Plans, payment and upgrading
What each plan costs, what it actually unlocks, and exactly how paying works today. Prices below are the live prices at the time of writing.
About 8 minutes to read
Before you start
- A Market Hive SA account
Three months free with the launch offer
Enter the code LAUNCH2026 and your first three months are free, on any plan, in any category. You can enter it on the plans page before you choose, or on the checkout screen right before you pay.
Paying annually instead of monthly gives you two months free: you pay for ten months and get twelve.
Step 1: See the plans
Open Hive Memberships from the Help Centre or the footer. Plans are grouped by who they are for, because a market pays differently from a vendor.
Step 2: What each plan costs
Vendors, entertainers and performers
| Plan | Price | What it unlocks |
|---|---|---|
| Buzzing | R75 a month | The Hive Basics: your listing, map pin, contact details, social links and a main photo. |
| Thriving | R150 a month | Adds Confirmed Participation (Upcoming Markets on your profile) and an expanded photo gallery. |
| Hive Champion | R250 a month | Adds priority placement in the directory, homepage eligibility and video. |
Markets and festivals
| Plan | Price | What it unlocks |
|---|---|---|
| Pop-Up (3-Month) | R600 once off | A single payment covering 90 days. Made for seasonal and one-off events. |
| Buzzing | R150 a month | The ongoing plan for a market that runs all year. |
| Hive Champion | R250 a month | Adds featured placement, homepage rotation, priority placement and video. |
Suppliers and venues
| Plan | Price | What it unlocks |
|---|---|---|
| Buzzing | R150 a month | The Hive Basics plus a dedicated enquiry form. |
| Hive Champion | R250 a month | Adds a gallery, featured placement, analytics and priority placement. |
Each tier includes everything below it
Step 3: What the features actually mean
- Gallery - extra photos on your public page, not just the one main image.
- Map - a map showing where you are.
- Video - a YouTube or Vimeo video embedded on your page.
- Badge - a small tier badge on your listing.
- Priority placement - your listing sorts ahead of lower tiers in the directory. It does not hide anyone else, it changes the order.
- Homepage eligibility - you can be shown in the featured rows on the front page.
- Lead inbox - enquiries from your supplier listing collected in one place.
- Market linking and event calendar - your listing connects to the markets you attend and their dates.
Start on the cheapest plan that fits
Step 4: How paying works
On the plans page, click Subscribe on a monthly plan, or Buy now on the once-off Pop-Up plan. What happens next depends on whether you already have a listing of that type:
- No listing yet? We take you to the application form for that category first, so we have your details before any money changes hands. Submit it and you land straight on checkout.
- Already have one? You go straight to checkout.
Checkout shows the plan, the listing it applies to, a monthly or annual choice, and what is due today. There is a voucher box here too, so you get a second chance to enter a code before you pay. Click Continue to payment and you are handed to PayFast, South Africa's payment provider, to pay by card or EFT.
When PayFast confirms, you are returned to your dashboard and the membership panel shows the plan as active, usually within seconds.
Market Hive SA never sees your card
Step 5: If you are on a free period
Redeem a voucher and the membership starts immediately with nothing to pay. So that it can carry on without you having to do anything, add a card from your dashboard: press Add card on the membership panel and PayFast checks it with a R0.00 authorisation. Nothing is charged then.
When the free period ends, the normal fee is charged to that card and the membership simply continues. If you would rather it stopped, cancel before the end date and nothing is taken.
Step 6: Renewals, upgrades and cancelling
- Monthly and annual plans renew automatically on the date shown in your membership panel. You can see that date on your dashboard at all times.
- The 3-Month Pop-Up does not renew. It is a single payment covering 90 days, and it simply ends. There is nothing to cancel.
- Upgrading applies the new tier to your listings of that type. A vendor plan applies to every vendor listing on your account.
- Cancelling is self-service. Press Cancel membership on the membership panel of your dashboard. Nothing is removed on the spot: no further payments are taken, your listing keeps its full features until the date you have already paid for. After that it comes off the public site, because Market Hive SA has no free tier. Nothing is deleted, and everything is exactly where you left it if you restart.
- Reminders before anything is charged. We email you before a free period or a membership ends, so a renewal never arrives as a surprise.
Refunds are covered by the refund policy.
Step 7: Do I have to pay at all?
Browsing, searching and leaving reviews are free and always will be. You need a paid plan to run a business listing.
Advertising is separate from plans. If you want banner placement rather than a listing, see Advertise with us.
Still stuck? Email [email protected] or use the contact form. Tell us which step you are on and we will walk you through it.