Pikaba is a social shopping network: place where you can find the items you need (cars, electronics and books – anything) with a good price or discount and also can get an advice from your social network. Pikaba is like a reverse auction where sellers propose their goods and services and buyer selects the best offer.

The shopping experience at Pikaba is easily explained in 3 steps:

1. Request posting. Consumer requests are at the heart of your Pikaba experience. When you request something, you signal to Pikaba merchants and other members your intention to purchase goods or services. What can you request? Just about anything.

2. Getting quotes and recommendations. Some Pikaba users can give you an advice where you can find the item you need and sellers will give you their quotes for this product.

3. Closing the deal. On the last step, you select the quote you like the most. Then contact a merchant to make the deal at the local store. Direct transactions at Pikaba are coming soon.

Pikaba for buyers

How can I register?

To register go to Join Now page and enter all required information like username, password, email and ZIP code. You can also register by creating a request using the Post Request buttons spread all over the site – in this case system will automatically create Pikaba account for you and you'll get an email with your login and password.

Pay attention, that fields marked with * are required to fill for Pikaba registration. Also you can click on the "Become a seller" button to register as Pikaba vendor and sell your goods and services.

What is "request" and how to create it?

Request is the main consumer tool at Pikaba. By creating your request you signal Pikaba vendors that you are looking for some products, and make it possible for our system to inform them about it.

There are 4 types of requests at Pikaba:

Want to buy , the most popular type, helps people to buy items they need.

Need service , if you are looking for a specific service.

For free , if you are looking for donation or some other free stuff.

For rent , for people who are looking to rent property or things.

You can create a request by clicking on any of our special buttons, like "Get Started! It`s FREE" or "Post New Request". It is really easy and hard to miss :-). Simply enter the product or service name you are looking for, price range and your email. We will automatically suggest your physical location, but you are free to edit it.

As for the registration, you have to fill out only required fields, they are marked with the * – our moderators will edit your request as fast as they can by adding right tags and pictures to make it more useful for all users, but remember that the more information you give us the better it will look after moderation. And, of course, you can edit your request after moderation.

How can I edit my request?

To edit your request you should be signed in and enter My requests page where you can manage all your requests. There you can click on the "Edit" button and you`ll be redirected to the request editing page. Here you can edit title, description, price, tags and even upload your own image for your request. Be sure you make correct changes, because our moderators will not moderate your request after you`ve edited it.

What is a quote?

Quote is the major sales tool for Pikaba merchants to convert leads to sales. When the seller finds the buyers who want to buy her products, she can post a custom quote to that buyer. Our goal is to provide sellers with real time leads and to offer buyers unique quotes from sellers.

Inside quote the seller can describe product details, warranty, shipping information and the price. Users get email notifications and review all quotes to select the best one and contact the seller. We are planning to introduce SMS notification pretty soon to make Pikaba experience real time.

Quotes can also be used as coupon posting. As a seller, you can post here unique discounts and price offerings. Such coupons can be unique to a single user or a group of people.

We, at Pikaba, believe that custom quotes and good service to buyers is the best way to close a sale. We highly recommend to our merchants to post the quotes regularly and get in contact with buyers right away.

Can I buy products at Pikaba?

Absolutely. But only those products which sellers put for sale through Pikaba website. Such products will have a button "Buy now" on their web page.

Shop with Confidence. PayPal protects your purchases anywhere you shop and pay with PayPal.

On every product available for purchase, our checkout process uses PayPal. And even if you want to pay by credit card, you will be transferred to PayPal's servers to enter your credit card information. Pikaba will never see your passwords and financial information.

Shopping Cart

We're introducing the new Pikaba Shopping Cart designed to help online buyers collect products and pay for them while enjoying social shopping with friends. Using a shopping cart, buyers are often motivated to buy more.

Steps to Checkout

Add a product(s) to your cart.

Provide shipping information.

View the summary of items you've added to your cart, modify product quantity if needed.

