Online classified platform PigiaMe has today launched a country wide campaign aimed at educating Kenyans about the opportunities of online classifieds as, bearing in mind the necessary steps to buy and sell quality objects in a trusted and safe environment.

In the last 5 months since April 2014, PigiaMe more than quadrupled its traffic and established hundreds of thousands contacts between buyers and sellers. PigiaMe lists tens of thousands of items for sales on the site, making it one of Kenya's largest classifieds platforms.

With the current nationwide attention on staying safe online, PigiaMe has clearly hit a nerve with Kenyans. "We want everyone to buy and sell items of high quality, and doing safely so. Safety is a key concern in any online business and we pride ourselves for going the extra mile to minimise the risk of fraudsters masquerading as sellers. For this, we do not only rely on proven European technology, but a dedicated expert team reviewing every item and seller, ensuring that items listed on PigiaMe.co.ke are genuine and good. We now want to take these efforts to a nationwide level, with focus on quality objects and safety,"said James Gathere, General Manager Ringier Kenya, PigiaMe's parent company which has years of experience in Kenyan eCommerce through their other platform Rupu.co.ke.

Online marketplaces have the advantage that many items listed are second-hand from private sellers and therefore are much more affordable. According to a recent research report from the Nielsen Corporation, Kenyans sit on more than Kshs 158 billion worth of unused inventory, waiting to be turned into cash. PigiaMe sees a lot of interest from people moving to cities, who need a flat, an affordable car, furniture or a new mobile phone. Other popular categories are fashion, baby and beauty products. Lonely hearts can find each other in the dating section and employers can put their job offers up for free in the jobs category.

Avid sellers Within Nairobi can even list their items in the PigiaMe Classifieds magazine, which is released bi-monthly. With 30,000 copies distributed in highly relevant locations such as supermarkets, malls and gyms, spas and offices, the magazine regularly reaches over 120,000 people across the Capital.

Pigia me manages both the supply and demand side of trade. Therefore, sellers gain from faster and more targeted replies to their offerings. Vice versa, buyers get to see the most relevant and newest offers and can filter them according to location, price and recency of post.