(1 August 2018) Over almost two decades of its existence, South African marketplace bobshop.co.za has witnessed some incredible stories of women from around the country making a success of their business on this trading platform.

“We think that it is important to make known their achievements, especially in the month when we celebrate National Women’s Day”, says Bob Shop CEO Jaco Jonker.

A recent survey conducted on the site shows that women make almost 40% of sellers, which is roughly in the line with gender ratio of Bob Shop users in their entirety. Approximately 20% of women sellers trade only occasionally, as a hobby. A little more than a third are employed full time and consider selling on the site as a means of earning an additional income. About a quarter describe themselves as self-employed and working from home,  while another quarter see themselves as business owners, employing one or more staff members.

The rise of marketplaces such as Bob Shop has greatly reduced the cost of starting a business and made ecommerce accessible to all, allowing budding entrepreneurs to establish their own online stores quickly and easily. It is therefore not surprising that this is one of the important avenues through which more women are breaking into ecommerce and achieving success in the field.

The unprecedented flexibility of an online marketplace is also of crucial importance:  “Sellers on Bob Shop decide when and for how long they want to work”, says Jaco Jonker.  “Time and time again, our women sellers have told us how important this flexibility is for them, because women entrepreneurs often still carry on their shoulders a much bigger burden of household and family responsibilities than their male counterparts”.

Pamela Quinton, who sells on Bob Shop as Little Miss Muffet, says that it was important for her to be a stay-at-home mom when she started her business 30 years ago. At the same time, she wanted to indulge her love for rare objects, so she devoted her weekends to visiting flea markets and reselling her finds to antique shops. “The profits were so small that I was about to give up, but an acquaintance mentioned Bob Shop. I listed my first items in January 2008 and was extremely happy with my sales.” She has been selling successfully on the site for ten years, and counting.

Amanda Bothma of Asha Craft also has a decade of selling experience on Bob Shop. She started because she purchased way too many bargains on Bob Shop and had no option but to try to resell them. “I actually made a profit! It was a proverbial light bulb moment”, she comments. In Amanda’s words, Bob Shop is her “dream, business, and passion”, with the biggest advantage being – that her time is her own: “I am disciplined and work office hours, but it is wonderful to know that I can take time off if I need it”, she says.

Elize Venter, whose store on Bob Shop is called Jewels4u, also started as a hobby seller ten years ago and progressed to selling permanently two or three years later. “Selling fine jewellery with diamonds and other gemstones on Bob Shop is today my primary source of income”, she says. Elize values the most being able to work her own hours: “I am grateful because this opportunity allowed me to change my life and start a business which put me in a situation where I was able to leave my full time job”.

“Every new undertaking can be daunting, but the experience of our women sellers shows that everyone can make a success of their online business”, says Bob Shop CEO Jaco Jonker. “We at Bob Shop hope that more South African women with an entrepreneurial flair will follow their example and set off to break the infamous glass ceiling with a computer, internet connection and a small supply of products to sell on our trading platform”, he concludes.