Pay for the product with PayPal.

Your Purchase complete.

How do I add a product to my shopping cart?

If you are viewing a product, click Buy Now . Immediately, you'll see a pop-up message: The Item has been added to your card. You can click View My Card or continue Shopping .

Buying a product with Buy Now means that you can checkout immediately

How do I remove a product to my shopping cart?

If you decide that you no longer need that item, you can always remove it from your Cart by clicking the red close button on the left.

Can I check out from multiple stores?

No, currently you cannot buy from multiple products with just one checkout process where your credit card is only charged once.

I cannot find a product I want to buy, what to do?

Request a product and let merchants fight for your business.

Pikaba for Sellers

How to become a seller?

If you're already a Pikaba member, you can upgrade your account.

If you are not a Pikaba member, follow the easy sign-up process to create your merchant account and list your products:

Go to Seller registration page .

Complete a short registration form.

Confirm the email address you entered in the form. Your Pikaba membership is now completed.

There are three plans currently being offered for merchants: Basic, Max and Professional. We offer 30-day free trial on all accounts:

Here are the main benefits of the Professional Merchant Account:

Up to 10,000 product listings

Product feed import

Instant access to leads

Build and customize your store

Group-buy deals:

Priority customer service

See our Plans and Pricing for details.

How do I upload and edit my products or services?

Use the Merchant Center menu to control which of your products and services appear in the Product section.

Depending on your Merchant Plan , you can add products to Pikaba, edit or remove them at any time.

There are 4 options currently available for adding products and services:

Add a service manually one at a time: For this, go to Merchant Center > My Products > Upload Services.

Add a product manually one at a time. You can manually select category for your product, write title and description, choose the right tag, select the picture you like and set the price. Go to Merchant Center > My Products > Upload Services.

Add multiple products using a text file, FTP uploads and scheduling.This option allows you to upload your product information in practically any format, including CSV, XML, PDF, Excel and Word.

Tip: If your products are kept in some very specific file/formats, the Pikaba Team will be happy to parse your file and add the products to your Pikaba account.

Import your products from eBay.

Uploading Your Products in Just a Few Easy Steps:

1. From the Merchant Center menu, select My Products and then click Submit Product Feed .

2. On the Manage My Feed page, click Add New Feed

3. In the pop-up window that appears, from the Feed type drop-down box, select eBay or Text File

4. If you want to use the Import from eBay option, have your eBay seller name ready. Select all other required settings you need to sync Pikaba with your eBay listings.

5. You can also use the Import from Text File option, including FTP. If necessary, enter your FTP credentials and allow Pikaba to use FTP.

Run a Deal

In 2008 Pikaba became one of the leaders among social shopping sites. Now with Groupon and other daily deals providers and group-buying services, Pikaba also creates an online marketplace allowing bargain shoppers access to wholesale discounts, hot deals and the ability to negotiate better prices with merchants. Thus, all those industry-standard features of "deal-of-the-day" sites or group coupons are now available on Pikaba.

What kind of deals can I run?

There are two types of the deals merchants can create with Pikaba: Basic and Group.

1. With the Basic Deal buyers print out a coupon. The main properties of a deal are Price, Savings, and Expiration Date.

2. With the Group Deal merchants indicate a minimum group size. Only with a required number of purchases, the deal is considered as successful. If not enough buyers sign up, then the deal is canceled.

How do I create a deal?

To create a deal, from the Merchant Center menu, select My Deals and then click My Group Deals

Fill out all the required fields, provide as much detail as possible, make sure everything is accurate and click Fill out all the required fields, provide as much detail as possible, make sure everything is accurate and click Submit Group Deal

How to buy a Group Deal

Purchase the deal by clicking Buy Now . Once clicked, you'll be redirected to PayPal checkout. Once the deal is successfully ended – i.e. a minimum amount of purchases is met – you will receive a link to your voucher the next business day. Tip: monitor the "Bought" slider to see how many more needed to get the deal.

