Shipping, Delivery & Pickup

The options

Three ways an item changes hands

You'll see the ones available for a given item at checkout — not every seller offers every option.

Courier delivery

A logistics partner collects from the seller and delivers to your address. You choose the courier and see the price before you pay a naira.

Best for items that aren't nearby

In-person pickup

You and the seller agree a public spot and a time, and you collect it yourself. Common for free items and anything close to you.

Best when it's local, or free

Swap meet-up

For barter, both of you meet, check each other's item, and confirm the exchange. No cash changes hands in person — any top-up goes through BartaBase.

Best for exchanges

When it's delivered

How courier delivery works

Couriers price by distance and item size, not a flat fee — so you only pay for the trip your item actually makes. Everything is paid in one go and held, exactly like a normal purchase.

Choose delivery at checkout

Enter your delivery address. We work out the seller's pickup area and yours to find couriers that cover the route.

Pick a courier

You see every partner covering that route, each with their price and an estimated delivery window. Choose the one that suits you.

Pay once — item plus delivery

You pay the item price and the delivery fee in a single payment, held by BartaBase. Neither the seller nor the courier has been paid yet.

Nobody has been paid

Courier collects and delivers

The partner picks up from the seller and brings it to you. You and the seller both get an email at each step, so you always know where it is.

You confirm receipt

Check the item, then confirm on your Orders page. That single click releases the seller's payment and the courier's fee.

Only now is anyone paid

Courier coverage depends on which partners serve the route between the seller and you. If none do yet, you'll be offered in-person pickup instead of being left stuck.

How delivery is priced

Priced by size, not guesswork

Couriers quote on how much room an item takes rather than its exact weight — nobody's putting a used blender on a scale. Sellers pick a size class when they list.

Small

Fits in a bag or backpack.

Phones, books, clothes, small electronics

Medium

Fills a car boot.

Microwaves, small appliances, boxed items

Large

Needs a van.

Furniture, fridges, two-person carries

Your delivery price is the courier's own rate for your route and size class, shown before you pay. There's no surprise charge at the door.

Following your delivery

Where your order is, at every step

Each stage below updates on your Orders page, and an email goes to both you and the seller when it changes.

Paid Your payment is received and held. The courier is notified there's a job.

Courier accepted A partner has taken the job and will collect from the seller.

Picked up The item has been collected from the seller.

In transit It's on its way to you.

Delivered The courier has dropped it with you. Now check it and confirm receipt.

Confirmed You've confirmed receipt. The seller and courier are paid and the order closes.

Meeting in person

Doing a pickup or a swap safely

When you collect an item or meet for a swap, a few habits keep it simple and safe.

Meet somewhere public

A mall, a bank entrance, a busy filling station — somewhere with people around, in daylight. Never a private address you don't know.

Check before you confirm

For a purchase, confirming receipt releases the money and can't be undone — so look the item over first. For a swap, don't hand yours over until you've seen theirs.

No cash in person on a swap

Any balancing top-up runs through BartaBase, so nobody carries money to a meet-up and nobody has to trust the other to pay afterwards.

Don't confirm receipt until the item is genuinely with you. If a seller pushes you to confirm early "to speed up the payout", stop — that's the one move this whole system exists to protect you from. Report it instead.

The practical bits

Cost, timing and coverage

Who pays for delivery The buyer, unless the seller has marked delivery free on the listing. The fee is the courier's, and it's shown at checkout before you pay.

How long delivery takes The estimated window is set by the courier you choose and shown when you pick them. Most local runs are same or next day.

If no courier accepts in time If no partner accepts within about 6 hours, you can pick another courier or have the delivery portion refunded.

If no courier covers the route You'll be offered in-person pickup instead, rather than being left with an order that can't move.

If you don't confirm after delivery We'll remind you. If an item is marked delivered and you neither confirm nor report a problem within 7 days, the order closes so the seller and courier aren't left waiting. Report a problem before then and the clock stops.

Questions

The things people ask

Yes, when the seller offers pickup. Agree a public spot and time, and still confirm receipt on your Orders page once you have the item — that confirmation is what releases the payment to the seller.

Only after they accept the job, and only the details they need to collect from the seller and deliver to you. The seller's address is likewise only shared with the courier once the job is accepted.

Open the order and use Report a problem. That reaches us and pauses any deadline on the order while we look into it, so nothing is released from under you.

If you report the problem before confirming and we return your item payment, the delivery portion depends on whether the courier already completed the trip. A delivery that was actually made has been earned, even if you later fall out with the seller.

Before the courier collects, contact us through the order and we'll see what's possible. Once it's been picked up, the route is set and the address can't change mid-trip.

Swaps are handled in person at a meet-up rather than by courier, since two items are moving in opposite directions. Both of you confirm the exchange happened, and any balancing top-up goes through BartaBase, never cash on the day.

Get it delivered, or meet in the middle

Whichever way an item reaches you, your money is held by BartaBase until you confirm it's in your hands.

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This page explains how delivery, pickup and swaps work in plain language. It sits alongside our Money Back Guarantee, and the full terms are in our Terms of Service. Where they differ, the Terms apply. Questions about a specific order are best sent through Help & Support.