Local Startup Friday Feature: e-AfriCar

e-AfriCar was founded on 4th May 2016 but our operations only commenced on 1st March 2017. It was founded by Chomwa Shikati and Tsolofelo Miladzi to reduce the headaches and costs that come with buying/selling a pre-owned car through using a car dealer or an agent and to make the whole process simple and transparent.

“While our target customers are the everyday car owners or potential car owners we also wish to protect those who have no idea on how to go about the process, from being ripped off. We are creating a peer-to-peer market that will let Zambian consumers sell their cars online. We have built our business around a 240-point thorough inspection that each vehicle will undergo before it is sold.” – Chomwa

Listing a car with e-AfriCar is free. When a customer wants to sell a car all they have to do is fill in an online form and schedule an inspection at a location of their choice. The inspection will last for about 1 and a half hours. They can choose to wait and see how it goes or continue with their business while the e-AfriCar team work. After the inspection sellers are then advised on how much a car can be sold so they get the right value for their car. This is the quoted price and if they agree then the car will be then sold.

e-AfriCar gets its revenue by adding a markup on the quoted price to cover the cost of advertising so the seller still gets their quoted price. The markup ranges from 3 – 10% depending on the vehicle and work put in. The buyer will be able to shop at their own pace from the comfort of their couch without any pressure.

“We want to build a car-buying experience that’s better than the old one in every way, at e-AfriCar quality is at the center of everything we do so if you see a car listed at our site rest assured the title is clean and the car has been thoroughly inspected. Along with every car listing, we will post an AutoCheck report and our inspection results to show you exactly what condition the car is in. We have built an information-gathering website while working in the background to finish the whole site. On this info site customers can still register and schedule an inspection or request to buy a car.” – Chomwa.

Check out e-AfriCar website at http://www.eafricar.com/ Facebook: e-AfriCar, Twitter: @eafricar and on LinkedIn: E-AfriCar.