Welcome to the collective! We are absolutely stoked to have you join The Hive NZ family. You are officially part of a movement that puts Kiwi small businesses first.

Starting a new journey can be a whirlwind, so keep an eye on your inbox—within the next few days, you’ll receive a personal welcome message from our Queen Bee. This is packed with vital info to help you succeed, so grab a coffee and give it a good read!

To protect the quality of our marketplace and ensure you are set up for success, we personally review every new shop before those first listings go live. We want to make sure your “vitals” are perfect so your first customer has a seamless experience.

Step 1: The “Must-Dos” (To get your review started)

You need to complete these three things before we can hit the “live” button:

1. Set Up Your Shipping: Our system requires shipping rules to be in place before listings can be activated.
2. Connect Your Stripe Account: Link your account under Settings > Payment so you can get paid instantly.
3. Add Your First Listings: Upload your products so we can see your amazing brand in action!

Step 2: The “Brand-Builders” (Don’t wait—do these now!)

You don’t need to wait for our approval to make your shop look incredible. We encourage you to dive right in and complete your setup so you are ready to hit the ground running the moment you’re approved:

• Design Your Storefront: Upload your store banner and profile picture to stand out.
• Tell Your Story: Write your vendor biography—customers love to know the person behind the products!
• Link Your Socials: Connect your Instagram or Facebook to drive your existing community to your new home.
• Set the Rules: Add your specific terms, conditions, and return policies.
• Create Excitement: Set up storewide coupons or discount codes to celebrate your launch.

A Note Regarding Pre Approval: Even for our VIPs, we perform this initial “grand opening” check to ensure everything is 100% correct. Once your shop is fully configured and your first listing is live and looking great, we will apply your pre-approval status. This means all your future updates and new listings will go live the second you hit “save!”

At The Hive NZ, we believe your hard-earned money belongs in your pocket as soon as possible. Our system is designed to give you total control over your cash flow through our integration with Stripe.

The Direct Route: Get Paid Instantly

When you set up your store, you’ll be prompted to connect your own Stripe account. We highly recommend this because it puts you in the driver’s seat:

• No Waiting: Payments go directly from the customer to your Stripe account.
• Automatic Deductions: Any applicable fees (see below) are deducted at the point of sale, so the balance that hits your account is your actual profit.
• You Control the Payout: From Stripe, you can transfer your funds to your New Zealand bank account on your own schedule.

Understanding the Fees

To keep the platform thriving and the tools sharp, there are two types of fees deducted before the money reaches you:

Success Fees:

• Vendors on our Free Introductory Starter plan pay a success fee of 15% on sales (calculated on the product price, excluding shipping).
• Vendors on our Pro Plan pay a success fee of 8% on sales (calculated on the product price, excluding shipping). 
• Vendors on our Pro+ Boost plan, your success fee is 0%.
• Stripe Fees: All vendors, regardless of their Hive plan, pay standard Stripe processing fees. These are the costs for securely processing credit card transactions. Check the current Stripe fees for NZ here.

Pro-Tip: Connecting your own Stripe account is the best way to avoid admin fees and keep your business moving at the speed of light!hly.

Don’t worry—getting set up is simple, free, and puts you in professional control of your business from day one.

Because The Hive NZ is a vendor-powered platform, we use Stripe to ensure you get paid directly and securely. If you don’t have an account yet, you can create one in just a few minutes without even leaving your shop dashboard.

• Quick & Free Setup: Simply head to your Vendor Dashboard > Settings > Payment. From there, you’ll see a button to connect or create a Stripe account. It’s completely free to open!
• Why Stripe? It is the global leader in online payments. Having your own account means you can track every sale, handle refunds easily if needed, and have your money sent straight to your bank account without waiting for us to process it manually.
• No Technical Skills Needed: The setup process is a guided, step-by-step journey designed for busy entrepreneurs, not tech experts.

Not keen on Stripe or hitting a roadblock? We never want tech to get in the way of your passion. If you’re having trouble setting up your account or have specific concerns about using Stripe, please contact our Admin team immediately. We are here to help find a solution that works for you and ensures your shop can get up and running smoothly.

