Online marketplaces in Afghanistan are still finding their footing. Platforms exist, people use them, but the industry has not yet reached the scale or reliability that makes online shopping a default habit for most Afghans.
What Is an Online Marketplace?
An online marketplace is a platform where multiple sellers list and sell products, and buyers can browse and purchase from different sellers in one place — think Amazon or eBay. An online shop, by contrast, is a single seller selling their own products directly, like a brand’s own website. In practice, the line can blur: some Afghan platforms mix both models, and some sellers operate through a Facebook page or Telegram channel rather than a dedicated website.
Some platforms operate through a dedicated website. Others rely entirely on a Facebook page or a Telegram channel. Both approaches are common, and neither is inherently more trusted than the other.
The Main Online Marketplaces in Afghanistan
Leelam
Type: Classifieds · leelam.af
A classifieds platform is essentially a noticeboard — individuals and businesses post ads for things they want to sell, rent, or offer. The platform itself does not sell anything, handle payment, or arrange delivery. Buyers and sellers contact each other directly and sort out the rest between themselves.
Leelam launched in the summer of 2017. It is Afghanistan’s equivalent of OLX or Craigslist — a free platform where individuals and businesses post ads and buyers contact them directly. According to Leelam’s own About Us page, it receives 70,000 daily visitors with 1,600 new listings posted every day.
Categories include vehicles, real estate, electronics, furniture, clothing, sporting equipment, and job listings. The platform covers all 34 provinces. An in-app chat feature lets buyers and sellers communicate without sharing phone numbers immediately.
Payment: Leelam does not process payments. Each transaction is settled directly between buyer and seller, typically in cash. The platform earns from visibility upgrades — sellers can pay to boost their listings.
Best for: Vehicles and property. If you are looking for a used car, land, or an apartment in Kabul, Herat, Mazar-i-Sharif, or Kandahar, this is where most listings are.
Baran Mart
Type: Online shop · baranmart.com
Baran Mart is a direct online shop with fixed prices and home delivery. According to its About Us page, the store has been operating for over ten years, carries more than 20,000 product lines, and works with over 6,000 affiliate sellers across Afghanistan. Daily visitor numbers are stated between 20,000 and 100,000, with over one million social media followers.
The range covers women’s and men’s clothing, kitchen appliances, home goods, mobile phones, children’s items, groceries (including pine nuts from Paktia province), beauty products, books, and security equipment. The site operates in Dari with prices in Afghani.
Baran Mart delivers through its own provincial staff rather than cargo companies — the founder presents this as a quality guarantee. Delivery is stated as one to 48 hours. The store also runs an affiliate programme where individuals earn commission for promoting products through social media or personal contacts.
Payment: Cash on delivery only. No card or digital payment option is listed.
AF Divar
Type: Classifieds · afdivar.com
AF Divar (دیوار افغانستان — “The Wall of Afghanistan”) is modelled on Iran’s popular Divar.ir. According to figures on its homepage, it hosts over 5,000 active listings across 29 categories, with 3,265+ registered users and over 2,000 active stores.
Categories span real estate, vehicles, clothing, food products, electronics, jobs, health products, jewellery, travel and visa services, industrial machinery, and general services. The platform also shows live currency exchange rates from Sara-i-Shahzada, useful for traders pricing goods in USD or AFN.
Payment: AF Divar does not handle payments. All transactions are settled between buyer and seller directly, normally in cash. Posting is free; paid promotion is available for more visibility. The platform also maintains WhatsApp and Telegram groups where new listings are pushed to subscribers — a practical way to stay updated without checking the site daily.
Saneens
Type: International export · saneens.com
Saneens is a different kind of platform — aimed primarily at buyers outside Afghanistan. According to its homepage, the business was founded in 1987 with a focus on preserving authentic Pashtun cultural craftsmanship. It has since grown into an international Shopify-based store shipping worldwide.
The range includes handmade women’s dresses (Afghan, Balochi, and Kuchi vintage styles), men’s traditional clothing, jewellery, hand-knotted rugs (prayer rugs, overdyed rugs), shoulder bags, Peshawari chappals, kilim cushion covers, and art spanning Islamic, Mughal, Buddhist, and Afghan miniature styles. Shipping is weight-based and calculated at checkout.
Payment: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Shop Pay, and Venmo. Prices display in local currencies depending on the buyer’s location. Of the platforms listed here, Saneens is the most internationally accessible.
