Sell with AfroLikes

Twenty founding Houses

On AfroLikes, every merchant is a House: a designer, artisan, atelier or specialist business that sells its pieces or services under its own name. A piece is anything a House sells for delivery: clothing, cloth, jewellery, shoes, bags, art, homeware, beauty products and food. A service is anything booked with a House: tailoring, styling, hair and beauty appointments, dining and experiences.

Applications are open. AfroLikes will open with twenty founding Houses based in the UK, each verified before it joins. Our doors open to guests once all twenty have been verified and welcomed.

A founding place is free. Founding Houses pay no commission in their first month of public trading, then 15% for the twelve months that follow, with card fees included throughout.

Based in Africa or the Caribbean?

Our twenty founding places are for Houses based in the UK. We will welcome Houses across Africa and the Caribbean in our next phase, after our UK Houses have begun trading. You are welcome to apply now. We reply to every application within ten working days and Houses that apply now will be first in line when that phase opens.

What to expect if you are based outside the UK

• Verification: when the next phase opens, so our checks are current on the day you begin selling.
• Delivery: at first, AfroLikes delivers to guests in the UK. You send each piece to the guest by tracked courier.
• Duty paid: you send pieces duty paid, so nothing is collected on a guest's doorstep. We agree the customs and VAT steps with you before your first sale.
• Payouts: transfer and currency costs on payouts outside the UK are passed on at cost and shown on your statement.
• Terms: the founding terms on this page are for our twenty UK Houses. We confirm the terms for the next phase in writing before you are asked to sign anything.

Who we are looking for

To us, luxury is measured in quality: exceptional materials, mastery of craft, and service worthy of both.

We open with six collections: Occasion Wear, Fabrics & Textiles, Fine Jewellery, Shoes, Bags & Hats, Bespoke Made-for-You and Celebration Essentials. Beauty, Art, Home, Gastronomy and Experiences open next, each as its founding Houses are verified. Applications are welcome for all eleven.

You are likely to be a good fit if:

• your work is rooted in African or Caribbean craft, cloth or tradition, and finished to a standard you are proud of;
• you trade as a business we can verify, based in the UK;
• you offer pieces to buy, services to book, or both;
• you keep the lead times you state;
• every photograph of your work is your own, of the real piece. We do not accept AI-generated or AI-altered product imagery.

AfroLikes is curated by design. We will grow with Houses that never disappoint a guest, and never with those that sometimes do.

The founding terms

• Joining fee: None. Houses that join after the founding twenty pay a one-off £99, taken from their first payouts, never paid upfront.
• Your first month of public trading: No commission, and the card fees are ours. The month begins on the day our doors open to guests, not the day you are accepted, so none of it is lost to the calendar.
• Your founding rate: 15% of each sale for the twelve months that follow, card fees included.
• After that: Our standard commission of 20% of each sale, card fees included.
• Services: Bookings carry the same rate as pieces.
• Monthly or listing fees: None.
• How you are paid: Weekly, by bank transfer to your verified business account, with a statement, for orders delivered at least seven days earlier.

The rest, in plain words

• From your second month, a minimum commission of £2 applies to each order or booking. It only affects the smallest sales: under about £13 at the founding rate and under £10 at the standard rate.
• If a piece is returned because it was faulty, damaged or not as described, the guest is refunded in full. The refund and the card fee on that order are deducted from your next payout, and our commission is not refunded.
• If a guest returns a piece within their fourteen days because they changed their mind, the guest is refunded in full and we return our commission, less a £5 returns fee taken from it. Only what you were paid for the piece, the £5 and the card fee on that order come back from your next payout.
• If a card payment is disputed because an order did not arrive or was not as described, the amount and the dispute fee are set against your payouts.
• If a payment turns out to have been made with a stolen card, the loss is ours, not yours: you keep what you were paid, provided the order was sent, tracked, to the address given at checkout.
• For Gastronomy Houses, prepaid experiences, such as tasting menus, supper clubs, private dining and celebration catering, carry the standard rate. When table reservations open, they will carry no commission.

What the twenty receive

• The Founding House mark: On your House page, permanently. Only twenty will ever carry it.
• A Founding House badge: To show on your own website and social profiles.
• Launch placement: A place on our homepage through the launch season, and a first look for our Guestlist and on Instagram before our doors open.
• Help building your House: Photography guidance, descriptions, lead times and delivery settings, prepared with you before you go live.

Twenty places, welcomed in the order that verification is completed. When the twentieth is filled, these terms close for good.

How selling works

You remain the seller: your House, your name, your prices. AfroLikes acts as your commercial agent. We bring the customer, conclude the sale on your behalf and take payment for you.

1. You apply. About ten minutes. We reply to every application within ten working days.
2. We verify your House. The business, the people behind it and the work itself, checked against a standard set by our founder. Every House, without exception, before anything is listed. Verification begins as soon as your documents arrive, and we tell you where you stand at each step.
3. You are welcomed. You receive your acceptance and the Founding House agreement. Nothing is signed before then.
4. We build your House page together. Photographs, descriptions, sizes, lead times and delivery settings, each checked before anything goes live.
5. Our doors open. Your pieces and services go live on the day our doors open to guests, and your month without commission begins that day.
6. You are paid weekly, as set out above.

Returns, handled for you

Every House follows the same returns standard, so a guest knows what to expect wherever they shop:

• Change of mind: the guest has 14 days from delivery to tell us, and a further 14 days to send the piece back.
• The exceptions: pieces made to measure or personalised for the guest, food, and beauty products once opened. Your listing says so before the guest pays.
• Faults: anything faulty, damaged or not as described is always put right.

We handle returns and complaints on your behalf, so a guest writes to one address rather than to your inbox. How each refund is settled with you is set out in the founding terms above.

Why we verify

Buying African and Caribbean luxury online too often means a leap of faith: money sent to an account no one can check, an outfit that has not arrived three weeks before the wedding. Verification is our answer to that.

It is also your advantage. A customer who arrives already confident, and pays in full at checkout, is often the least expensive sale a House makes.

Apply for a founding place

About ten minutes. If you would rather ask a question first, write to hello@afrolikes.com with "Founding House" in the subject line.

The full terms are set out in the Founding House agreement, which you receive on acceptance and before you sign anything.

AfroLikes will never ask you to send money: not to apply, not to join, and never by bank transfer, WhatsApp or direct message. If anyone claiming to represent us does, please tell us.