Hello Pretty

To our dear, deeply appreciated customers,

After ten fulfilling, magical years beginning in the good old days of 2012, Hello Pretty is retiring and heading off to the beach with a drink with a tiny umbrella. Ours and our sellers' time has been so fulfilling and magical because of your support & understanding of the quality and value of South-African made products, and how vital to the economy it is to support these small and growing businesses. Besides it meaning a lot to us as Hello Pretty ourselves, this has gone on to the change the lives of thousands of businesses who have even gone on to create employment. We're calling that the win we went into this for.

In 2012 when we launched, South Africa had a rich environment of creatives & artisans who had no way to expand their customer base nationally. Some solutions existed back then, but they were targeted towards international audiences. With the state of the SA post office, shipping international orders was a challenge. Within South Africa, reaching customers around the country was possible, but expensive and far from easy.

There was a problem, and we solved it! Many, many relationships between our customers and sellers have been formed and everyone has ended up just a little bit more connected.

Thank you for your support, your love and your shout-outs. It's all meant more than you'd imagine to us and the South African small-business economy, which we hope to see thrive.

With love, admiration and our deep gratitude,
Porchia, Scott & Sam.

FAQs for our customers

Definitely not, your money is safe. We are many things, and crooks is not one of them. The seller should have shipped it by now. If you haven't received it, please contact them to figure out what the status is. If you don't come right with that, please let us know.

The reason we've left the site semi-alive is so that you can still find things you like, and stores you like. On store and product pages, you'll find the contact information for that seller - social media links, website links, and in some cases phone numbers.

Also, we're really fond of the marketplace Aya Africa - http://aya.africa. We met with their team and we feel good about recommending them to you. They share our vision and values, and I feel that our hearts are in the same place. You will find the same quality, and unique and special products that you found on Hello Pretty. And you will continue to find the same quality locally-made products that you've come to love and rightly expect.

As most customers and sellers know, we are a small teeny team of 3 people. We've worked on the site for a long time with of a team of just 3 people, with other wonderful people we had the privilege of working together with along the way, and we're eternally grateful to have had them working with us.

For most of the last two years Porchia has done almost everything on her own to keep our fires burning. I (Sam) had a fairly serious illness, which was kind of a pain in the butt and didn't lend itself well to giving Hello Pretty the love it needs and deserves. Recovering has become a priority now.

We always love a chat! But at this time we're not looking to hand-over or sell Hello Pretty.


To our sellers, the talented partners we always dreamed of,

In 2012 when we launched, South Africa had a rich environment of creatives & artisans who had no way to expand their customer base nationally. Some solutions existed back then, but they were targeted towards international audiences. With the state of the SA post office, shipping international orders was a challenge. Within South Africa, reaching customers around the country was possible, but expensive and far from easy.

Hello Pretty filled that gap. As a small business ourselves, we understood the hurdles you guys have to overcome to make a go of things. For this reason we've always kept our prices as low as possible (over 10 years, just 4.2% increase in plan fees) and put as much as possible into marketing, improving the website, and reducing hurdles small businesses face. Our focus has always been in helping you, our sellers, in whichever ways we can, and this is what gives us the most joy. We've always rooted for you and always will and we're grateful for the many sellers who have done this for us.

Having your support over the last ten years has been a dream, a privilege and a joy. Being able to work with your talent that you've shared with us is something we'll be forever grateful for. South Africa truly does have talent that belongs on a world stage. We've met many of you personally and made lasting relationships (even attending a wedding or two!). Thank you all for your love and support over the years. You're really cool cats.

Again, we extend our grateful thanks to you for working with us in navigating South Africa's blossoming ecommerce sphere. We are, because you are. We also thank Porchia, who many of you will have corresponded with. I've been navigating an inconvenient health blip for the last two years and she stepped up to the plate and took care of pretty much everything so that I could focus on my health. Could one of you who sew please make her a hero's cape? 😀

South Africa has an amazing community of creatives, which you're part of, and we're looking forward to working on new ventures in the space and maybe crossing paths with you again. And just seeing what you come up with!

With our love, admiration & our deepest gratitude,
Porchia, Scott & Sam.

We have a couple of suggestions. Remember, you might be interested in using only one, or several, of these options. It depends on the way that your business operates.

We're really fond of the new online store and marketplace Aya Africa - http://aya.africa! Do you know them? We met with their team and we feel good about recommending them to you. They share our vision and values and I feel that our hearts are in the same place.. Bonus: they are also selling in a couple of other countries so you get further reach than Hello Pretty offered you. They're also a small team, busting it around the clock to give you the best that they can, and very approachable if you have any questions for them. You might even see us partner with them for a project or two in the future...

You could consider Shopify, but just so you know, this little guy isn't free. It is a quality product but it does require some capital. It isn't a marketplace, so your store is your own. There are no other products or brands anywhere on your site. All yours. So very brand-strong, but also will require consistent marketing from you to drive sales.

Some of our sellers sell on Takealot. We hesitate to recommend this option to you because it honestly won't suit most of your brands. You are small, quality, local boutiques. It makes us uncomfortable to think of you guys' beautiful handmade products listed alongside dishwashers and TVs. However, they do have a marketplace so even though you're not selling USB cables, you could always look into it. Up to you.

Did you ship the order and mark it as either confirmed or shipped? If you did then you should have been paid. If you didn't confirm the other that won't have been paid out yet. If you have confirmed and fulfilled the order, let us know by setting the correct status so that we can pay you.

Turns out there is a quite a lot more to winding down a 10-year-old business than we realised.

We always love a chat! But at this time we're not looking to hand-over or sell Hello Pretty.

Hello Pretty