Azmo
Type: Online shop · azmo.af
According to its About Us page, Azmo is the largest marketplace for buying and selling across all 34 provinces and 408 districts of Afghanistan, built to enable direct trade without intermediaries. Ad posting is free.
Categories include real estate, cars, digital goods, home appliances, services, entertainment, and job listings. Payment and delivery details are not clearly listed. If you use Azmo, share your information with us!
Quick Comparison
| Platform | Type | Payment | Audience |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leelam | Classifieds | Peer-to-peer (cash) | Domestic |
| Baran Mart | Online shop | Cash on delivery | Domestic |
| AF Divar | Classifieds | Peer-to-peer (cash) | Domestic |
| Azmo | Online shop | Not confirmed | Domestic |
| Saneens | International export | Cards, PayPal, Apple/Google Pay | International |
Why Online Shopping in Afghanistan Is Still Developing
The platforms exist. The interest is there. But several structural challenges make online shopping in Afghanistan harder than it looks.
Payment
International online payments are not integrated into Afghan marketplaces. Debit and credit cards are not a realistic option for most domestic transactions. Exceptions exist — platforms targeting an international audience, such as Saneens, do support standard card and online payments.
Some platforms have started accepting mobile money — services like M-Paisa and Afghan Wireless My Money — but adoption is not widespread and not all platforms offer it.
Where mobile money is accepted, the process is largely manual — similar to bank transfers or payments through a sarafi. The customer makes the transfer and then notifies the seller directly, via call or WhatsApp. The seller checks their account, confirms the payment, and manually records the order. This works at small scale but does not scale well as order volumes grow. Banks and mobile money providers in Afghanistan rarely offer direct API integration for businesses, and where it exists, obtaining access is difficult.
HesabPay is working to change this. It is Afghanistan’s first interoperable digital payments platform, connecting banks and mobile money providers under one system, with a payment gateway businesses can integrate into their online stores.
The most common arrangement is still cash on delivery: the customer pays when the goods arrive.
Delivery and Addresses
Afghanistan does not have a standardised address system. Streets are often unnamed or unnumbered, and even a long address description may not be precise enough for a delivery driver to find. In practice, buyers and sellers typically coordinate via mobile call or WhatsApp to agree on a meeting point — somewhere easy to find — where goods and money are exchanged.
The national postal service is not practically usable for this kind of transaction. Some small delivery businesses have emerged specifically to fill this gap, but the sector is still early. Most marketplaces and shops handle delivery themselves, which limits their reach.
Internet Access and Communication
Not everyone has reliable internet access. Email is not widely used in everyday life for most Afghans. Platforms that rely on email for order confirmations or delivery updates will lose many customers along the way. SMS, mobile calls, and WhatsApp are far more effective for reaching buyers and keeping them informed.
Shopping Culture
The habits on both sides are still forming. Many shopkeepers are not accustomed to handling returns or providing after-sales support. Many customers, in turn, are not yet comfortable placing orders online, tracking shipments, or going through the effort of receiving a delivery. This is not a criticism — it simply reflects how early the market still is.
Product Range and Pricing
The selection on most Afghan platforms is narrow. Categories tend to cover the basics — electronics, clothing, household goods — but depth within those categories is limited.
Prices are often not competitive with what can be found in a physical market. Without multiple sellers competing on the same product, there is little pressure to lower prices.
On most platforms, a product will have only a single seller. On larger international marketplaces, the same product from different suppliers is grouped under one listing, letting buyers compare prices and choose. That is not yet the case in Afghanistan. Part of the reason is structural — without a standardised product identifier system, it is not straightforward to match and group identical products from different sellers under one listing. In contrast, in Europe for example, every product carries an EAN (European Article Number) — a unique 13-digit barcode that identifies the product regardless of who sells it, which is what allows platforms like Amazon to group all offers for the same item together. No equivalent system exists in Afghanistan.
Customer Service
Formal customer service operations are expensive to run and require licensing that is difficult to obtain. Most platforms assign one or two staff members with a phone and laptop to handle customer enquiries. It works at small scale, but it is not built to grow quickly.
Still Early, But Moving Forward
These are not reasons to dismiss Afghan e-commerce — they are the problems its platforms are actively working through. The industry is building, and the pieces are gradually falling into place.
Do you have a comment or something to share? contact us: info@aboutafg.com