Frequently asked questions.

PAC-SM is a Pan-African multi-vendor marketplace for retail shopping, wholesale purchasing, institutional procurement, logistics and cross-border trade support.

The top bar on every page shows Account and Orders directly on desktop, tablet and mobile, without opening All categories. Signed-out visitors see Log in. After signing in, open My account / Log out to view your name, email and verification status, access your account dashboard or Seller Centre, and log out. Super Admins also see Super Admin Centre; delegated staff see their assigned operational workspaces. Dashboard permissions still apply. Logging out ends your Appwrite session and returns you to the homepage.

Every client-facing form in the Export & Import Hub begins with a short completion guide. Each field contains an example where the input type permits it and has a visible question-mark button. Hover over the question mark, focus it with a keyboard, or tap it on mobile to see a plain-language explanation and realistic example. Use facts from your product, quotation or official supporting documents; PAC-SM examples are guidance, not government approvals.

Substantive forms across PAC-SM show a question-mark beside each field. Hover over the field label, focus its control using a keyboard, or tap into it on mobile to see plain-language instructions and an example. Common account, address, seller, product, checkout, logistics, finance and trade fields have tailored guidance; future fields receive a safe general explanation. The visual help uses non-destructive field attributes and CSS, so it never moves or deletes React-owned form elements during product and marketplace navigation. Compact search, regional-preference and newsletter controls remain uncluttered.

Away from the homepage, use the professional navigation dock at the lower-right of the screen. Previous page returns to the last page in your browsing history and safely falls back to the homepage when no earlier page is available. Home always opens the PAC-SM homepage directly.

Use the PAC-SM Product Scout prompt on the homepage or any public marketplace product, brand, storefront, wholesale, pre-order, white-label or Global Stores page. On larger screens it appears at the middle-right, remains visible long enough to read, then gently withdraws and returns periodically without covering Help, Chat or navigation. Hovering, focusing or opening it pauses the cycle. On mobile it uses a separate compact position. Select it to request a product, brand, quantity or reference from the sourcing team.

The Export & Import Hub is PAC-SM's unified cross-border transaction workspace. Open it from the prominent Export & Import Hub button in the main navigation on desktop or mobile. A signed-in user can start an export or import request, receive a canonical PAC-SM Trade ID, and monitor the corridor, compliance, documents, payment and logistics stages through one timeline. The Hub reuses the existing marketplace, Trade Passport, ExportReady, procurement, document, payment and logistics systems.

A signed-in member can publish a Buyer Request, Supplier Offer, Export Opportunity or Import Opportunity and optionally link it to an owned Trade ID. Other members may submit one structured quotation, while owners see commercial responses. A Trade ID owner may publish one freight RFQ; only an approved PAC-SM carrier may quote it. Each Trade ID also has a private document vault for invoices, packing lists, contracts, certificates, transport documents and corridor-specific records. These services support transactions but do not represent government clearance or a financing decision.

An approved seller opens the prominent Export Protocol Centre banner near the top of Seller Centre, creates an export product profile, confirms or requests review of its HS6 classification and runs a destination assessment. Export Protocols then opens a protected pack for AfCFTA, UK DCTS, EU, Canada, United States or the selected Caribbean destination. The pack lists versioned rules, official sources, evidence gaps and the complete filing dataset. It is guidance and workflow evidence—not a customs ruling, government certificate or guarantee of border acceptance.

Open Seller Centre → Trade Codes. The Reference Centre links to governed official sources including WCO HS 2022, AfCFTA e-Tariff, EU Access2Markets, the UK Trade Tariff, US HTSUS and Schedule B, and the Canadian Customs Tariff. First confirm the international six-digit HS subheading, then record the longer destination tariff code separately in ExportReady. PAC-SM stores the official authority and source automatically. These tools support research and evidence; they do not replace a customs ruling or qualified broker review.

No. You can browse products, categories, standards, carriers and public marketplace information without signing in. An account is required to place orders, save items, message participants or submit applications.

Yes. Choose Register with Google or Continue with Google. Google handles the identity check and PAC-SM exchanges the one-time result for its own secure, HttpOnly Appwrite session. Gmail and managed Google Workspace accounts are supported when the Google provider is enabled in Appwrite.

Before authentication, the homepage account control reads Hello, sign in. After password or Google sign-in, it immediately changes to Hello followed by the first name stored on the secure Appwrite account, such as Hello, Stephen or Hello, Priest, and opens the member's Account page.

On a desktop, point to or keyboard-focus Shop or Trade & Source and its full discovery panel opens immediately; clicking the heading also keeps it open. Each destination has an icon and a short explanation. On touch devices, tap the heading and scroll inside the responsive panel to choose a destination.

After registration, PAC-SM sends a verification link to the registered inbox. Open the link and press Verify email. The button prevents automated email scanners from consuming the link. If the link opens without an active PAC-SM session, sign in when prompted and PAC-SM safely returns you to the same verification link. Expired links can be replaced from the Account page.

PAC-SM checks a saved regional preference, your registered profile country and trusted reverse-proxy country headers, in that order. If none is available, Nigeria is used as the safe default.

Yes. Use the flag, language and currency controls at the top of every page. The currency list covers currencies used by all sovereign African countries plus selected major international currencies. Your selections are saved for one year.

PAC-SM now presents countries by flag and full name while retaining their ISO two-letter codes internally. Telephone fields use a separate country selector with the correct international calling prefix, accept a local or international number, and normalize new delivery, vendor, assisted-seller, carrier and off-taker contacts to E.164 format such as +2349066794666. Existing stored numbers are preserved until they are deliberately verified or updated.

Yes. Public product, offer and store prices are converted into the selected display currency using current server-fetched ExchangeRate-API rates. The selector submits and reloads the current page with converted prices. Orders, checkout, refunds and settlements retain the original transaction currency as the legally and financially authoritative amount.

