Terms & Conditions

1. Operator and contact

FLASHFLOOR is operated by Origintime (Pty) Ltd, a company registered in South Africa, of 7 Salisbury Road, South Africa. For legal notices, complaints, suspected unlawful goods or account queries, email james@origintime.co.za.

The brand name is currently a working name.

2. Trade-only service and account eligibility

The service connects pawn shops and second-hand dealers for outright sales of lawfully tradable goods. You must be at least 18, act for a legitimate business and have authority to bind it. Provide accurate business details and a business address, confirm your email and keep your account secure.

Both pawn shops and dealers must submit SHGA registration, CIPC registration and a business phone number. Admins must check registrations, phone contact and premises before approving a business. Shops cannot list and dealers cannot offer before approval. Changes to these details require fresh verification. Verification is a platform access decision, not SAPS registration, a credit-provider licence, proof of ownership or a guarantee of honesty or item quality. Every trader remains responsible for obtaining and maintaining registrations, licences and permits required for its actual activities, and supplying evidence when requested.

3. Second-Hand Goods Act: trader duties

Where the Second-Hand Goods Act 6 of 2009 and its regulations apply, each trader must hold valid registration for the relevant business, premises and activities, and comply with applicable conditions. Platform membership does not replace registration.

• Verify sellers’ identities and authority to sell, and maintain the prescribed acquisition, disposal, seller and item records, including identifying marks or serial numbers where required.
• Observe applicable retention, inspection and statutory holding periods before disposal or alteration. A 30–60 minute listing window never shortens a statutory holding period.
• Do not list goods still subject to redemption rights, a legal hold, another person’s ownership or restrictions on disposal.
• Do not acquire, offer or transfer stolen or reasonably suspected stolen goods. Make required reports to SAPS, preserve evidence and cooperate with lawful inspections and requests.
• Comply with category-specific rules, including those for communication equipment or controlled metals where applicable.

The platform’s listing, offer and rating history is not a substitute for a trader’s statutory register or proof of lawful acquisition.

4. Pawn transactions and credit are not offered here

The platform does not offer loans, credit applications, collateral handling or redemption services. Listings must be outright sales of goods the shop is legally entitled to dispose of. Merely trading with a pawn shop does not turn a sale into a pawn transaction.

A loan secured by goods, or another arrangement falling within the National Credit Act 34 of 2005, must not be disguised as a sale. Pawn and credit obligations, including registration where required, disclosures and redemption rights, remain the trader’s responsibility. Do not use this marketplace to arrange such credit.

5. Jewellery, precious metals and prohibited goods

Traders must establish lawful possession and transfer rights for jewellery, watches and vintage items, accurately describe authenticity, metal content, condition and known defects, and disclose material uncertainty. Comply with the Precious Metals Act 37 of 2005 and any permit or authorisation requirements applicable to the specific item and activity. Ordinary jewellery, bullion and unworked precious metals do not necessarily have the same rules.

Do not list unlawful, counterfeit, stolen or suspected stolen goods, unworked precious metals or controlled-metal scrap without the required lawful authorisation, or any item you cannot legally sell. A category appearing in the interface is not legal permission to trade it.

6. Listings, offers and commitment to complete

Shops select a 30, 45 or 60 minute offer window. Verified dealers may make one offer per listing and update it while pending and while the listing is live. This is not an automatic highest-bid auction: the shop chooses whether to accept an offer. Listing an item does not oblige the shop to sell it, accept any offer or sell exclusively through this platform.

Once an offer is accepted, both the pawn shop and the dealer are expected to honour the agreed price and disclosed conditions and complete the transaction. An accepted deal is a serious commercial commitment, not an optional reservation. Dealers must make offers only for items they genuinely intend and are able to purchase. Shops must accept only when they are ready and entitled to sell. Neither party should use acceptance to hold an item, test a price or continue shopping for a better deal.

Under these platform terms, in-platform offers and acceptance are intended as non-binding expressions of intent rather than, by themselves, a legally binding sale contract. This does not remove the commitment required by the platform’s membership rules. The parties must separately confirm the final sale terms, including inspection, payment and collection arrangements. A separate agreement or the parties’ conduct may create legally enforceable obligations under applicable South African law; these terms do not override those obligations or statutory rights.

Withdrawal from an accepted deal must be supported by legitimate grounds, such as a material discrepancy in the item, suspected unlawful goods, failure of an expressly agreed inspection condition, a counterparty’s failure to perform, or circumstances genuinely beyond the member’s reasonable control. Changing your mind, receiving a better offer, finding a cheaper item or avoidably failing to arrange funds is not an acceptable reason under the membership rules. Notify the other party promptly, explain the issue and retain supporting evidence where available. Any statutory right to cancel remains unaffected.

