ToneTrade policies
Fees & Platform Charges
1. Two separate fees on successful sales
Sellers should plan for two different cuts — not one. ToneTrade’s marketplace commission and TradeSafe’s escrow/payment fee are separate. The buyer’s checkout total is the listing price plus courier (if any); ToneTrade and TradeSafe fees are deducted from the seller’s side of a successful escrow release (seller pays TradeSafe on ToneTrade).
2. ToneTrade platform fee
On successful marketplace orders, ToneTrade charges a platform commission of 1% + R10 fixed per successful order (settled via Dokan / marketplace commission). Exact commission can vary if admin rules differ per category or seller — the ToneTrade commission amount shown at cart/checkout for that cart is authoritative for display.
3. TradeSafe escrow fee (seller-paid)
TradeSafe charges a separate escrow / payment fee for processing the transaction. On ToneTrade this fee is paid by the seller (not included in the 1% + R10). TradeSafe’s published integration rates (exclusive of VAT) depend on how the buyer pays into escrow, for example: manual EFT about 0.75%; Ozow about 1.5%; Visa/Mastercard about 3.0%; SnapScan about 3.5%; other gateways per TradeSafe’s schedule. Rates can change — see TradeSafe’s fees page and your live gateway for the amount on a given order.
Official TradeSafe fee tables: tradesafe.co.za/fees.
4. Courier fees
Delivery fees are set by sellers per listing and paid by the buyer at checkout (unless the listing offers free shipping).
5. Transparency at cart & checkout
Cart and checkout may show an informational breakdown of ToneTrade commission and an estimated TradeSafe seller fee. Those lines do not add an extra charge on top of the buyer’s order total beyond what WooCommerce / Dokan / TradeSafe already calculate for settlement.
6. Listing cost
Posting a standard listing on ToneTrade is free unless a paid promotion product is introduced later and clearly labelled.