Yes. Featured global products, the complete supplier-discovery catalogue, global product details, live delivery methods and displayed payable totals use the same saved currency preference as the rest of PAC-SM. The selected currency is for display; cart, payment and supplier fulfilment safely recompute and retain the governed transaction currency and authoritative amount.

Exchange rates update daily and PAC-SM caches the rate table for up to 24 hours. Two approved rate providers are requested in parallel with a short production deadline, and the first complete response is used. The last successfully loaded table protects currency changes from temporary network failures. If no valid rate has ever been retrieved, PAC-SM immediately displays the original offer currency rather than delaying or inventing a rate. Product pages load their authoritative catalogue data independently of the optional conversion service.

English, French, Arabic, Portuguese, Kiswahili and Spanish are available. Selecting a language reloads the current page with server-rendered translations for the global controls and primary customer marketplace. Arabic also activates right-to-left document direction. Seller-authored product names and descriptions remain in their submitted language to preserve catalogue accuracy.

Use FAQ or Documentation in the utility menu at the top of the marketplace homepage. Both resources are also available under Support in the homepage footer.

The homepage discovery layer introduces PAC-SM Market, Property, Motors, Agro, Industrial, Business, Services, Finance, Logistics and Investment. Market and Property are open. Property provides verified discovery, listing submission, inspection operations, enquiries and viewings; the other specialist verticals remain transparent Coming soon previews.

Open the Property card on the homepage to browse verified listings. Signed-in owners, developers and authorized agents can submit a property with photographs and private identity and ownership evidence. The submission stays private until PAC-SM reviews it. Signed-in buyers can save a verified property, send an enquiry and request a physical or video viewing.

Not in the controlled first release. PAC-SM Property currently supports discovery, evidence review, inspection, enquiries and viewing requests. Property negotiation, deposits, checkout, escrow, commissions and settlement will be activated only after verification and inspection operations are stable.

No. Help & chat opens two clearly separated options. AI live chat provides instant in-app guidance and must not receive passwords, OTPs, card details or identity-document numbers. WhatsApp opens a separate conversation with an official PAC-SM support number. The primary number is +2349066794666, and Super Admin can publish additional department numbers.

The canonical production marketplace is https://africancontinentalmarketplace.store. PAC-SM redirects requests from other production hostnames before sign-in, and Google callbacks carry a short-lived signed state token so proxy or browser cookie behavior cannot lose the protected return context. Authentication, payment and email links return to this HTTPS hostname.

Coolify checks the lightweight internal /api/health/live endpoint before directing public traffic to a new PAC-SM container. Internal health endpoints bypass public-domain redirects, preventing a circular 503 during rolling deployment. /api/health/ready remains available for deeper Appwrite dependency diagnostics but is not used to decide whether the web process itself is alive.

Every page except the homepage displays a floating Back to home control. It stays visible while you browse customer, wholesale, account, checkout, seller, operations and administration pages. On mobile it sits above the bottom navigation so it does not cover marketplace controls.

Use the Back to top arrow in the main footer. It immediately returns to the top of the homepage, works without JavaScript and provides a large keyboard- and mobile-friendly touch target.

On mobile, use the dedicated Shop or Trade & source buttons beneath the main marketplace strip. Each opens a full-width navigation sheet with clearly grouped destinations, descriptions and large touch targets. Choose a destination to navigate and close the sheet automatically, tap outside it, or use the × button. Only one submenu opens at a time.

PAC-SM publishes a production sitemap, controlled crawler rules, canonical marketplace URLs, descriptive product and storefront metadata, ecommerce structured data and responsive optimized product images. Private account, cart, checkout, seller, operations and administration pages are excluded from search indexing. Public catalogue queries batch stock and store reads to reduce Appwrite round trips.

The Global Supplier Gateway is PAC-SM's controlled connection layer for approved international supply platforms. CJdropshipping is the first connector. Phase 1 establishes secure supplier registration, encrypted credentials, connection testing, audit history, role-based monitoring and feature gates; it does not yet publish supplier products or place automatic supplier orders.

Diplomats Stores is always the PAC-SM commercial owner, catalogue controller and accounting beneficiary for CJ products and every future global-supplier product. The external supplier remains a fulfilment source only. Imported listings cannot bypass Diplomats Stores ownership, PAC-SM review, pricing, stock or order controls.

Authorized global-commerce staff can search the current CJ catalogue, filter by CJ category or stock country, inspect product details, images, variants, supplier costs and reported warehouse stock. Discovery is read-only: viewing a CJ product does not publish it, create a PAC-SM offer or make it available for checkout. Controlled import is a separate Phase 3 decision.

Global Pricing requests current CJ delivery methods for a selected mapped variant, quantity and destination. The displayed total separates freight, supplier-reported tax and clearance components and converts them into the pricing-rule currency. The administrator selects a real method instead of inventing a flat amount. Checkout requests a fresh quote for the exact cart variant, quantity and delivery country; if no route exists or the live cost exceeds the approved allowance, payment is blocked for safe repricing.

PAC-SM automatically opens Catalogue Management focused on that product. The review card is prefilled from Appwrite with the supplier reference, Diplomats Stores ownership, mapped variants, generated customer prices, landed costs, protected margins, selected CJ freight method, destination and evidence status. When every mapped variant has pricing and freight evidence, Super Admin only needs to click Approve and publish. The audited transaction completes any missing review-offer records from those authoritative calculations and approves the product, variants and offers together.

Catalogue Management now has an Automated Publication Queue. PAC-SM continuously identifies unpublished global products that have Diplomats Stores ownership, mapped variants, current landed-price calculations, CJ freight evidence and at least one approved image. Super Admin can publish the next batch of up to 100 ready products with one action. Incomplete products are skipped and remain private for correction.

