Buying with checkout

There are two ways to buy on Ahiuwa:

Contact the seller

Most listings. You chat or call, agree on a price, and meet or arrange delivery yourselves.

Buy through checkout

Listings from verified shops that have products in stock show a Buy button. You pay Ahiuwa, and the seller is only paid once your order has arrived.

Services, jobs, property and large vehicles are always contact-the-seller. Buying online can also be switched off in some countries. If you agreed a deal in a chat with someone who is not a shop, they can send you an invoice so you still get the same protection.

Choose the product (for example the size or colour), the quantity, and tap Add to cart. Your cart can hold up to 50 items and is grouped by seller, because each seller packs, ships and is paid separately — one checkout makes one order per seller.

The cart always shows the current state: if a price changed, something sold out, or the seller does not deliver to where you are, the line is marked and explains why.

1. Open your cart and choose Checkout.
2. Pick or add a delivery address. Delivery fees can depend on where it is going. Some shops deliver free once you spend enough or buy enough; your cart shows how much more that takes.
3. Choose a delivery method for each seller (see below).
4. Check the total: the items, delivery and buyer protection, which holds your money until you confirm delivery. Then pay on the secure payment page of our payment partner (Paystack or Flutterwave) by card, bank transfer or the other options it offers. Your card details go to the payment partner, never to Ahiuwa or the seller.

While you pay, the items are held for you for 30 minutes, so nobody else can buy the last one. If you do not finish paying, they go back on sale. If a payment arrives after that — for example you paid on the payment page after the checkout expired — the money is sent back to you automatically.

Each seller chooses which of these they offer on a listing:

Handover

You meet the seller and collect it in person.

Seller’s courier

The seller sends it with their own rider, a bus park or an informal courier.

Tracked courier

The seller books a courier and gives you a tracking number.

Digital

Nothing physical is shipped.

Every order moves through these steps, and you get a notification at each one:

Paid

Your payment went through. The seller has been told.

Accepted

The seller confirmed they will send it.

Shipped

It is on its way. For tracked couriers you will see the carrier and tracking number.

Delivered

The seller says it arrived, or you confirmed it.

Completed

Done. The seller is paid.

Cancelled / Refunded

The order was cancelled and your money was sent back.

Disputed

You reported a problem. The money is on hold while it is sorted out.

When you pay, your order gets a 6-digit delivery code. Only you can see it, on the order page. When the parcel is in your hands, read the code to the seller or rider. They enter it, and it proves you received it.

When the order arrives and you are happy, tap Confirm delivery. That completes the order and pays the seller. If you do nothing, the order completes by itself 14 days after it is marked delivered.

Even after you confirm, you have 3 days to report that what arrived is not as described — you sign for a parcel, not for what is inside it.

You can cancel an order yourself until the seller accepts it. The price and delivery go back to the card or account you paid with (buyer protection is not refunded). After the seller accepts, ask them in the chat; a seller can cancel before shipping, and you are refunded the same way.

Open the order and choose Report a problem. There are two kinds of report:

It never arrived

Settled by proof of handover: the delivery code or a courier’s record. You cannot use this after you confirmed delivery.

Not as described

Wrong, broken, fake or different from the listing. Add at least one photo of what you received (up to 6).

While a report is open, the seller is not paid. Our team looks at the order's delivery record, your photos and the chat, and decides: either you get the price and delivery back in full, or the seller is paid. Buyer protection paid for the secure payment and for holding your money, so it is not refunded. Refunds go back to the card or account you paid with; how long they take to show depends on your bank.

When an order is completed you can review each listing in it: 1 to 5 stars, a few words and up to 6 photos. Only people who bought and received the item can review it, which is what makes the stars worth trusting. You can edit or delete your review later; one order gives you one review per listing.

Reviews appear on the listing, with a star breakdown and a gallery of buyers’ photos.