Pro-Tip: Connecting your own Stripe account is the best way to avoid admin fees and keep your business moving at the speed of lightly.

We like to keep things simple! Our mission is to give you maximum exposure and the guidance you need to scale your business. However, to keep The Hive NZ a professional, secure, and thriving ecosystem for every vendor, we have a few “House Rules” to ensure we all win together.

1. Keeping the Hive Buzzing (External Links & Communication)

The power of The Hive NZ comes from our collective traffic. To keep our marketplace strong and our SEO high, we focus on keeping customers within our ecosystem.

• Links on your Store: You are welcome to link your social media profiles (Instagram, Facebook, etc.) via Dashboard > Settings > Social Profile. However, external links of any other kind are not permitted within your listings, shop descriptions, or content.
• Direct Communication: When a customer reaches out to you through our platform’s messaging or Q&A systems, all communication and referrals must stay within The Hive NZ. Sending customers to external websites, other marketplaces, or private checkout links is strictly prohibited.
• The Goal: By keeping the shopping journey on The Hive, we protect the community’s growth and ensure that every vendor benefits from the platform’s collective reach.

2. Staying Within the Law (Legal Compliance)

As the leader of your brand, you are responsible for ensuring your products and services meet New Zealand law (and the laws of any country you ship to).

• Prohibited Items: You cannot list items that are illegal, restricted, or require specific permits that you do not hold.
• Knowledge is Power: Understanding the regulations for your specific industry is key to a long-lasting business. For a breakdown of what might apply to you, please visit our Vendor Rights & Obligations page.

3. Professional Standards

The Hive is a community built on the passion of Kiwi entrepreneurs. We do not allow content that is misleading, offensive, or intended to harm the reputation of the collective. We thrive on healthy competition and mutual respect!

Your store layout is incredibly versatile. You can expand your business by offering service packages, digital skills, or bulk wholesale pricing.

Looking to drive urgency and excitement? You can also launch live auction listings right from your dashboard. This format is perfect for one-off creations or limited-edition runs.

Check out our store setup guides to configure your listings for services, wholesale, or auction bidding.

Your dashboard makes it simple to sell non-physical goods. When creating a new listing, you can select the digital or virtual product type depending on how you deliver your work.

Virtual Products: Ideal for custom-designed assets, ticket entries, or vouchers. This option allows you to manage the order and send the final files or details to the customer at a later date.

Digital Downloads: Perfect for files, guides, or art prints. The platform automatically delivers these to the buyer instantly after checkout.

In New Zealand, selling food online is bound by the exact same laws as a traditional storefront. Under the Food Act 2014, if you manufacture or package your own food items, they must be produced in a registered kitchen that has been formally verified by your local council or MPI.

To maintain compliance on our platform, your online product pages must clearly display full ingredient lists and prominent allergen declarations so customers can buy safely.

We also highly recommend adding your council registration details or food business identifier to your shop’s “About” profile. This builds instant trust with buyers and proves your shop complies with NZ food safety standards.

For a complete look at your legal obligations, review the official MPI Food Business Guide.

Yes, absolutely! We welcome a diverse range of makers and do not offer category exclusivity. 

The Hive NZ is a thriving marketplace, and we believe that healthy competition is great for everyone. It gives our shoppers more variety and encourages high standards across the board.

Why we embrace multiple makers in the same category:

• Unique Styles: No two Kiwi makers are exactly the same. Even if two vendors sell “Soy Candles,” their scents, packaging, and brand stories will be unique.
• Customer Choice: We want our customers to find the perfect match for their personal taste and budget.
• Healthy Competition: Having multiple vendors in one category keeps the marketplace fresh and exciting.
• Abundance Mindset: There is plenty of room for everyone! Our goal is to grow the “shop local” movement so that all our vendors can flourish.

We encourage you to focus on what makes your business special. Use our SEO tools and AI-powered descriptions to highlight your unique brand story and connect with your ideal customers.

You don’t need to be a large corporation to be a part of our collective, but it’s important to know that when you list products or services for sale on The Hive NZ, you are officially “in business.”

