TAPAPI (Pty) Ltd · Registration 2026/529514/07 · Pretoria, South Africa

Protected deals terms

Version 1.3 · 10 November 2026 (no fee on a deal paid by 31 December 2026) · Version 1.2 · 2 November 2026 (the seller has 7 days to send, was 5; seller references; the seller log and bad marks; version 1.1 renamed Held deals to Protected deals) · Read with the Terms of Use and the Privacy notice. How it works in plain words: Protected deals.

1. What these terms are

1. These terms add to the Terms of Use for every Protected deal. Where the two differ for a Protected deal, these terms apply. They apply to every deal made or paid from the day they are published.
2. A Protected deal is paid wallet to wallet, from money already in the buyer's wallet. It is not a card payment and not an online payment under section 1.4 of the Shop Terms, and it needs no approval under that section. A shop that also takes other payments online still follows the Shop Terms for those.
3. "Seller" is the wallet that makes the deal. "Buyer" is the wallet on the cell number the deal names. "We", "us" and "TapAPI" mean TAPAPI (Pty) Ltd. "Head office" is TapAPI's team that looks at problems.

2. What TapAPI does, and does not do

1. We hold the buyer's money in the Protected deals wallet from the moment they pay, and we pay it out or back only as these terms say.
2. We are not a party to the sale. The sale is between the buyer and the seller. We do not sell, inspect, store, send or insure the goods, and we do not promise that they are as described, that they will arrive, or that a courier or PAXI will deliver them.
3. Protected deals is not insurance and not a guarantee. If money is paid out to the seller under these terms, we do not pay it again.
4. Nothing in these terms takes away a right you have under the Consumer Protection Act or the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act that the law does not allow to be taken away. Your rights against the other person in the sale stay yours.

3. Who may use Protected deals

1. Seller: an adult using their own TapAPI wallet, with their ID checked, and a cell number on the wallet. A landlord wallet and TapAPI's own wallets cannot take part.
2. Buyer: the person whose own wallet is on the cell number the deal names. Only that wallet can pay the deal.
3. You use your own wallet for yourself. You never give anyone your wallet PIN or a one-time PIN, and never let anyone use your wallet. Doing so is fraud under the Terms of Use, and the wallet will be locked.
4. We may refuse, pause or close Protected deals for a wallet, and switch Protected deals off for new deals at any time. Deals already paid then carry on to the end.

4. What may be sold

1. Only lawful goods or services that the seller owns or may sell, described truthfully, at the price in the deal.
2. Never anything that the Shop Terms do not allow a shop to sell, and never stolen, counterfeit or illegal goods. A deal for any of these is closed and the money goes back to the buyer.

5. Making a deal

1. The seller makes the deal in their wallet: what it is, the price, and the buyer's cell number. A deal is from R10 to R5 000. A new seller can hold up to R2 000 a deal until three different buyers whose IDs are checked have been paid out on deals of R100 or more.
2. Every deal is locked to two numbers: the seller's wallet number and the buyer's cell number. Each side sees the other's number partly hidden, to check it against the chat they are having.
3. The deal has a code starting with HD. The deal waits in the buyer's wallet under Protected deals. The seller may also send the code or a link to the deal by WhatsApp. A buyer never needs to click a link to pay.
4. Only a seller makes a Protected deal. A message from a buyer that offers a Protected deal or a link "to receive your money" is not from us.
5. An unpaid deal closes by itself after 7 days. The seller can close it before that.

6. Paying

1. The buyer pays the full price from their own wallet, with their wallet PIN. Paying into a hold costs the buyer nothing. Card payments are never used for a Protected deal.
2. From then the money is held. It is not the seller's until it is paid out, and the buyer cannot spend it while it is held. No interest is earned or paid on held money.

7. Sending

1. The seller sends it within 7 days of payment and taps I sent it, saying how: courier or PAXI with the tracking number, or by hand. A seller may add a photo of the hand-over or the parcel.
2. A tracking number belongs to one deal. A number already used on another deal is refused.
3. If it is not marked sent within 7 days, all the money goes back to the buyer by itself, with no fee.
4. The seller may give all the money back at any time before it is paid out, with their wallet PIN, with no fee.

