Google Trader Via SMS is currently available in Uganda (on MTN), Nigeria (on Airtel and MTN) and Ghana (free on Airtel and Tigo).
You can post items or buy them on Google Trader via SMS on your mobile phone. It's free! However, your carrier may charge you for the text messages that you send.
To get started: Text "START" to 6007.
To search for listings: Send a text message to the number 6007. This message must start with the word “BUY” followed by the keywords you would like to search for. For example, to search for electronics, you would send a message reading "BUY" electronics” to 6007.
To register with Google Trader: To post a listing via SMS, you will first need to create a Google Trader profile. To do this, send the word “REGISTER” to 6007. Once registered, you can post as many listings as you like.
Please note: You do not need a Google Account to post or search using SMS.
To post a listing: Send a message beginning with the word "SELL" and then describe the listing, the price, your location, and a way to contact you, to the number 6007. If you don’t include a phone number or email address in your post, Google Trader will automatically add the mobile number of the phone with which you created the listing at the end of your post.
For example, let’s say you’re in Kampala, want to sell a Huawei IDEOS for UGX 200,000, and your phone number is 0781234567. Your text to 6007 should look like this:
"SELL Huawei IDEOS UGX.200,000 Kampala call Joe at 0781234567"
To see your current listings: Text the word “LIST” to 6007.
To delete a listing: Text the word “LIST” to 6007 to receive the list of your current listings. Look for the listing you don't need any more and note down the number in front of the listing, then text the word “DELETE” followed by that number.
For example, to delete the first listing in the list that you see on your phone, your text to 6007 should look like this:
"DELETE 1"
To report a bad listing: Text the word “REPORT” followed by the number of the listing you want to delete, to 6007.
For example, if you want to report the first listing from the search results (received by texting “BUY” followed by keywords to 6007) on your phone as inappropriate, your text to 6007 should look like this:
"REPORT A"
Limitations to using Google Trader via SMS:
Edit a listing: There is no way to edit a listing using SMS. If you need to change or update a listing, you will need to delete it and then post it again.Viewing Listings: If you posted a listing via SMS, you will not be able to see it when you log into the web or mobile site of Google Trader. Your SMS account and web account are two separate accounts.