A Super Admin or Global Catalogue Manager inspects the live supplier record, selects its PAC-SM category, title, brand, origin, images, variants and pricing-rule reference, then imports it as a non-public draft owned by Diplomats Stores. PAC-SM preserves supplier mappings and copies selected images into Appwrite storage. The product cannot be bought until later pricing and catalogue approval gates create an approved offer.

Choose Global Stores in the homepage search market selector or the main marketplace navigation. The Global Stores page groups approved global-supplier products by the same PAC-SM categories used throughout the marketplace. A CJ import appears only after it has an approved product record and approved customer offer; private, unpriced Phase 3 drafts never appear to buyers.

Authorized Global Pricing staff apply an editable destination rule to current supplier cost and FX, estimated international freight, insurance, duties, taxes, payment cost, currency-risk buffer, platform and local-delivery costs, then PAC-SM margin protection. The complete breakdown is private and auditable. The resulting Diplomats Stores offer remains pending catalogue review and is not automatically published.

Phase 5 reconciles only imported, synchronization-enabled products through bounded CJ API calls, product-specific webhook subscriptions and a scheduled recovery worker. Supplier warehouse stock is stored separately with a configurable safety buffer; it is not presented as guaranteed PAC-SM warehouse stock. Material supplier-price changes create an administrative review alert instead of silently reducing PAC-SM margin.

Immediately before creating the order, PAC-SM refreshes the mapped supplier product, confirms the exact variant and buffered stock, checks that your delivery country matches the current freight quote, and verifies that supplier cost and the approved customer price have not changed. An expired freight quote, unsupported destination, insufficient supplier stock or material price change stops payment safely and explains what needs attention.

PAC-SM creates one retry-safe internal supplier order for each supplier fulfilment group and alerts authorized Global Order staff. A manager reviews the customer address, mapped CJ variants and verified logistics method before creating the CJ order. PAC-SM creates it without automatic CJ balance payment; supplier payment is separately controlled and its external reference must be recorded for audit.

On your first visit, the Privacy & cookie settings centre remains visible until you accept all cookies, reject non-essential cookies or save customised preferences. The choices use secure form submission as well as enhanced browser controls, so they remain dependable when JavaScript loads slowly. Strictly necessary technologies support security, sign-in, checkout and core operation and cannot be disabled. Use the permanent Privacy settings button to change your decision later.

A signed-in member applies from My Account. After Super Admin approval, product sharing automatically uses that member's protected PAC-AF referral link and includes a disclosure reminder. PAC-SM uses a first-party last-qualified-click record for up to 30 days, rejects self-referrals, and freezes the reward per order item. Earnings move through pending payment, pending delivery and the return hold before becoming available for withdrawal.

PAC-SM converts the current supplier cost using a live FX rate, then applies the active Global Pricing rule, including configured insurance, duty, tax, payment cost, FX buffer, fixed costs, minimum margin and markup. The card shows a governed product price for the stated default market. Before payment, PAC-SM must still revalidate the chosen variant, supplier availability and delivery charge for the buyer's address.

That supplier listing does not yet have a current customer-price snapshot. PAC-SM never displays the confidential supplier cost as a selling price. Pricing staff can refresh discovery prices from Super Admin → Global Commerce → Global Visibility after confirming the pricing rule and freight assumption.

Open the product, sign in, choose the exact CJ variant and quantity, then select a saved delivery address. Show shipping options retrieves current CJ routes and displays delivery time, shipping, taxes, clearance and the complete payable total for each method. Choose one route and continue to cart. PAC-SM imports the selected variant under Diplomats Stores, locks the live pricing evidence and revalidates supplier stock, route and price before enabling payment.

Queued means the job record exists but no CJ catalogue page has completed. A zero-result category ID is retried using its leaf category name because CJ's directory can retain empty or stale IDs. PAC-SM also retries brief CJ rate limits automatically. If CJ remains unavailable, the row changes to completed with errors and shows a safe reason; wait briefly and use Publish next batch now to retry.

PAC-SM uses the configured OpenRouter model for seller catalogue drafting, AI live support, reviewable HS6 classification suggestions and the Super Admin Marketplace Intelligence workspace. The intelligence workspace explains measured demand forecasts, related-product recommendations, fraud-review signals and export-readiness findings, and creates an executive action brief. AI is advisory: it does not replace transaction data, change a score, prove fraud, issue a customs ruling or approve an export.

Super Admin opens Marketplace Intelligence, first runs the measured refresh, then selects Generate governed AI insights. PAC-SM sends one bounded snapshot of the current read models to OpenRouter, validates the structured response, rejects identifiers outside that snapshot, stores the resulting action cards in Appwrite and records an audit event. If OpenRouter is unavailable, the measured dashboard continues to work unchanged.

Use the global search bar, homepage category tiles or marketplace filters. You can filter by retail or wholesale market and by product category.

The immersive 500-pixel homepage carousel can display up to twelve image-backed PAC-SM, LG, Thermocool, marketplace and Global Stores offers. Products without usable images and scarf or wrap listings are excluded from this showcase; use the arrows or slide indicators to browse every featured offer.

Use the orange Can't find it? Product Scout control on the homepage or while browsing public product, brand, storefront, wholesale, pre-order, white-label and Global Stores pages. Enter the product, optional brand or reference link, quantity, email and useful details. PAC-SM stores the request for its sourcing team; a request is not an order, price promise or availability guarantee. Super Admin reviews requests in Product Scout inside the Admin Centre.

The professionally designed retail catalogue provides a dedicated search bar, marketplace channels, category shortcuts, stock filtering, price and name sorting, verified-seller cues, buyer-protection information and responsive product cards. Select a product to compare active seller offers, stock, quantities and prices before adding the preferred offer to cart.

