Free consumerism: free downloads

The internet has broadened spaces for the sale of more products, more efficiently and faster than ever before. 24-hour deliveries off sites such as Amazon.com make buying, something that can be done just by clicking a few buttons.

Alongside the boom in consumerism via the internet, is the increasing ways in which people have used the internet to avoid paying for items that were profitable in previous decades.

One industry that is continually brought up around this topic is the music industry. While platforms such as iTunes exist and require payment, many people prefer to find their music for free elsewhere online.

USSD codes, M-Pesa and internet-less banking

Internet banking has opened up new  ways for people send and spend their money. While it is often the friendliest interface, as smartphones allow for full colour contact with multiple buttons and drop down screens, in a country such as South Africa where internet can be sketchy at best it is to always possible to connect to various internet enabled applications.

Paypal: South African’s best choice?

Paypal is currently the largest online payment processor in the world. It is widely accepted in many countries by online stores as a method of payment. Through Paypal, you can buy online without having to share financial information such as your credit card details with the merchant.

Paypal also allows you to send money to people who also have Paypal accounts for not cost. This makes it easier to send money to overseas relatives without all the taxes and bank fees which would usually be involved.

Facebook vs eBay

Long gone are the days when we were required to sell our second-hand items to relatives or a friend of a friend who we got told needs it. From the creation of online buy/sell sites such as eBay to the new Facebook pages which making sell items easier, there are so many options for both the buyer and the seller.

While eBay and other such sites still hold strong as go-to places for people to buy and sell their items, Facebook is fast approaching as a better option. The benefits and drawbacks of each platform are not always clear and have to be looked at according to each person’s position.