Now when selling online, we do not always have an item in stock or even carry it in stock. Out of over 7000 items on system, there are a few hundred that are either sold out or on special order.  Many a time it is not financially viable to stock a R30 000 alloy wheel that you might only sell once a year and customers fully understand this and do not mind waiting a specific time period for the item.

Below is a ruling from SunniPath: (original link)

Question:
I’m thinking of starting an online PC shop. Consumers would see PC’s on my website and if they buy any, they pay for it straight away. However I would only buy the relevant parts after I have received payment from the consumer. The reason for this is that consumers can customize the PC’s so the parts may vary and I do not have the funds to keep that much stock. Can you tell me if it is permissible for me to trade like this?

Answer:
In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,

The general principle of Shariah is that it is not permitted to sell a commodity that is not in one’s ownership. It is one of the basic requirements for a valid sale that the commodity or item being sold is in the ownership and possession of the seller. Hence, if the seller does not own a particular item, it will not be permitted for him/her to sell it to someone else.

Hakim ibn Hizam (Allah be pleased with him) reports that he said to the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace): O Messenger of Allah! At times an individual comes to me to purchase a specific item that I do not possess. Can I sell him the item and then purchase it from the market? The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said: Do not sell what you don’t own.(Sunan Tirmidhi, no: 1232 and others)

However, there is an exception to this general rule, namely the sale of what is known as Salam. Salam is a special type of sale wherein the seller undertakes to supply the commodity or goods to the buyer at a future date in exchange of payment fully paid at spot. (See: al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya, 3/178)

The fact that Salam was an exception to the general rule, it was subjected by the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) to certain strict conditions. The jurists (fuqaha) have explained these conditions in great length and detail in their respected works. It is not possible to explain these conditions here in detail, but the following is a very brief summary of these conditions:

1) The buyer must pay the price in full at the time of effecting the sale. If the buyer defers all or some part of the price to a later date, the sale would be invalid, for this would constitute exchanging a debt against a debt which has been prohibited by the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace).

2) Salam is only permitted in commodities and items whose quality and quantity can be specified exactly. Precious stones and similar items cannot be sold on the basis of a Salam contract, for every stone is normally different from the other in quality, size or weight.

3) The commodity or item being sold on the basis of Salam must be specified and described clearly. All the various relevant details and descriptions must be clearly mentioned leaving no room for ambiguity.

4) The exact date of delivering the commodity must be specified in the contract. (The Hanafi fuqaha, contrary to the fuqaha of the other three schools, have made a minimum of one month between the contract and delivery a condition for the validity of this sale. However, many contemporary Hanafi jurists have overlooked this condition due to the needs of the time; hence both parties may fix any date for delivery with mutual consent).

5) Salam is not permitted in items that must be exchanged at spot, such as exchanging gold in return of silver.

6) The item or commodity must remain in the market right from the date of contract to the date of delivery. Hence, if the item being sold is not available in the market at the time of contracting the sale, it will not be allowed.

7) The contract of Salam cannot be carried out on particular commodities, such as the fruit of a particular tree, etc, as it could be destroyed before delivery. Thus, it will not be allowed to effect Salam in commodities the supply of which is not certain. (See: al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya, 3/ 179-181)

In light of the above details, it would be permitted for you to sell PC’s with the consumer paying at spot and you delivering the commodity at a later date, provided all the conditions mentioned above are fully met.

The consumer must pay the payment in full and not defer any amount. Similarly, all the necessary details of the commodity must be clearly outlined and specified, the date of delivery must be determined, and other such conditions must be met. By doing so, your trade in selling PC’s in the manner explained by you will be halal(lawful), Insha Allah.

And Allah knows best

Muhammad ibn Adam al-Kawthari
Darul Iftaa, Leicester, UK

To summarise, not only Islamic but good online business practice should have the following:
1) delivery time frame (eg 2 to 4 working days) and notification if there are any delays
2)clear and concise description of the product as well as a good resolution photograph or graphic and open lines of communication should a customer need clarification.
3) payment must be made in full for us to being an order process.
4) items are fixed in shape and size. Not like Gold or silver.