PAC-SM Products are house-brand agro, food and beverage goods sold through PAC-SM. Open PAC-SM Products from the homepage marketplace menu to browse approved products, available stock and retail or wholesale offers.

The homepage includes an official PAC-SM Jollof Rice Kit campaign immediately after Shop by category. Select the advert or Explore PAC-SM products to open the PAC-SM house-brand store, or use Find the Jollof Rice Kit to search the current catalogue. Availability and delivery options depend on approved offers, stock and destination.

The official Pan-African Continental Super Marketplace logo appears in the shared brand space across marketplace, account, seller, administrator, help and authentication pages. Its proportions remain preserved on desktop and mobile. It is also embedded in PAC-SM's 1200 × 630 link-preview card so supported social and messaging platforms can display the official identity when the website address is shared.

Yes. PAC-SM keeps one customer cart and splits checkout into vendor-specific orders while retaining a single parent order for the buyer.

Availability is revalidated on the server during checkout and stock is reserved atomically. The platform prevents checkout when the required stock is no longer available.

Ordinary retail purchase requires confirmed stock in a seller or PAC-SM warehouse, while pre-order uses a separate seller-approved production capacity. The product page shows the real orderable quantity, respects both stock and the seller's maximum, and provides minus and plus controls. A pre-order and a standard purchase of the same product can remain as separate cart lines.

Every approved retail product displays a Pre-order action in the marketplace and on its product page. Seller-configured windows, capacity and dispatch dates take priority; otherwise PAC-SM applies protected standard terms based on the offer processing time. Pre-orders use the normal cart, checkout and payment flow, with capacity rechecked and reserved atomically and the promised dispatch date preserved on the order item.

Both are permanently visible as highlighted controls in the main homepage marketplace navigation. The homepage also has a large Manufacturer Opportunities section with separate Pre-order Marketplace and White-label Marketplace cards. On a phone, swipe the main navigation horizontally if additional marketplace channels extend beyond the screen.

Every wholesale product links to a Request white-label production form. An approved business buyer supplies quantity, proposed price, brand name, delivery requirements and a detailed customization brief. The seller may accept, reject or counter through the normal negotiation timeline. Only accepted terms can enter checkout; the branding brief and production commitment remain attached to the paid vendor order.

PAC-SM offers three levels for its own Premium Bean Flour and Premium Plantain Flour: contract production when the customer supplies packaging, labels and artwork; private label when the customer supplies artwork and PAC-SM provides the 1kg food-grade pouch and production; and full private label when the customer supplies a brand identity and PAC-SM handles production, packaging and label support. The minimum is 120 one-kilogram packs or 10 cartons. The May 2026 indicative price schedule, volume bands and separately quoted services are displayed on the White-label Marketplace and must be reconfirmed before ordering.

PAC-SM validates the address, coupon, price and stock, creates the parent and vendor orders, and immediately starts the payment method selected on checkout. Demo capture completes inside PAC-SM; configured live providers redirect to their secure hosted payment page. If a provider is interrupted, the pending order remains available for payment retry.

Open Orders from the marketplace header or visit your account. Each order shows vendor-specific fulfilment, shipment and return information.

Eligible delivered orders can enter the returns workflow. If a transaction problem cannot be resolved normally, the buyer can create a dispute with an auditable case history for administrative review.

Reviews are tied to eligible order items so PAC-SM can distinguish verified-purchase feedback from unauthenticated comments.

Wholesale offers have a minimum order quantity greater than one and may include quantity-based price tiers.

Submit the wholesale business-buyer application with your organization and registration details. Administrative approval unlocks controlled commercial purchasing workflows.

Yes. Negotiation is enabled by default for wholesale offers unless the seller disables it. An approved business buyer selects Request a negotiated price, proposes a quantity and unit price, and receives an instant in-app response. The seller may accept, reject or counter. An accepted offer is time-limited, locked to the agreed quantity and price, and can be used once at checkout.

The product opens on its own full-screen transaction page rather than expanding inside the catalogue grid. The page presents the product, approved images, supply details, quantity tiers, buyer status, published-price checkout and price-negotiation form without unrelated products competing for space.

Buy at listed wholesale price calculates the applicable published quantity tier, creates a linked purchase order and sends the approved business buyer directly to delivery and payment. Request a negotiated price sends a proposed unit price to the seller for acceptance, rejection or counteroffer. Once accepted, PAC-SM creates the negotiation-sourced purchase order and opens checkout with the exact agreed quantity and price.

Both listed-price and accepted-negotiation paths create a server-authoritative purchase order and checkout item. Checkout revalidates buyer approval, source offer, quantity, unit price, currency, purchase order, negotiation where applicable and live stock before reserving inventory. The buyer selects a delivery address and payment method, completes payment, and the resulting marketplace and vendor orders retain the purchase-order reference for fulfilment, delivery, finance and audit history.

Select Add address and return to checkout. PAC-SM carries a protected internal checkout destination into the address form. After the address is saved successfully, you return directly to delivery and payment, where the new address is selected and the wholesale purchase order remains in your cart.

Only the party whose response is required can act. After a seller counteroffer, the buyer can accept, reject or counter; after a buyer counteroffer, the seller can accept, reject or counter. Every successful response updates the offer, status, timeline and notification together. The page clearly shows whose response is required and gives a specific explanation when an action is unavailable. Buyers may withdraw an open request, while expired or previously converted offers cannot be used.

In Seller Centre → Wholesale, sellers enable negotiation per offer and set minimum negotiable quantity, a confidential price floor, maximum discount, expiry period and whether counteroffers are allowed. The confidential limits are enforced by the server and are never shown to buyers.

