Selling clothes online in Kenya comes down to three things: buying stock you can sell at a profit, showing it well enough that buyers trust the size and condition, and delivering it without losing money on delivery fees and returns. Here is each step, with the prices traders are paying now.
1. Pick a lane before you buy anything
There are three ways to stock an online clothes shop:
| Source | Strength | Weakness |
|---|---|---|
| Mitumba (second-hand bales) | Lowest cost per piece; unusual items | Every piece is different; quality varies inside a bale |
| New stock from Eastleigh or CBD wholesalers | Same item in several sizes; easy to restock and re-photograph | Other sellers post the same items, so you compete on price |
| Importing yourself | Best margin once you know what sells | Cash tied up for weeks; shipping and duty risk |
Then pick a narrow buyer: "office dresses, sizes 12–18", "men's denim", "girls' weekend wear". A narrow shop looks consistent, and followers know what to come back for.
2. Mitumba: what bales cost now
Gikomba in Nairobi is the country's biggest second-hand clothes market, and bales have become much dearer. Traders there gave these prices to Soko Directory in October 2025:
| Bale | Earlier price | October 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Ladies' tops | KSh 12,000 (a year earlier) | KSh 19,500 |
| Men's trousers | KSh 16,000 (two years earlier) | about KSh 25,000 |
| Children's clothes | KSh 10,000 | about KSh 17,000 |
The same traders reported average bale prices up 40–60% since 2023. One denim trader said their profit per bale had fallen from about KSh 7,000 to about KSh 2,000 after stall rent (KSh 6,000–10,000 a month), county charges (KSh 200–300 a day) and transport. Many now share bales or buy half-bales.
What that means for you:
- You cannot see inside a bale before you pay. Start with a half-bale or a shared bale, and buy from a dealer you can go back to.
- Buying picked pieces can beat buying bales. A Gikomba trader profiled by Money254 in May 2025 lost money on their first KSh 25,000 bale, then switched to buying selected top-grade pieces to resell. Fewer pieces, but almost no dead stock.
- Selling online saves the stall costs. Without the stall rent and daily county charges, you keep more of each sale. Delivery becomes your cost instead.
If you ever import bales yourself: Kenya charges duty on used clothes of 35% or US$0.20 a kilo, whichever is higher (Business Daily, July 2025). That is the lowest rate in the East African Community.
3. New clothes: Eastleigh and importing
Eastleigh's malls sell new clothes, shoes and bags wholesale, and many shops sell in small lots. Prices change often, so walk several malls and compare before you buy. Two habits help:
- Buy what you can restock. A dress you can re-order in three sizes is worth more to an online shop than a one-off. The photos, sizes and description keep working.
- Watch what other sellers post. If ten Instagram shops post the same dress, the only thing left to compete on is price. Look for items, colours or sizes they don't carry.
Import yourself only once you know which items sell again and again. Most small sellers use a shipping agent who groups small orders together. Before paying, get the agent's price in writing and confirm it covers duty, clearance and delivery to your town.
4. Price each piece so the sale pays
Work out your cost per piece:
- Cost per piece = (bale or lot price + transport) ÷ the number of pieces you can actually sell. Count after sorting: torn, stained or unsellable pieces don't count.
- Add packaging and payment costs. Since 7 August 2026, a Buy Goods till is free for the merchant on payments up to KSh 500, then 0.55% up to KSh 36,363 (Tech-ish, on Safaricom's notice). Card and M-Pesa checkout on Duka costs 1.5%.
- Decide who pays delivery, and show it before checkout.
- Set the price for the margin you need, then check it against what your buyers already pay elsewhere.
An example, for illustration only: a KSh 19,500 bale of ladies' tops that sorts into 150 sellable tops costs KSh 130 a top before transport and packaging. The real number comes from your own count. Run your figures through the profit margin calculator, and see payment charges in the M-Pesa charges calculator.
Always show the price. "DM for price" loses the many buyers who won't ask.
5. Photos that answer buyers' questions
Clothes sell on photos. For each item:
- daylight from a window, with a plain wall or sheet behind;
- front, back, the label, and a close-up of the fabric;
- worn by a person or hung neatly, never in a heap;
- on mitumba, one clear photo of any flaw. It costs you very few sales and saves returns.
The full method is in product photos with a phone.
6. Give measurements, not just size labels
Mitumba carries labels from the UK, US, Europe and Asia, and a UK 12 is not a US 12. Lay each piece flat and measure:
- tops and dresses: armpit to armpit (double it for the chest), and length from shoulder to hem;
- trousers and jeans: waist straight across (double it), hips, and inside leg;
- shoes: the insole length in centimetres, as well as the label size.
Ask buyers to measure a garment they own that fits well, and compare it with your numbers. That cuts down on "will it fit?" DMs and on wrong-size returns.
7. Delivery
Choose your delivery options before the first order:
- your own rider for same-day delivery in your town;
- a parcel-agent network such as Pickup Mtaani, where the buyer collects from an agent near them (check the current fee in its app);
- bus or matatu parcel services for upcountry orders.
Put the fee and the delivery time on the product page, and take payment before you dispatch. With cash on delivery, every refused parcel means you pay delivery twice and get nothing.
8. Returns: write the policy before the first sale
Online sales fall under Kenya's Consumer Protection Act (Cap. 501) as "internet agreements". Before the sale, the seller must give the buyer the required information and a clear chance to accept or decline the order and to correct mistakes (section 31). If the seller does not, the buyer may cancel the order until seven days after receiving a copy of the agreement (section 33).
In practice:
- Send a confirmation for every order listing the item, size, price and delivery fee. That is the buyer's copy.
- Put the returns policy on every product page. For example: wrong size can be exchanged within a set number of days if unworn with tags on, and faulty items are refunded. Say who pays the return delivery.
- Exclude underwear and swimwear. Jumia doesn't accept returns of innerwear or swimwear either.
Where Duka helps
A Duka shop is free to set up. It gives you a product page for each item, with photos, price, sizes and your returns policy, and one link to share on WhatsApp, TikTok and Instagram. Buyers pay by M-Pesa or card at checkout (1.5%), you can take orders on WhatsApp, and you can send parcels through Pickup Mtaani agents. Every order and payment shows up in one dashboard.