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Tapsnapp expands to Swaziland, Botswana

Sibahle Malinga
By Sibahle Malinga, ITWeb senior news journalist.
Johannesburg, 14 Nov 2017

Tapsnapp, a mobile app that initially connected users to photographers around SA, has expanded to Swaziland and Botswana.

Launched in July by co-founders Vije Vijendranath and Jaiprakash Sewram, Tapsnapp aims to take the hassle out of looking for the right photographer by allowing users to select the photographer of their choice.

They can also place an open proposal and the photographers will propose shoots with suggestions for the user to choose from.

With more than 300 listed photographers from Southern Africa, the app provides an administration system and marketplace for photographers to better manage their business as freelancers.

It has reached a user base of around 4 700, growing at a pace of almost 2 500 users each month, says the start-up.

Vijendranath, co-founder and CEO of Tapsnapp, says the field ofphotography has been very traditional over the years; however, technological advancement is changing this.

"In the past when one was looking for a photographer, they had to approach people they know who have worked with a photographer, or alternatively try and contact every photographer online; even then, they don't know the quality of services offered.

"Tapsnapp allows users to decide on the pricing, availability of the photographer, the location and the type of shoot they are looking for. For example, if a user has a shoot in Durban on a particular date and time, the app will show results of photographers available on that day and make a price comparison for the user," he explains.

Once the booking is completed, and the job has been conducted, he adds, the chosen photographer receives the money securely without any payment disputes with clients who might pay partially or not at all, a problem often encountered by photographers.

The app also auto-bids on photographers' behalf by matching them to users according to requirements, he adds.

"We receive around five to10 bookings a month and we make a profit by charging transaction fees, so for every booking made, we take a percentage fee of between 6% and 12%, depending on the type of shoot."

The app, currently available only on Android, initially listed only South African photographers. Following demand from other countries, it recently added photographers from Swaziland and Botswana to its listings, with Zambia and Kenya to be added next year, according to the start-up.

"By next March, we plan to have a significant number of photographers from outside SA and we are estimating that we will be receiving around 200 bookings a month.

"Other interesting developments planned include connecting international tourists with photographers even before they arrive to tour SA, and we want to add a capability that will allow photographers to hire each other for big projects," concludes Vijendranath.

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