Open Super Admin Centre and select the highlighted Wholesale Negotiations link in the sidebar, the orange Review buyer negotiations banner, or the Wholesale Negotiations operations card. Select Review & respond beside a PAC-SM-owned or demo-product request, then accept, reject or counter. Independent-seller requests must be answered from that seller's Seller Centre.

Super Admin can open Admin Centre → Wholesale Negotiations and select Review & respond for PAC-SM-owned or demo inventory. The administrator may accept, reject or counter while their real user ID is recorded in the audit timeline. Super Admin cannot respond for an independent seller.

A Request for Quotation lets an approved business buyer publish a requirement, invite matching vendors, compare quotations and award the preferred supplier.

Yes. An accepted quotation can be converted into a commercial purchase order and proforma invoice while preserving the procurement history.

These continental commerce centres use PAC-SM's shared module design system. They have the same navigation, responsive hero structure, workflow guidance, professional forms, status metrics, data panels, empty states and mobile behavior, while each module retains a distinct color tone and its own operational functions.

Yes. Sellers can define offer-level price tiers with minimum and optional maximum quantities. The most specific eligible tier is used.

Processors, exporters, retailers, hospitality groups, institutions and other companies seeking recurring or bulk supply can apply through Off-takers in the homepage menu or Off-taker registration in the Trade footer. PAC-SM reviews company and buying information before publishing access is enabled.

The off-taker publishes a structured requirement with quantity, specification, packaging, certification, origin, delivery, deadline and payment terms. Matching sellers can submit supply proposals.

Yes. An off-taker may shortlist proposals and split an award among multiple suppliers. Each award receives its own scheduled purchase-order reference under the shared supply agreement.

Authorized staff inspect scheduled deliveries and record accepted quantities. Payment milestones remain visible as due, processing, paid, settled or failed; production money movement requires the configured approved payment or banking connector.

The off-taker can open a dispute against an agreement or scheduled purchase order. Authorized staff review the evidence and record the resolution in the operational history.

Yes. Open Seller Centre → Products and download the PAC-SM demo CSV. It includes image_url_1 through image_url_8 so each row can supply its gallery in display order. PAC-SM validates all product data first, publishes the catalogue batch atomically, then securely copies authorized public HTTPS JPEG, PNG or WebP images into private Appwrite storage. A remote-image failure is reported against its row without hiding the product; the seller can add that image manually afterward.

Super Admin curates approved retail and wholesale products from Admin → Product management. Global Commerce staff curate supplier-discovery products from Admin → Global Commerce → Global Visibility → Featured Global Products. The homepage has separate Featured Retail, Featured Global Products and Featured Wholesale sections. Each section falls back to recent eligible products until an administrator makes a selection.

Open Shop by Company from the homepage utility bar, select a company card in the Products by company section, or visit /brands. Each company button opens its dedicated catalogue. Company pages retrieve their complete approved brand collection independently of the smaller homepage catalogue window, so all 64 Thermocool and all 95 LG products can appear. Panasonic remains clearly marked as coming soon until approved products and confirmed inventory are published.

Brand-import catalogues preserve the customer-facing manufacturer or brand name, but the product, offer, inventory, order allocation, wallet and settlement records are assigned to the active Diplomats Stores vendor. This ownership rule applies to future CSV imports using the approved brand-catalogue format unless Super Admin deliberately selects another verified vendor.

No. The importer validates and retains source references but will not copy or hotlink third-party gallery files by default. Media is transferred into PAC-SM private Appwrite storage only after explicit usage-rights confirmation. Rights were confirmed for the Thermocool catalogue, so all 64 products display primary images and available gallery thumbnails from PAC-SM-controlled Appwrite storage. The production proxy exempts only this controlled public-media route from canonical-host redirects so the Next.js image optimizer can retrieve it through Coolify's internal container host.

Choose Register as a seller in the prominent homepage banner or Sell on PAC-SM in the marketplace menu. Sign in or create an account, complete the vendor application, provide business and local settlement details, choose a store name and upload the required KYC/KYB documents. SWIFT/BIC and exporter-registration numbers are not requested during ordinary vendor registration. Export-specific information can be added later through the Digital Trade Passport when applicable. PAC-SM activates Seller Centre and storefront capabilities after the application is approved.

Registered companies, partnerships, sole proprietors, cooperatives, manufacturers, farmers, wholesalers, distributors, exporters and other supported business types may apply.

Select the prominent Become a distributor button in the top homepage onboarding banner, the Trade & source menu or the Sell footer, then choose Sign up or fill the form here. Sign in or create an account, complete the existing secure vendor application with Distributor preselected, and submit the required business, ownership, settlement, storefront and KYC/KYB information. PAC-SM reviews the application before activating Seller Centre and storefront access.

The onboarding workflow requires a business registration certificate, tax document and director or owner identity document. Additional information may be requested during KYC or KYB review.

Documents are stored in a private encrypted Appwrite bucket. They are retrieved through authorized server routes and are not exposed as public files.

Yes, after the seller account is approved. A valid product, variant and offer publish automatically to the marketplace without waiting in a pre-approval queue. Super Admin continuously moderates the live catalogue and may request changes, take down, reject, restore or permanently delete a listing that does not meet PAC-SM store standards.

In Seller Centre → Products, use the Country of origin dropdown in Product identity. It shows each supported country by flag and full name while PAC-SM stores the standard two-letter ISO country code. Choose the country where the product was manufactured or produced; do not substitute the seller's location, shipping country or current warehouse.

Yes. In Seller Centre → Products, enter the product name, select its category, add any known facts and choose Generate with AI. PAC-SM returns an editable description, slug, specifications, variant suggestions, search keywords and questions about missing facts. Choose Fill empty fields or Replace draft fields, verify every statement, complete factual fields such as origin and price yourself, then publish normally. AI never publishes automatically and must not be used as evidence of certification, ingredients, origin, performance or regulatory approval.

