These days we receive a bit of hate mail from people who claim our unofficial rates are somehow inaccurate. These rates which are as high as $850 ZWL per 1 USD are very accurate and today we will show you how you can buy from Spar shops using these rates. We have tested this method by buying from Spar Harare shops. It will probably work if you buy from Spar in other countries but we cannot be sure as we have not possibly tested this. To be clear, the method we are about to describe is very legal and will allow you to get rates as high as $850 ZWL per 1 USD when you buy from Spar. You can even get a 5% voucher in the process too and save even more.

All you need to do is follow these steps:

  • First, you need to create a list of the things you want to buy. Only crazy and rich people can go shopping without a shopping list.
  • Gather your ID, proof of residence and US dollars and visit your nearest Pick N Pay and sign up for a BancABC prepaid Visa. If you already have a BancABC prepaid Visa you do not need to get a new one. All you need to do is deposit whatever you want to spend into your card.
  • You will receive a message from the bank when your deposit is credited to your card. BancABC also allows you to check your balance via WhatsApp you can be told how when you get your card or during the time you make your deposit.
  • Now visit the Spar Website on https://www.spar.co.zw/
  • You will be asked to select your region/town/city. Don’t worry you can select your desired specific shop later on as we will explain below.
  • Using your list from before you can start shopping and adding things to your catalogue. You need to buy goods worth at least 30 US dollars before you are allowed to checkout. Each time you add items to your virtual cart your shopping cart total increases. This is clearly visible whether you are shopping using your phone or computer and you can make adjustments by visiting the checkout page and adjusting the amounts of each item you want to buy
  • When you are done you can start the checkout process by simply visiting https://www.spar.co.zw/checkout
  • You will be asked to select the store you want your recipient (which can be you or your friend) to collect their groceries from. All you need to do is to select your local Spar store, you can be standing right in the middle of it and do the shopping online. You will also be asked to enter the recipient’s number and date when they want to collect the groceries. Choose the closest possible date.
  • Once you have entered this information you will be asked whether you want to pay using Visa or MasterCard. If you have been following our guide thus far select Visa but if you have a MasterCard you can select the MasterCard option.
  • When you pay you will receive confirmation. Please note that most cards are 3-D secure these days. This means that you will have to confirm the purchase with BancABC or whoever your card provider is. BancABC sends you an OTP to your phone, enter this OTP to confirm that you want to make the purchase.
  • All you need to do is wait for the call that tells you when your order is ready. When you do all you need to do is go to the said branch and get your groceries.

NB. Given what Spar charges online and what they charge in ZWL you will get a rate that you would never get where to walk up to the store and illegally change your USD to ZWL by borrowing someone’s swipe cards. We have explained on multiple occasions why this is the case.

We will be publishing more tips like this over the week so you might want to subscribe to our Twitter account.