What payment methods does Pikaba accept?

We work with PayPal only. But even if you don't have a PayPal account, you may be able to use their service to pay with your credit card.

How Group Buy works on Pikaba?

Verified merchants have the opportunity to offer Coupon and Group Buy deals to the Pikaba community

How can I get my business featured here?

Set up your Pikaba Premium Merchant Account, list your products and run a deal.

When Pikaba find the deals?

Here at Pikaba, we work closely with merchants to bring you the best deals, great savings and products that have never been available online.

Create Your Store

Pikaba Store is a new e-commerce tool designed to bring merchants the social shopping store – zero coding required. You'll benefit from Pikaba cross promotion as buyers find your products featured across the site as well as our Facebook/Twitter accounts.

It's easy to set up and manage your online store with Pikaba.

1. Once you've registered as a seller , In the Merchant Center go to My Store: http://www.pikaba.com/v/createstore.aspx

2. Fill out the Store Name and Store Description fields.

3 Click Next. Your store in now created. Go sell and enjoy!

What to do next?

Start listing your products, or

Import your products from eBay, Amazon or other sources.

Customize design options.

Configure settings.

I added my products but other people don't see them. Why?

After you uploaded your products, they need to be activated. Otherwise, no one else beside you will see them. To activate products follow the steps:

Select the products you want to activate . You can click "All" to the select them all.

Press "Activate" button. You will see their status change to "Active"

How does Pikaba generate leads? How do I get the right leads for me?

At Pikaba, the 'Lead' is another term for a buyer request to buy a product or service. The best way to get quality leads at Pikaba is to upload the merchant's items (products or services). Pikaba is a sophisticated machine to match buyer requests with seller's products or services.

This machine works the best when all requests, products and services are well defined. That's why we moderate all incoming requests, products and services at Pikaba. High quality of user input guarantees a high quality of matching between requests and products.

This system allows our sellers to see if somebody is looking for products he listed or similar, and, as a result, to give quotes and convert leads to sales. To maximize the efficiency of the matching it is necessary to make as full description of products and requests as you can.

How to give a quote to the buyer?

Quote is sellers main tool to give to the customer all information about your sale proposal. You can give a quote directly from your dashboard (Leads tab), from your products page , if there are matched requests with your product and directly from the request details page – each page has a special 'Give a Quote' button.

There you can enter the price you want for this product and its description with a shipping details, warranty information or discount proposals. Then click "Submit quote" button and here it is, your request is posted and you just have to wait for some time to get answer from customer.

Besides you don't need to have this product in your product sheet to give a quote, but if you have this one in your price and customer will be able to see what he wants, it will be a real benefit for you.

Can I sell my products through Pikaba website?

Yes, it is possible now to sell products at Pikaba.com. To make it happen, go to SalesCenter->MyProducts & Services page and activate your products for "Buy Now" feature. To make it happen follow the steps:

1. Make sure that the products you want to sell have their "Activate Listing" status as "Active". If not, see the section above on how to activate your listings .

2. Select these products by selecting a checkbox. If you wish to select all of the products, simply click "All".

3. Press "Enable Buy Now" button. The "Sale Satus" should become "Active" for all of them. At this moment all your products become available for sale at Pikaba.

How is financial transaction handled at Pikaba?

At this point we facilitate transactions only through PayPal payment gateway. A merchant, to be able to sell his products at Pikaba, must have a PayPal account. When a user buys a product through PayPal, a merchant is notified both by PayPal and Pikaba with regards to the transaction. A buyer and a seller get unique PayPal transaction ID which helps to track the purchase.

What if the seller doesn't have a product in stock after the transaction got on?

We understand that such situations a possible. In this case, the seller can decline a transaction. The money will be sent back to the buyer and no one will get hurt.

What if a buyer claims a fraudulent transaction?