The Upload new product button remains visible throughout PAC-SM. Approved sellers go directly to the product publishing form. Visitors must first sign in or create an account, registered users without a vendor profile continue to the complete seller application, and applicants who are still under review see their verification status. Product publishing unlocks only after PAC-SM approves or activates the vendor.

From Seller Centre → Products, open an owned product and upload JPEG, PNG or WebP images. Each file may be up to 8 MB and each product may have up to eight images. PAC-SM validates the complete selected batch, including every declared type and image signature, before publishing any file. If one selected file is invalid, none of that batch is published. Super Admin may reject an unsuitable image or take down its product.

Open the product from a marketplace or seller storefront. Every approved photo appears in the scrollable thumbnail strip below the main image. Select any thumbnail to show that view prominently, use the left and right controls to move through longer photo sets, and select the large photo to open a full-screen view. The same gallery is available for retail and wholesale products and supports touch scrolling on mobile.

Yes. All seller stores use PAC-SM's shared professional storefront layout so navigation, product cards, mobile behaviour, checkout links and buyer-trust information remain consistent. Store URLs support ordinary slugs and @-prefixed handles, including safely encoded links shared through browsers and messaging services. From Seller Centre → My Store, the owner can choose primary and accent colours and upload a proportionally fitted JPEG, PNG or WebP logo up to 4 MB. PAC-SM Products uses the same storefront design.

Open Seller Centre → Wallet. The wallet derives income from PAC-SM's vendor-payable ledger after successful delivery, commission, refunds and prior settlements. It separately shows ledger balance, pending claims and the amount available to withdraw. Submit a claim to the verified settlement account; central finance can approve and mark it paid or reject it with an audited review.

At checkout, PAC-SM selects the most specific active revenue rule for each item and permanently records the rule version, percentage, merchandise amount, PAC-SM commission and vendor accrual. Product rules override vendor, category, channel and marketplace defaults. Negotiated wholesale uses the accepted price. Later rule changes do not alter an existing order, and an approved refund reverses the original recorded allocation. Open Seller Centre → Finance for the itemised statement.

Yes. The first valid upload becomes primary automatically, and the seller can later select another published image as primary. Super Admin can also change or reject images during post-publication moderation.

Open any retail or wholesale product page and use Share this product. On supported phones and computers, Share opens the device share sheet. You can also share directly through WhatsApp, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, Telegram or email, or copy the public product link. Recipients do not need to sign in to view an approved product.

Yes. A Super Admin can grant the Seller Onboarding Manager role to a registered staff email. That administrator can create a seller's Appwrite login, active vendor identity and store in one audited operation. The temporary password is handed to the seller through a secure channel and is never stored in marketplace records. The seller must change it from Account Security after first sign-in. Approved sellers receive automatic catalogue publishing subject to ongoing Super Admin enforcement, while banking, KYC/KYB and settlement compliance remain required for protected financial operations.

Open Seller Centre → Inventory to see approved products by name, brand and SKU. Select a product, enter the newly received quantity and confirm; PAC-SM automatically uses the seller's Main stock location and immediately reflects the new available balance. Search and in-stock, out-of-stock and low-stock filters keep large catalogues manageable. Sellers can also download their own CSV product list and upload received quantities in bulk. Multiple locations, corrections, reorder alerts and history remain under Advanced inventory controls.

Physical stock is reserved for fifteen minutes while payment is pending. The authenticated inventory-integrity worker releases expired holds, cancels the unpaid order and returns pre-order capacity when applicable. Coolify should call the protected inventory-integrity endpoint every five minutes using the reconciliation cron secret.

Seller Centre → Inventory shows product SKUs, warehouse names, on-hand, reserved, damaged and available quantities, reorder points and the movement ledger. A seller submits a physical count with evidence; Super Admin reviews it in Inventory Integrity. Only an approved count posts a transactional stocktake adjustment, and a changed balance requires a fresh count.

No. After the refund decision, Super Admin must select the vendor's receiving warehouse and record whether inspected goods can be restocked or must enter damaged quarantine. Both outcomes create an inventory movement and audit record; damaged goods do not increase available stock.

Open Seller Centre → ExportReady. Create a structured product profile, record or confirm its international six-digit HS classification, then choose a destination country. PAC-SM evaluates only published, effective, official-source rules for that origin, destination, product category and HS prefix. A high numerical score never overrides missing mandatory evidence, and domestic marketplace availability remains separate from export readiness.

Yes. Approved vendors can create scoped API credentials, read products, inventory and orders, update controlled inventory fields and register signed webhook endpoints.

Zenith Carex Express is presented as PAC-SM's official logistics partner. Its official logo appears in a compact partner panel near the bottom of the marketplace homepage and on the Logistics page, with its original aspect ratio preserved. Available shipment routes, prices, assignments and tracking remain governed by the applicable PAC-SM logistics records and service terms.

Create an account and submit the carrier application with company, fleet, coverage, insurance and private verification documents.

Authorized logistics staff review registration, insurance and operational details before activating a carrier number and marketplace profile.

Verified carriers can publish service routes with origin, destination, transport mode, base rate, per-kilogram rate, currency and estimated delivery time.

Open Track Shipment and enter the carrier tracking number. Public tracking shows the current state, location updates, event messages and delivery confirmation.

When a carrier records delivery, PAC-SM stores the recipient, delivery time and optional delivery code as a controlled proof-of-delivery record.

No. The logistics state machine allows controlled forward transitions. Exceptions can be recorded and recovered into valid in-transit states.

It is a reviewed vendor export-readiness profile containing target markets, product categories, exporter information, Incoterms, transport modes, certifications and supporting documents.

The score summarizes completion of exporter details, markets, categories, Incoterms, transport modes, certifications and documents. It supports review but does not replace a regulator decision.