We do have measures in place to prevent this and having less then 5 charge backs over 3 years is a pretty good average I think.

The scammer below sent us a copy of his credit card and Identity Document as part of our verification process.

I’m offended, at least have the decency and professionalism to send proper ‘fake’ documents instead of this newbie induced photoshop vomit.

Seriously – this is the original image he sent.

Voting is now open in the 2008 Jump Shopping E Commerce Awards

2008 marks the 3rd year of this prestigious awards showcasing the best in the South African E Commerce industry.

Autostyle Motorsport has been fortunate to be voted winners of the 2006 & 2007 awards.  We need your votes to win the 2008 award and make it three years in a row!

Since being at the helm of Autostyle Online in 2001,  I have successfully grown and pushed Autostyle’s online presence & off-line presence higher and higher.  From a crude .gif animated website receiving 100 visitors a day to a powerhouse php database driven ecommerce store receiving over 130 000 visitors & 1.85 million page impressions a month.

As it stands today, we are the 50th busiest website in South Africa (according to Websites Association of South Africa )

I would also like to ask your vote & support for iGroup, the development company we use for our web hosting, programming & behind the scenes work at Autostyle Online.  I can safely vouch for iGroup’s honesty & dedication in any project they take on.   I have personally known their founder & MD, Marc Seymor for nearly 9 years.  Year after year, they have grown & we have grown.  Proof that hard work, dedication, honesty & strong business acumen is a true recipe for any business & startup.

Vote for Autostyle Motorsport for Best Automotive Website 2008  and
vote for iGroup for Best Ecommerce Enabler 2008

2006 we won purely being the only real online retailer for car accessories and I’d like to think that the revamp on the look & feel was cause for the 2007 award.

Nominations are now open and close at the end of September, after that the voting begins and during the end of October the winners will be announced.
Click here to Nominate: http://www.jump.co.za/awards/2008/

2008 is a whole new level. The last 12 months saw very little change to the overall look at feel of the Autostyle.co.za website. The bulk of my time was spent in streamlining our backend area, product updates, staff permissions, etc etc.   In fact the only noticeable change on our website was our Blog & Photogallery – both of which are add-ons to the actual website. Additionally several new projects are planned to compliment our online store.

All of these are leading to an eventual design overhaul. Yes I am full aware of our crammed design – hopefully toward the end of 2008 a newer, wider & more user interactive design will be up.

Granted our rand/dollar battles, petrol price hikes, the eskom debacle & the national credit act passed last year have all combined to make 2008 a rather difficult year for retailers.

But has it really?

Our brick’n Mortar stores have felt the brunt of this decline and yes, business is not booming how we would want it to. As with all businesses and life itself, you have your ups and downs.
“One day you eat chicken & one day you eat feathers” as my brother regularly says….We will ride this out.

However, Online shopping has shown tremendous growth. Our online store, autostyle.co.za has consistently gotten bigger & busier, both in visitor statistics and conversions. It baffled me for a while as to why my online store continues to grow yet our brick’n mortar stores are going through a bit of stagnant period.

Two reasons spring to my mind:

1) Petrol prices have really taken its toll, in our niche market it is common to meet customers who have trekked all the way from Witbank, Nigel, Bethlehem, etc to our JHB Store. Perhaps they now realize it really is cheaper to rather pay the courier cost and have items delivered to your doorstep instead?

2) During the economic boom, every Tom, Dick & Harry opened up a store selling products like ours. Many survived purely on a month to month and now with the dip in our economy – they are folding. Just last week we were offered to buy stock out from a closing down store. Hence many who used to buy from these stores now have no other option but to buy the item through us & if they are not nearby to us – buy it online and have it delivered!

Now more then ever is a good time for online shopping. Like any venture, a good business acumen & correct methods are a must for a success. Even in these troubled times, South Africa really is a positive place to do business.