Unjustified withdrawal is a breach of the platform’s membership rules. Repeated failure to honour accepted deals by either a pawn shop or a dealer may result in account suspension or permanent removal, following review under section 9.

Acceptance records a deal awaiting inspection and collection; other pending offers are retained as runner-ups but cannot be acted on while a deal is accepted. Either participant may report failure with a reason. An admin hears both sides and may reopen a 30, 45 or 60 minute offer window, retaining pending runner-ups. Previously declined offers are not restored. Strikes require an admin-reviewed finding of unjustified withdrawal; a report alone does not create a strike. Offers and acceptance close when the timer expires. A sold status records in-platform acceptance only, not proof of a concluded sale, payment, collection or transfer of ownership. State any inspection, collection or other material conditions clearly in the listing or offer before acceptance. No automatic transfer of money occurs. Service outages may prevent offers or acceptance; the platform does not promise extensions or a particular sale outcome. Statutory remedies remain unaffected.

7. Rands, settlement and collection

All listing prices, offers and platform amounts are in South African rands (ZAR). Shops and dealers arrange payment, inspection, invoices, taxes and collection directly. No deposits or payment before inspection or collection at the shop’s verified premises. Agree on payment timing, delivery costs, risk and ownership transfer before the exchange. Sellers must disclose whether their price includes VAT where applicable and issue any legally required invoice.

The operator does not receive or hold purchase money, act as escrow, verify settlement or guarantee delivery. There are no success fees on item transactions. Do not rely on a payment screenshot alone as proof of cleared funds.

8. Platform subscriptions

Subscription billing is not yet connected. No automatic subscription charge is authorised simply by accepting these terms. Before any paid subscription starts, the operator must disclose the plan, rand price, VAT treatment, free-period end, renewal frequency, cancellation process and refund terms, and obtain any required payment authorisation.

Subscription pricing changes must be disclosed before they affect a renewal; they do not retrospectively change an accepted item price. Any statutory cancellation or cooling-off rights that apply remain available.

9. Ratings, misuse and enforcement

After a deal is accepted, each participant may rate the other once, from 1 to 5 stars, with an optional comment. Ratings must reflect an honest experience. Do not publish identity numbers, addresses, threats, defamatory content or another person’s confidential information.

The operator may restrict or suspend accounts, remove unlawful or misleading listings and preserve relevant records where there is a credible safety, fraud or legal concern. The commitment rules apply equally to dealers and pawn shops. Repeated unjustified withdrawal from accepted deals may lead to suspension or permanent removal. The operator will review reports, available evidence, the member’s explanation and any pattern of previous defaults, distinguishing legitimate withdrawal from avoidable non-performance. A declined offer or a listing that attracts no suitable offer is not, by itself, grounds for this sanction. Off-platform completion cannot be independently verified by the platform, so an accepted status alone is not evidence of misconduct. Where lawful and practical, the operator will explain the reason and allow a response. Report concerns using the contact in section 1; suspected crime should also be reported to SAPS.

10. Privacy and records

Read the Privacy notice for account data, public profile and rating information, private business addresses and lawful disclosures. Traders must separately comply with POPIA for personal information they collect or receive. Do not upload identity documents or seller register entries into public listings.

11. Statutory rights and liability

South African law applies. Calling the service trade-only does not automatically exclude the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 or the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002; their application depends on the parties and transaction. Nothing here excludes rights or remedies that cannot lawfully be excluded, including applicable cancellation, disclosure, quality, refund or cooling-off rights.

The operator is not the seller of listed goods and does not guarantee authenticity, title, valuation, fitness or a completed transaction. Participants remain responsible for their representations and performance. No clause excludes liability for fraud, gross negligence, wilful misconduct or other liability that South African law prohibits excluding. A blanket “voetstoots” label does not override non-excludable rights.

12. Complaints, updates and acceptance records

Email the operator with the listing reference, relevant dates and a description of the concern. Do not email sensitive identity records unless a secure channel is arranged. Parties should try to resolve disagreements fairly; access to courts, SAPS and competent regulators is not restricted.

New accounts explicitly agree to this version during signup; the platform records the version and acceptance time. Existing accounts are not treated as having accepted merely because they predate these terms. Material changes require notice and any fresh agreement required by law.

South African source legislation

• Second-Hand Goods Act 6 of 2009
• National Credit Act 34 of 2005
• Precious Metals Act 37 of 2005
• Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008
• Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002
• Information Regulator — POPIA guidance

Consult the current Acts, regulations and applicable regulator guidance. These summaries do not replace the legislation or tailored legal advice.