SOUTH AFRICA – Jan, 2015 – After much anticipation LiveBids Auctions has been launched in South Africa. LiveBids offers a unique online buying and selling platform that incorporates different aspects of various social media.

This means that a choice of interests, following friend’s, search hundreds of products while buying items for a fraction of the cost and selling them to make real profits.

LiveBids aims to help buyers and sellers fully connect in trade with seamless transactions. It is an online marketplace that is simple, interactive and social. It allows users to experience a real-time marketplace, buy products lower than the market value and socially follow buyers and sellers.

Two formats are used, namely online auctions and pay-per-bid. The first of these is the traditional online auction model, where items are sold to the highest bidder. The second is a pay-per-bid model, where would-be buyers purchase credits to bid on items. These credits go to the seller, which is how it is possible to purchase big-ticket items for nominal amounts.

The founders of LiveBids, Rory Vollmer and Paul Hoft, explain that “the idea was to create an online marketplace that was simple, interactive and social, helping buyers and sellers connect and trade. The marketplace is completely people driven”.

Visit www.livebids.co.za to empower yourself by becoming an online buyer and seller today!

For further information regarding LiveBids Auctions, or to schedule an interview, please contact: 

Contact Rory Vollmer,

Co-Founder and Head of Marketing

Phone: +27 (0) 21 300 8446
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website: www.livebids.co.za

The eCommerce Africa Confex is proving to be Africa's most influential eCommerce gathering as we bring you face to face with the key individuals in the industry. The conference agenda will cover all things eCommerce, from how to expand your business into Africa to the survival and flourishing of SME's and small businesses. 

Raphael Afaedor, Co-Founder of Jumia and CEO/Co-Founder of Supermart, together with Simdul Shagaya, CEO and Founder of Konga.com will both be sitting on a panel discussing how to sell into Africa and grow your business beyond South Africa. 

Raphael is part of the advisory panel that has been consulted to tailor the event agenda. He co-founded one of Nigeria's largest online stores, Jumia, in 2012 and has since left to start Supermart, an online platform that allows the consumer to shop from over 18 000 grocery items. Simdul is the CEO and co-founder of recently Naspers-invested, Konga.com which is known as Africa's answer to Amazon.com. He was on Forbe's list of "The 10 Most Powerful Men in Africa 2014" and also won "Entrepreneur of the Year" at the 2013 All Africa Business Leaders Awards. 

SME's and startups can gather valuable insight during a panel that will discuss what small businesses, without the big corporate budgets, can do to build a business that will not only survive but thrive and flourish in the eCommerce industry. Panellists for this discussion include:

• David Muller, Managing Director of CyberCellar

• Phaedon Gourtsoyannis, Founder of Cape Coffee Beans

• Gary Hadfield, CEO of loot.co.za

• Olivier Chas, Managing Director and Co-Founder of CitySlicker

The eCommerce Africa Confex takes places on the 3rd and 4th February 2015 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

Should you wish to register as a delegate or are interested in sponsor or exhibitor opportunities, please contact Greg Johnson on 021 180 4700 or email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

{pp}Many bidorbuy sellers report a positive effect of the holiday season on their sales as economic slowdown drives consumers online in search of affordable gifts. Retailers nationwide are looking forward to Christmas shopping with all the eagerness of a thirsty traveller approaching an oasis. They are hoping to make up at least partially for the slump that saw retail sales decrease by 1.7 percent year-on-year in the first eight months of this year.