8. Arrival and pay-out

1. The buyer taps It arrived, with their wallet PIN, only when the goods are in their hands. This pays the seller at once and cannot be undone. It cannot be tapped before the seller has marked the deal sent, or while head office is checking the deal. It arrived within 24 hours of sending or hand-over is asked about twice.
2. If the buyer says nothing, the seller is paid 7 days after the deal was marked sent. The buyer can ask once for 7 more days. We remind the buyer before an automatic pay-out.
3. Every Protected deal ends within 21 days of payment, except a deal with a problem, which waits for head office.
4. The pay-out goes to the seller's wallet, less the fee in section 10. If either wallet is on hold, nothing moves and the deal goes to head office.

9. Problems and decisions

1. The buyer taps Problem before the money is paid out if it did not come, came broken, or is not what was described. The money then stays held and no automatic pay-out happens.
2. Both sides tell us their side in Protected deals: the tracking number, photos and what was said. We may ask either side for more, and we may ask the buyer to send the goods back first, with a tracking number, before we decide. Who pays to send it back is between the buyer and the seller; we may take it into account.
3. Head office then decides: pay the seller, or give the money back to the buyer. Both sides are told the decision and why. We decide on what we are shown, as fairly as we can, and our decision on the money in the hold is final.
4. A decision against a side stays on that side's record.

10. Fees

Every fee is also on the fees page. Part of the fee may go to the TapAPI partner whose wallet the seller uses.

11. Ratings and records

1. After a deal is paid out, the buyer and the seller may each rate the other once: 1 to 5 stars and one line, within 30 days. A rating stays hidden until both have rated or 7 days have passed.
2. Ratings must be honest and about the deal. Each person counts once in a seller's or buyer's stars. We may remove words that are abusive, private or untrue, but not the stars.
3. Records show deals done, stars, problems decided against and deals not sent in time. A seller's record shows on the deal. A buyer's record shows only to a seller that buyer has paid.
4. Names show as first name and the first letter of the surname. Cell numbers show partly hidden.
5. A seller who may sell can get a seller reference (PS and six letters and numbers) to put in an advert. Anyone can type it at tapapi.co.za/check and see the seller’s name as above, that the ID is checked, the seller’s record and stars, and part of the number. A new reference stops the old one. A seller reference shows who the seller is. It is not a deal, and we do not check or promise what the seller sells.
6. We keep a log of each seller’s bad marks. A bad mark is: a deal not sent in time; a problem decided against the seller; a paid deal the seller gave the money back on; and 1 or 2 stars from a buyer, from when those stars could show. Marks from the same buyer count once, and a paid deal given back counts towards a pause only when the buyer’s ID is checked. The seller can see their marks in their wallet.
7. Bad marks from 3 different buyers within 90 days pause the seller: no new Protected deals, and no payments into their unpaid deals, until our team has looked and lifted the pause; the seller is told. A lift forgives the marks before it. We may also pause a seller ourselves. Deals already paid carry on. A mark that was not the seller’s fault may be taken off; it stays in the log, marked as taken off.

12. Staying safe

1. Pay only inside your own wallet, with your wallet PIN. You never need to click a link to pay a Protected deal.
2. TapAPI never asks for your card number, your bank login, your wallet PIN or a one-time PIN, by phone, WhatsApp, SMS or email.
3. Never tap It arrived before the goods are in your hands, whatever anyone says.
4. To get paid you click nothing, scan nothing and type no wallet PIN. A paid deal shows in your own wallet as paid and held.
5. Do not pay or refund anyone outside the hold for a deal. Money paid outside the hold is not protected.

13. Fraud and misuse

1. We may stop a deal, hold its money for head office, freeze a wallet, close deals and refuse Protected deals where we see fraud or misuse: fake goods, fake or reused tracking numbers, deals between people acting together, ratings that are not real, or a wallet used by someone other than its holder.
2. We may report fraud to the police, the Southern African Fraud Prevention Service, banks and other payment providers, and share what the law allows. We keep records of each deal for as long as the law needs.

14. Your information

For a deal we use the names, partly hidden numbers, photos, tracking numbers, messages and records described here. The seller's hand-over photo is seen by the buyer, the seller and head office; a buyer's photos with a problem are seen by head office. We handle all of it as the Privacy notice says.

15. Our responsibility

We are responsible for holding the money and paying it out or back as these terms say. As far as the law allows, we are not responsible for the goods, their delivery, couriers or PAXI, or what the other person does, and our responsibility for a deal is limited to the money held for it.

16. Changes and contact

We may change these terms and will publish each new version here. A deal already paid follows the version in force when it was paid. Questions or a fake deal to report: help@tapapi.co.za, or Get help in your wallet.