you're selling five different phones, that's five listings — not one combined post.
Real photos required. At least one photo of the actual item you're selling (front and back where relevant). Stock photos can supplement but should be marked clearly in the description.
Honest titles. Include the brand, model, and a distinguishing detail — "Samsung A54 5G, 256GB, dual SIM, used 6 months" beats "Phone for sale." Vague titles are demoted in search.
Accurate price. List the actual price you want. "Contact for price" listings are discouraged and may be removed.
Specify condition. New, Used, or Refurbished — and be honest. "Like new" should not mean "I dropped it in a puddle once."
Correct category and subcategory. A laptop listed under "Phones" hurts everyone's search experience.
Location. Region and city help buyers filter and reduce wasted chats with people too far away.
No keyword stuffing. Don't pad descriptions with unrelated terms ("iphone samsung tecno infinix nokia") in the hope of catching extra search traffic. Listings doing this are demoted or removed.
No external sales links. Don't redirect buyers to other marketplaces or "click here to buy" external sites.

4. Prohibited items

Some categories of item can never be listed on tondomarket. This list is shared with our Terms of Service (section 6) — see the Terms for the full enumeration. The headline categories: illegal drugs, weapons, counterfeit goods, stolen items, adult content, prescription medication, tobacco, human remains, animals offered in welfare-violating conditions, anything that infringes someone else's intellectual property, and anything otherwise illegal under Ghanaian law.

If you're unsure whether an item is allowed, ask us at support@tondomarket.com before listing it.

5. Photos & content

Three to five photos per listing is the sweet spot. Front, back, sides, any branding/serial, plus one in-context shot.
Natural light, no clutter. A grey or white background, taken near a window, beats any filter.
No watermarks or contact details burned into the photo — keep your phone number in the actual contact fields where buyers can tap it.
You must own the rights to every photo you upload. Don't pull pictures from Google Images of someone else's product.
No misleading edits. Cropping is fine; editing scratches out of a damaged item isn't.

6. Pricing & transparency

Prices on tondomarket are in Ghana Cedi (GHS) and should include all costs the buyer pays you for the item. If delivery is extra, state the delivery fee clearly in the description. If the price is negotiable, say so — but the listed price should still be a realistic anchor, not a placeholder.

Pricing tricks (e.g. quoting an artificially low price to attract clicks then quoting a much higher one in chat) are grounds for suspension.

7. Communication with buyers

Reply quickly. Within the same day is ideal; within an hour during business hours is what top sellers do.
Be polite and clear. Confirm what the buyer is asking before you respond. Treat every chat as a job interview.
Stay on tondomarket or WhatsApp. Moving conversations to less-traceable channels is a common scam pattern; if a buyer or seller insists on it, be cautious.
Don't share buyer information. Names, phone numbers, addresses that buyers shared with you for a transaction must not be re-used for marketing or sold on.

8. Delivery & meet-ups

tondomarket doesn't operate logistics. Sellers and buyers arrange delivery directly. Tips that keep transactions smooth:

For in-person meet-ups, pick a public, busy location — a mall, fuel station, or police-station forecourt during daylight hours.
Confirm the item details once more on arrival before money changes hands.
Use mobile-money or bank transfer with a confirmation receipt; cash is fine for small in-person items but leaves you with no paper trail.
For larger items, use a reputable courier (Bolt Delivery, GIG, Speedaf, etc.). Don't take payment from one buyer and ship to a different address than the one in chat.
For high-value items (over GHS 5,000), consider escrow arrangements through your bank.

9. Returns & refunds

tondomarket doesn't impose a platform-wide return policy because items vary too widely. You — the seller — set your own. Whatever your policy is, state it clearly in your listing description:

"No returns / sold as-is" — fine, but say it.
"Returns within 7 days if unopened" — fine, and helpful for higher-value items.
"7-day defect warranty" — recommended for refurbished electronics; it doubles trust.

Where the item was misrepresented or arrives faulty, the Sale of Goods Act 1962 (Act 137) gives the buyer rights regardless of what your listing says. We will side with the buyer in those cases.

10. Reviews & disputes

Buyers can leave a review after a transaction. You can reply to a review, but you can't have an honest review removed just because it's unfavourable. We will, however, remove:

Reviews from people who didn't actually transact with you.
Reviews that contain personal attacks, slurs, or threats.
Reviews that disclose private contact details, addresses, or payment information.

If a dispute can't be resolved between you and the buyer, either party can email us at support@tondomarket.com. We aren't a court — we can review chat logs and listing pages, but the legal resolution of a contractual dispute is between you and the buyer.

11. Verification & trust badges

Once you've made a few successful transactions, you can apply for a verification badge. Verified sellers submit a copy of a national ID and (for businesses) a business-registration certificate. Verification typically lifts a seller's contact-clicks by 30–50% and is required before you can run paid ad campaigns above a certain budget.

12. Premium subscription & ads

Optional paid services:

Premium subscription — your listings sort higher, you get analytics, you bypass listing limits, and you get a Premium badge on your shop page.
Listing boosts — one-off pushes that put a single listing at the top of category and search results for 24/48/72 hours.
Ad campaigns — sponsored placements in the feed and category pages. You set a budget and duration; we report impressions and clicks.

All of these are managed from the Seller Dashboard. Pricing is on the pricing page. Fees are non-refundable once the service has started running.

13. Fees & payouts

tondomarket does not take a commission on individual sales — the price you list is the price you receive from the buyer. Our revenue comes from the optional services in section 12. No payout is required because money flows directly between the buyer and you.

14. Suspension & appeals

We may pause or close a seller account if we see:

Repeated rule-breaking listings even after warnings.
A pattern of complaints from buyers about misrepresentation, no-shows, or non-delivery.
Suspected fraud, money laundering, or coordinated abuse with another account.
Re-registration of a previously banned account under a new identity.

Severity matters. A one-off honest mistake gets a warning; a deliberate scam ends the account on first detection. To appeal a suspension, email support@tondomarket.com from the email address on your account, briefly state your case, and include any evidence (screenshots, receipts).

15. Closing your shop

You can pause your shop or close it permanently from the Seller Dashboard at any time. Pausing hides your listings without deleting them; closing deletes your listings and demotes your account back to a buyer-only account after a 30-day grace period (during which you can reactivate).

16. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the marketplace evolves. When we do, we'll update the "Effective" date at the top, and for material changes (anything affecting your money, your account standing, or the prohibited-items list) we'll notify all active sellers by email.

17. Questions

Anything in here unclear? Email support@tondomarket.com or visit the contact page. For specific safety advice, the Safety Tips page is also worth a look.