The hub organizes product standards, packaging and labelling rules, certification requirements and verified quality centres by category and destination country.

Authorized trade-compliance staff enter standards from authoritative government, standards-body or accreditation sources. PAC-SM does not invent regulatory rules.

From Seller Compliance, select an owned product, an applicable requirement and optionally a preferred quality centre, then submit the product and testing notes.

No. PAC-SM records marketplace compliance reviews and supporting evidence. Government, customs, standards and accreditation authorities retain their legal powers.

No. HS classifications progress through AI suggested, vendor confirmed, PAC-SM reviewed, customs-broker verified and customs-ruling verified states. PAC-SM stores confidence, reasoning, nomenclature version and review history, but the competent customs authority remains authoritative.

First complete the structured export profile in Seller Centre → ExportReady. Then open AI HS6 from Seller Centre, select the profiled product and generate a suggestion. The assistant returns an HS2022 six-digit code, confidence, reasoning, alternatives, attributes used and questions when facts are missing. Review the result and confirm the correct classification manually; Trade Compliance can then record a PAC-SM review.

Yes. Upload the private document once in Trade Passport, then open Seller Centre → Evidence Vault. Link it to a requirement code, issuer, validity dates, relevant HS codes and every owned product it covers. The evidence starts as verification required and cannot satisfy a mandatory rule until authorized review confirms it.

Any signed-in PAC-SM member can open Trade Academy from the homepage, Account page or /academy and enrol in the current course version. A visitor who is not signed in is returned to the Academy after authentication.

The course contains ten sequential modules covering African trade, product and market selection, export readiness, documentation and compliance, packaging, value addition, food safety, Incoterms and logistics, finance, and buyer acquisition through PAC-SM. All 40 lessons contain full explanatory readings, examples, learning objectives, key takeaways, reflection prompts and a practical business application—not only a short curriculum summary.

Enrolment and each completed lesson are stored as private Appwrite records tied to the signed-in user and curriculum version. The dashboard calculates completed lessons and overall coursework progress and unlocks modules sequentially.

Each module ends with a 15-question assessment drawn from the approved question guide. An attempt lasts 30 minutes, the pass mark is 70%, and a learner has up to three attempts. The next module opens only after the current assessment is passed. Questions and choices are shown to the learner, but encrypted answer keys remain server-only and marking happens after submission.

After passing all ten module assessments, the learner prepares a complete export plan covering opportunity, market, readiness, compliance, pricing and Incoterm, logistics, buyers, finance, risk and practical defence. Drafts can be saved before submission. An Academy Assessor grades the project against the published 100-mark rubric and can request changes.

A verifiable PAC-SM programme credential is issued only after all coursework and module assessments are passed and the capstone receives at least 70%. The certificate has a public verification page and status record. It demonstrates completion of the PAC-SM programme but does not replace a government licence or regulated professional certification.

No. PAC-SM Academy learning and future completion credentials demonstrate participation and assessed competence under the published PAC-SM curriculum. They do not replace customs rulings, government registration, accredited food-safety certification or another legally required approval.

The Super Admin can grant Academy Administrator, Academy Content Manager, Academy Instructor and Academy Assessor privileges. Authorized staff use the Academy operations dashboard to monitor delivery and, in later stages, manage assessments, projects, grading and credentials.

PAC-SM DemoPay, Paystack and PAPSS are selectable during checkout. Without live provider credentials, each option runs an explicitly labelled sandbox capture and charges no money. Adding the server-only Paystack key automatically changes Paystack to its secure hosted checkout. PAPSS remains simulated until certified merchant or participating-bank connector onboarding is complete.

PAC-SM initializes the transaction on the server, sends the buyer to Paystack, and verifies the returned reference, successful status, order metadata, currency and exact minor-unit amount on the server before marking the order paid or releasing reserved stock. Browser claims alone are never accepted.

Yes. An unpaid order remains in pending-payment state with its inventory reservation, and the order page offers the payment methods again. Successful capture is idempotent, so a repeated callback does not sell stock twice or create a second payment.

Effective commission rules are applied and financial movements are posted to balanced journal entries. Seller wallet balances are projections of the ledger.

Settlement eligibility follows successful fulfilment and applicable return or dispute controls. Administrators can review settlement reports before processing.

Yes. Return decisions, refund records, financial reversals and related journal entries remain connected to their originating order.

The Super Admin opens Orders & Delivery to see the buyer's name, email, account phone, recipient phone, complete delivery address including both street lines, city, state or region, postal code and country, together with payment details, purchased products, quantities and vendor fulfilment stages. Unpaid orders remain locked. Paid orders can move into processing, warehouse picking and packing, dispatch with carrier tracking, and confirmed delivery.

PAC-SM requires both an authenticated account with the correct least-privilege role and a same-origin browser request for sensitive administrative changes. Global product imports, off-taker milestone payment updates and dispute resolutions reject cross-site submissions. Framework and production dependencies must remain on supported patched releases, while provisioning and third-party credentials stay outside source control and must be rotated after any suspected disclosure.

PAC-SM uses Appwrite's OAuth token flow with a short-lived HMAC-signed state token containing a random nonce, issue time and safe internal return path. A matching secure HttpOnly browser nonce binds the callback to the browser that started sign-in and is deleted after use, so copied or replayed state is rejected. Signature verification uses constant-time comparison and rejects expiry or tampering. PAC-SM exchanges the one-time OAuth token through Appwrite's Account endpoint and stores only the project-specific session secret in its secure HttpOnly cookie.

Yes. Login, registration, Google sign-in, password recovery, email verification and MFA challenge attempts use durable Appwrite-backed rate limits. The identifiers are cryptographically hashed before storage, limits remain effective across Coolify restarts and multiple application instances, and a blocked request returns a retry period instead of repeatedly querying identity providers.

