Efritin.com Prioritises Safety, Enters Nigeria Online Classified Ad Space

Efritin.com has urged internet users to be security conscious as the platform announces readiness to compete in the Nigeria’s online classified ad marketplace.

The platform with its mobile apps seamlessly connects buyer and sellers on almost everything.

Speaking at the press launch of the platform in Lagos on Wednesday, Mr. Babak Tighnavard, chief technology officer of Saltside Story said the site launched its presence in Nigeria three months ago.

According to him, the flexibility of Efritin.com is gradually paying-off with over 10,000 cars listed and other items accounting to 100,000 already.

Tighnavard said that the peculiarity of Efritin.com is that it localizes the operations, secured and convenient service offerings.

“To make your experience on Efritin.com as safe as possible,” Tighnavard said, “Tighnavard team verifies all first time posters by scheduling a visit within 24 hours. So, our representatives conduct the verification by visiting the posters and collecting a copy of one of their valid photo IDs (Passport, Driver’s License, National ID, Voters ID)”.

The icing on the cake, he said, is Efritin’s ability to deliver goods ordered on the site to the buyers and ensures the sellers are surchanged.

This, he said, might have inspired the app been downloaded by 50,000 online shopping savvy Nigerians during a period of three months.

He said “Efritin.com has the widest selection of popular second hand items all over Nigeria, which makes it easy to find exactly what you are looking for. So if you're looking for a car, mobile phone, house, computer or maybe a pet, you will find the best deal on Efritin.com.

“Efritin.com does not specialize in any specific category - here you can buy and sell items in more than 50 different categories. We also carefully review all ads that are being published, to make sure the quality is up to our standards”.

Speaking on the choice of launching the app in Nigeria, Zakaria Hersi, head of Efritin.com, said that as the Africa’s biggest economy and over 170million population, the country is a fertile ground for online market place.

According to him, the achievements recorded in Nigeria on broadband availability and affordability has led to more buyers coming online, hence the entrepreneurial spirit among Nigerians are evidences the platform will thrive.    

During a demo of the app’s cutting edge over competitions, Uche Ajene, marketing manager, Efritin.com, said that the platform has been configured to enable sellers predict about how much buyers are willing to pay, as similar ads will be visible to compete for attention. “The lower the price, the higher the demand;

“Use actual photos - ads with photos of the real item get up to 10 times more views than ads with catalogue images. Take clear photos - use good lighting and different angles.

“Also, provide clear details in your ad as more details give room for more views. Therefore, include keywords and information that buyers will be interested in. Be honest in your description,” she added.

To contain fraud cases, Ajene said, “All of the ads are manually reviewed - if your ad violates our posting rules it will be rejected. You can read what changes you have to make before the ad can be approved in the rejection email”.

“Other Efritin.com's safety measures are, by hiding your email address on ads you post to protect you from spam; giving you the option to hide your phone number on ads you post to protect you from spam; making constant improvements to our technology to detect and prevent suspicious or inappropriate activity behind the scenes and tracking reports of suspicious or illegal activity to prevent offenders from using the site again”.

She added that reporting a safety issue is key too, hence Efritin.com on its part, “is committed to ensuring the privacy of its users and therefore does not share information about its users publicly. However, we are committed to the safety of our users and will cooperate with the police department should we receive any requests for information in connection with fraudulent or other criminal activity”.