In such unfortunate situations we refer buyers and sellers to PayPal resolution center at PayPal / Yandex.Money. We believe PayPal has a lot of experience in this area and should provide proper guidance in such situations. /

Does Pikaba charge any commission for each transaction?

At this point Pikaba is not charging any commission for transactions. It may change soon though as we develop ways to make our service financially viable.

Sellers' Fees and Services

Joining and setting up a seller account on Pikaba is free. Pikaba charges monthly fees for upgrading to and using Premium Merchant Account.

There are three plans currently being offered for merchants: Basic, Max and Professional. We offer 30-day free trial on all accounts.

1) Basic is a FREE plan for individual sellers and service provides who don't need the whole assortment of lead generation and sales tools. Here is what's included:

Add only 5 products

Sell with PayPal

Limited access to leads

2) For merchants who require additional functionality, we offer an upgrade to the Professional plan: $19.99/month . Here are the main benefits of the Professional Merchant Account:

Up to 10,000 product listings

Product feed import (Google/Yahoo, XML/CSV file or FTP)

Instant access to leads

Build and customize your store

Group-buy deals

Priority customer service

3) Go Max ($99/month) and use Pikaba the way you want.

Add an unlimited number of products.

Get an unlimited number of leads: location-based and/or real-time. As buyers post their shopping requests, your Merchant Center will show you the most relevant and quality leads so you can quickly provide unique offers.

With Pikaba Max, we will continue to be the choice for ecommerce managers, sales professionals and early adopters of social commerce around the world.

See our Plans and Pricing for details.

3 % Sales Fee

Pikaba also charges a small percentage of the sale price when your item sells. I.e. when you make a sale on Pikaba, you will be charged 3% of the total sale price.

What Currency are Transaction Fees in?

All fees are in US dollars.

Where to Access Billing Information for My Merchant Account?

Your Pikaba account's Billing Summary page provides easy access to your billing information - view credit balance, sales and account payment details.

Listing Description:

By listing an item on Pikaba, you warrant that you and all aspects of the item comply with Pikaba's policies. You also warrant that you may legally sell the item. Your listings should only include detailed text descriptions, graphics, pictures and other content relevant to the sale of that item.

Merchant Account Policies

All sellers must create reasonable policies and are urged to describe their policies for their Pikaba accounts. These policies may include, for example, shipping, returns, payment and selling policies. All shop policies must comply with Pikaba's site-wide policies (please refer to Privacy Policy and Terms of Use ).

Local Search

Local Search is a special tool designed to find on the map local sellers of goods and services. All you need is to enter your ZIP code, choose the category for search and enter the name of the product – the results of the search will be showed as a list at right column and also the map will be flagged with the location of each seller. This tool is very useful if you want to find fast the seller you need and to know where his store is located.

Pikaba Groups, Polls and Collections.

Pikaba group is a community of people who are associated by one or more common qualities like love to cats or willing to buy an iPhone 3gs. Also this tool will soon provide a Group Buying feature where Pikaba members can use group buying power, enjoy discounts and supplier privileges. Create and join group can both users and sellers. You can create your group at Groups page.

Polls.

Polls are extremely useful when you aren't sure what to buy. Or, for example, you just want an answer to a question that's been bothering you, a simple, straight answer without any huff and puff. To create a poll you need to have at least one request. You can create your poll from the All polls page and from My Polls page. When on the Create Poll form, come up with a question so people know exactly why you want their opinion. Then, add choices to your poll manually or from products listed on Pikaba.

Who are Pikaba advisors?

Pikaba Advisors

If you want to become Pikaba advisor please make sure that your profile is complete. Fill out all the fields like "About Me" section, your address, picture etc. You have to ask permission from Pikaba team to become an advisor. If all conditions are met, you`ll be approved as an Advisor. To apply for Advisor, simply to go the Pikaba Advisors page and clicking on the "Yes! I want!" button. You will get the response as soon as we consider your claim.