Every Super Admin and delegated administrator must enable a time-based authenticator from Account → Security before entering an administrative centre. PAC-SM supports standard TOTP applications such as Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator and password managers. Setup produces one-time recovery codes that must be stored offline. Sign-in then requires the current authenticator code or one unused recovery code after the normal password or Google step.

A password change revokes every PAC-SM session and returns the member to sign-in. Granting or revoking administrative privileges also revokes that user's sessions so new permissions cannot be used—and removed permissions cannot remain cached—until the user authenticates again and completes required MFA.

PAC-SM uses Resend for email delivery. The self-hosted Appwrite service must use Resend SMTP so Appwrite can securely issue verification and recovery links. The PAC-SM application uses the server-only Resend API key for branded transactional messages. The sending domain must be verified, and no email credential may use a NEXT_PUBLIC prefix.

From Super Admin Centre → Admin Team, the Super Administrator searches the live directory of registered Appwrite accounts, selects the required email, and chooses one or several operational privileges in the same submission. The selector shows the account name, verification state and availability; disabled accounts and the protected Super Admin cannot be selected. Roles include warehouse, fulfilment, finance, support, catalogue, verification, trade, logistics, Academy and Off-taker responsibilities. Privileges are cumulative, recorded separately and can be revoked one at a time without removing the account's other responsibilities. PAC-SM stores readable role IDs in its audit database and converts them to Appwrite-safe account labels. The single Coolify APPWRITE_API_KEY requires users.read and users.write.

The administrator signs in with the exact email that received the grant and opens My Account. An Administrative access section lists every active privilege and provides an Open operational centre link wherever that role already has a delegated workspace. Privileges whose operational pages remain reserved for Super Admin are still displayed as active without presenting an unauthorized link.

It is a restricted administrator appointed by the Super Admin through Admin Team. The manager signs in with their own PAC-SM account and uses the separate Fulfilment Admin Centre to see payment confirmation, purchased products, buyer delivery details and order stages, and to coordinate processing, dispatch, tracking and delivery. The role cannot open Super Admin configuration, team privileges or unrelated review centres.

No. The Super Administrator label cannot be granted or revoked through the normal team-management screen.

Open the prominent User & Seller Accounts link in the Super Admin sidebar, the Identity & Access action at the top of the dashboard, or the highlighted User & Seller Accounts operations card. All three open /admin/accounts. The unified directory combines Appwrite Authentication users with marketplace profiles, seller and store status, contact details, email verification, active or disabled state, registration dates and assigned administrative roles.

Yes. Open User & Seller Accounts and choose Manage lifecycle. Super Admin can suspend or reactivate a member and revoke every active session after recording a reason. Permanent deletion requires typing DELETE followed by the exact email and is allowed only for a clean customer account with no seller, administrator, order, payment, return, refund, dispute, wholesale, procurement, off-taker, carrier, risk-review or Academy records. The Super Admin account is always protected. Accounts with retained obligations should be suspended instead of deleted.

Open Super Admin Centre and select Catalogue Management from the sidebar or highlighted action area. It opens /admin/catalogue, where Super Admin can approve legacy submitted listings, review automatically published seller products, moderate images, rename, request changes, take down, restore, reject or permanently delete products.

Open Super Admin Centre. Global Commerce, Global Pricing and Catalogue Management are visible in both the left sidebar and the highlighted action area at the top of the dashboard. Global Commerce opens the supplier gateway and imported-product tools; Global Pricing records freight assumptions and calculates landed prices; Catalogue Management approves the resulting product and seller offer for publication.

Only the Super Admin and active administrators whose assigned privileges match the event receive operations alerts. Payment captures notify finance and fulfilment staff; fulfilment changes notify the appropriate warehouse, logistics and delivery staff; returns and complaints notify the responsible support teams. Buyers and sellers do not see this administrative bell.

The bell checks securely for new Appwrite-backed alerts while an administrator is signed in. Its badge shows unread items, and a short browser sound plays for a newly detected alert after browser audio permission is available. Each administrator can mute or enable the sound without stopping visual alerts, open the related record, mark one item read or mark all items read.

Daily Reconciliation in the Super Admin Centre compares orders, captured and failed payments, fulfilment, goods in transit, deliveries, complaints, returns and refunds for a selected Lagos reporting date. It records a permanent daily snapshot, identifies mismatches such as a captured payment on an unpaid order or dispatched goods without a shipment, assigns an owner, and lets authorized staff document the resolution.

The Super Admin, Finance Officers and Order Fulfilment Managers can open the reconciliation centre. Exceptions display their responsible role and require a written resolution before closure. The report can also be exported as CSV. A Coolify scheduled task may call the protected reconciliation endpoint daily using RECONCILIATION_CRON_SECRET.

Merchant API keys are shown once and stored only as SHA-256 hashes. Requests use constant-time verification, explicit scopes and per-credential rate limits.

Webhook bodies are signed with HMAC-SHA256. Receivers should verify the exact request body and deduplicate events using the event ID.

Appwrite is the exclusive application backend for authentication, database records and private storage. Server-side code uses one limited-scope runtime key for the operations the marketplace needs. The full-scope provisioning key remains outside the application and is never used for ordinary marketplace requests.

Original product files are stored in the private Appwrite product-media bucket. PAC-SM validates file size, declared type and image signature, enforces seller ownership and only serves approved images publicly through its controlled media route. Pending or rejected images are visible only to the owning seller and Super Admin.

Marketplace redirects and payment callback origins are deliberately built from APP_BASE_URL so a reverse proxy cannot send a user to an internal container address such as 0.0.0.0:3000. In Coolify, set APP_BASE_URL to the public HTTPS marketplace domain without a trailing path.