How to sell on WhatsApp in South Africa: catalogue, orders and getting paid

If you run a small business in South Africa, you are probably already selling on WhatsApp whether you planned to or not. Customers message to ask what you have, how much it costs and whether you deliver. It works, because everyone is already there. It also gets messy fast: prices sent as screenshots, orders spread across fifty chats, and payments you have to chase or double-check.

This guide covers how to sell on WhatsApp properly, from the catalogue to getting paid, and where WhatsApp on its own starts to run out.

Start with the WhatsApp Business app

The free WhatsApp Business app is a separate app from ordinary WhatsApp, made for exactly this. It gives you a business profile, a catalogue, quick replies, automatic greeting and away messages, and labels for sorting chats. If you are selling from your personal WhatsApp, moving to the Business app is the single biggest improvement you can make. It can now run two accounts on one phone, so you can keep a personal number and a business number side by side.

Set up a catalogue that actually shows

A catalogue lets customers browse what you sell without you sending photos one by one. Each item needs, at minimum:

• A name
• At least one photo
• The country the product comes from

You can also add a price, a description, a link and your own product code, and up to ten photos or videos per item.

Why your catalogue is not showing

South Africans search for this one often, and the usual answer is that items are reviewed before they appear. WhatsApp checks every item and its photos against its business policy, and adds approved items to your catalogue automatically. A new item can take a while to show, and one that breaks the policy will not show at all. Catalogues are also meant for listing products and services, not for adverts, so a graphic that is really a poster or a promotion is more likely to be rejected than a clean product photo.

If an item is missing, check it is a genuine product listing with a clear photo, and give the review time to finish before re-uploading it.

Make it easy to browse

Group items into collections, such as "Candles", "Gift boxes" or "Services", so customers are not scrolling through everything. Use real photos on a plain background. Put the price on every item. "How much is it?" is a question you can answer before it is asked, and every one you answer in advance is a conversation saved.

Keep orders straight

The hardest part of selling on WhatsApp is not the selling, it is remembering who ordered what.

• Use labels. The Business app lets you tag chats as "New order", "Paid", "Ready" and "Delivered". Five seconds per chat saves a lot of scrolling.
• Confirm every order in writing. Before you pack anything, send back one message listing the items, quantities, total and delivery details, and ask the customer to reply yes. It avoids most arguments later.
• Keep one list outside WhatsApp. A notebook or a simple spreadsheet with the date, name, items and status. WhatsApp is a conversation, not a record.
• Save your common answers as quick replies: prices, delivery areas, how to pay, turnaround times.

Getting paid safely

WhatsApp is where you agree the sale. In South Africa, the payment usually happens somewhere else. The common options:

• EFT. Free and familiar, but slow to confirm, and it is where most scams happen (see below).
• A payment link or QR code from a card payment provider. The customer pays by card on a secure page and you get paid out to your bank account. Providers charge a fee per transaction, so compare them before you sign up.
• Cash or card on delivery or collection, which suits local orders and repeat customers.

The fake proof-of-payment scam

A customer places an order, sends a screenshot or PDF that looks like a bank payment confirmation, and asks you to ship today. The money never arrives. Fake proof of payment is one of the most common scams small sellers face.

The rule is simple: only ship when the money is in your account, confirmed in your own banking app, not on a screenshot someone sent you. A genuine customer will understand, and a scammer usually disappears.

When WhatsApp on its own is not enough

WhatsApp is excellent for conversations and weak at being a shop. Your catalogue lives inside WhatsApp, so people who find you on Instagram, Google or a flyer cannot browse it without messaging you first. Orders arrive as chat messages, not as a list. And there is nothing to show a customer who wants to browse quietly before they talk to anyone.

This is where a simple online shop that sends orders into WhatsApp helps. The customer browses your products and prices on a page anyone can open, chooses what they want, and sends you the order as a single tidy WhatsApp message, with the items and quantities already written out. You get the order in WhatsApp, where you already work, and a record of it somewhere you can find again.

Where Newbi fits

That is how the shop on a Newbi card works. Your card shows your products with photos and prices. Customers add what they want to a cart and send the order to you on WhatsApp, where it arrives already listing every item and quantity. Each order is also saved in your dashboard, and you are notified when one comes in. Work you price per job can show as "Custom pricing" with an enquire button, so customers message you for a quote instead of seeing R0.00. You can also point checkout at a payment link of your own.

On the Pro plan your card holds up to ten products, on Professional up to a hundred. You can put the same link in your WhatsApp Business profile, your Instagram bio and on a printed QR code, so everyone sees the same shop wherever they found you, and you can try it free for 14 days.

Quick answers

Do I need the WhatsApp Business app to sell on WhatsApp? Not strictly, but it gives you the catalogue, labels, quick replies and automatic messages that make selling manageable. It is free.

Can customers pay me inside WhatsApp? The WhatsApp Business app itself does not take payments in South Africa. Some banks offer in-chat payment services for small businesses, such as Nedbank's, but most sellers agree the sale on WhatsApp and then send a payment link or take EFT or cash. Whichever you use, only hand over goods once the money is confirmed.

Why can't customers see my catalogue? Usually because items are still being reviewed, or an item was rejected against WhatsApp's business policy. Check it is a clear product listing and allow time for the review.