Buying building materials online should not mean paying a stranger and hoping the truck arrives. Koilemi’s escrow process keeps the supplier’s payout on hold until your materials reach your site and you have had time to check them.
How it works
- You pay Koilemi. Pay by card, bank transfer or USSD through Paystack. Your payment is collected for the order and held under Koilemi’s escrow process. The supplier is told the order is paid, but their payout is not released yet.
- The supplier delivers. The supplier accepts the order, prepares it and dispatches it with the driver’s name and phone number. You can follow every step on your order’s tracking page and share a tracking link with your site manager.
- You confirm with your delivery PIN. Each delivery has its own PIN on your tracking page. Give it to the driver only when the materials are on your site. Sharing the PIN confirms that the delivery arrived.
- You have 7 days to check. Count bags, measure rods, check grades and look for damage. If something is wrong, report it from your order within 7 days of delivery.
- The supplier is paid. If you report no problem, the supplier’s payout is released after the 7-day window, minus Koilemi’s commission.
Your delivery PIN
- Never share your PIN before the materials have arrived, even if the driver says they are nearby.
- Koilemi staff will never ask for your PIN by phone or WhatsApp.
- If someone else will receive the delivery, share the tracking link with them. They can see the PIN and the delivery details there.
If you do not confirm
If the supplier marks a delivery as arrived and you neither confirm it nor report a problem, delivery is confirmed automatically after 14 days. The 7-day inspection window then starts. Please confirm or report promptly, so suppliers who delivered properly are paid on time.
Reporting a problem
Open the order in your account, choose the item and select “Report a problem”. Tell us what is wrong and add photos if you can. The supplier’s payout for that delivery is frozen while Koilemi reviews the issue. The possible outcomes are explained in Returns, Refunds and Disputes.
What escrow does not cover
- Payments made directly to a supplier outside Koilemi, even for materials you first saw on Koilemi.
- Problems reported after the 7-day window has closed. These go to the supplier’s own warranty or after-sales support, and we will still try to help.
- Materials that were correct on delivery but were later damaged by storage, weather or use on site.
- Delays to your project, labour costs or other indirect losses.
Important
Koilemi is not a bank, and escrow on Koilemi is a contractual service under our Terms of Use. Payments are processed by Paystack, a licensed payment processor.
