Buyer protection
Buy a cycad with your eyes open.
Cycad Central is a specialist marketplace, not a bank or an insurer. Our protection comes from accountable sellers, documented plants, optional independent expert verification and a written record of every deal — plus a dispute process with real consequences when a seller does not perform.
Know who you are dealing with
Every seller completes account onboarding before a plant may be listed: verified email, contact number, physical address and, for nurseries and commercial sellers, a valid selling permit on file. Seller trust ratings and the date a seller joined are shown on each listing.
Optional independent verification
You can ask for a plant to be assessed by an independent cycad expert before money changes hands. Verified plants may sell for more, and the assessment records species, form, photo sufficiency and a confidence score. Cycad Central connects you to the expert — it does not verify or certify plants itself.
A written record of the deal
Offers, bids, messages and the agreed price are kept on the platform. If something goes wrong, that record — not memory — is what your case is decided on.
A safe purchase, step by step
- 1
Inspect before you commit
Ask questions publicly on the listing, or privately in your inbox. Request extra photos of the caudex, leaf detail and cones. Arrange a viewing where practical. Anything a seller states in writing forms part of the sale.
- 2
Check the paperwork
Cycads are protected. Confirm the seller holds a possession permit for the plant, or has declared that no permit is available, and that a nursery seller's selling permit is current. Wild-collected plants may not be listed or traded on Cycad Central at all.
- 3
Pay in two parts, using the order reference
The order shows both amounts: the Cycad Central fee — 5% on sales up to R5,000 or 2.5% on sales over R5,000 — paid by the seller out of the sale price — which you pay to us, and the rest of the sale price, which you pay directly into the seller's bank account. Expert verification is free for now, so no verification fee is added. Log each payment on the order. The plant may only be released to you once the seller confirms the money reached their account and Cycad Central confirms the fee, and we then issue you two invoices — ours for the fee and the seller's for the plant.
- 4
Confirm on arrival
Inspect the plant against the listing and the certificate, if one was issued. Mark the order complete and rate the seller. A completed order and its reference number are what unlock a rating.
Refunds — when you get your money back
Plant materially not as described
If the plant that arrives is a different species or form, or its condition or size is materially different from the listing and photographs, you may reject it. Raise it within 7 days of receiving the plant, with photographs. The expected remedy is return of the plant against a full refund of the price paid, with transport costs carried by the party at fault.
Plant never delivered or collected
Where a seller takes payment and does not deliver, or refuses collection, the full amount is refundable. Sellers who fail to perform are flagged, may receive a strike and can have their account restricted.
Buyer changes their mind
A confirmed sale and a winning bid are binding. There is no cooling-off right simply because you no longer want the plant. Auction winners who walk away forfeit any deposit, the auction is flagged as disputed and the forfeiture is recorded against the account.
Living plant, honest risk
Cycads are living plants. Normal transport stress, leaf damage or seasonal appearance is not grounds for a refund. Seed germination rates and the eventual survival of raw suckers are never guaranteed.
Disputes — how a disagreement is settled
- 1. Talk first. Message the seller through the platform so the exchange is on record. Most problems are a misunderstanding about size, form or transport.
- 2. Log the dispute. Open the order under offers and orders and choose “Raise dispute”. Give the reason and what happened — dates, condition on collection, payment and permit detail. If you have no order on the platform, use the contact and dispute form instead.
- 3. Review. An administrator reads the listing as it stood at the time of sale, the messages, the photographs and any expert assessment, and may ask both sides for more detail.
- 4. Outcome. The written finding lands in your inbox and on your dashboard, together with what happens next — the plant released to you, a refund arranged by the seller, or the order frozen while it is reviewed. The finding is recorded against the order and the accounts involved. Outcomes include a refund on return, a partial settlement, forfeiture of a deposit, a strike against a non-performing seller, or the dispute being declined.
- 5. Your rights are untouched. Nothing here limits your rights under South African law, and either party may still pursue the matter elsewhere.
What verification does — and does not — cover
- Verification is optional everywhere in the app. It is a service we facilitate by connecting you to a recognised independent expert. Verified plants may sell for more.
- An assessment is a specialist opinion on species and form, based on the photographs and information supplied, recorded with a confidence score. It is not a guarantee of health, survival or future value.
- A Cycad Certificate records that opinion, its reference number and the plant's permanent CC-XXXXX code, and travels with the plant through future sales.
- Where an expert cannot reach a confident identification, the outcome is recorded as unable to verify: the plant stays listed as unverified, no certificate is issued and no verification fee is charged.
- 15-minute high-stakes auctions do not require expert verification. Bid on what you can see and on the seller's record.