Whether you are testing a new idea or scaling an established brand, you are considered a professional vendor on our platform. This means:

• No NZBN Required: You do not need a formal New Zealand Business Number (NZBN) or GST registration. Many of our successful vendors start as sole traders using their own names.
• Professional Responsibility: Because you are “in trade,” you have the same responsibilities as any other Kiwi business to provide quality goods and follow the Consumer Guarantees Act and Fair Trading Act. We move away from the “hobbyist” label because we want our customers to trust that every vendor on The Hive—including you—is a professional committed to great service.
• A Place to Grow: The Hive NZ is designed to be the launching pad that helps you transition from a “maker” to a “business owner.” We provide the professional infrastructure so that even on your first day, you look and act like an established brand.

Think of us as your digital megaphone. One of the biggest challenges for a standalone website is “invisibility.” When you join The Hive NZ, you aren’t just getting a shop; you are joining a high-traffic collective that Google already knows and trusts.

We’ve built the platform with Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) at its core. Because our site has thousands of listings and constant fresh content, we rank higher for “shop local” and “Kiwi made” keywords than most independent sites can on their own.

To boost your visibility even further, we utilise strategic Brands and curated Product Tags. By assigning your specific brand name and targeted search keywords to your items, you help Google instantly categorise your products. This means when shoppers search for specific niches, styles, or makers, our platform structure pushes your items straight to the front.

By listing with us, your products “hitch a ride” on our authority, making it much easier for new customers to find your brand through a simple Google search.

Don’t worry! If your products aren’t visible yet, it’s usually down to one of two things: a quick setup fix or our quality-check process.

At The Hive NZ, we pride ourselves on being a curated, high-quality marketplace. To protect both our customers and our hardworking vendors from spammers, we personally review the very first listings to ensure they are “shop-ready.”

1. The Quick Setup Check (The most common reason!)

Our system is designed to protect you. Your listings cannot go live if:

• Shipping is missing: You must have your shipping rates set up correctly. Without them, a customer can’t checkout, so the listing stays hidden.
• Stripe is disconnected: To ensure you get paid, your Stripe account must be linked before sales can begin.

2. The Approval Process

If this is your first listing, please wait for admin to review your store and listing.

• To maintain the high standards of our collective, all new listings are sent to our Admin team for a quick review.
• Once we’ve confirmed you’re all set, we grant you Pre-Approval Status, and your future listings will go live instantly!

How long does it take?

We aim to have your products live within 3-5 working days, though it’s often much faster—especially if you’ve followed our listing guides, have connected your Stripe and set up your shipping!

Waiting longer than expected?

Sometimes the “notification bees” get lost in the garden! If it’s been more than 5 days and you’ve completed all your setup steps, please contact ADMIN (from your vendor dashboard)immediately. We want to get your shop humming as much as you do!

As an active independent business on The Hive NZ, you trade on your own behalf and hold direct legal contracts with your buyers. You must ensure every sale complies with your legal obligations under the Consumer Guarantees Act.

If a customer requests a refund, repair, or replacement under the CGA, you are responsible for handling the claim promptly and professionally. While The Hive NZ takes no legal liability for transactions between you and your customers, we do offer informal mediation support to help resolve complex disputes constructively.

Using The Hive NZ alongside your personal website is a brilliant way to capture separate traffic streams and leverage our collective marketplace SEO power.

To maximize your success, it helps to balance your expectations and your operational efforts. If you focus all your promotional energy entirely on your private site, your store here will naturally see less traction. A marketplace shop needs continuous attention to thrive.

Top Tip: We highly recommend updating your listings regularly, participating in collective events, and treating your dashboard as a core sales channel. By giving your store here consistent love, you ensure it benefits from our active buyer community rather than just sitting passively in the background.

You can build custom shipping rules directly from your vendor dashboard. Our system supports everything from standard flat rates, to local pick up, to complex table rates calculated by package weight, pricing tiers, or item counts.

You control your destination zones. If an international buyer contacts you via the “Contact Vendor” button because their country is blocked, you can easily update your active zones to allow the sale. For step-by-step instructions on setting up these rules, please review our comprehensive Shipping Guide Docs.

Security Notice: Remember that all communication, custom shipping quotes, and payments must remain within the marketplace checkout. Taking transactions outside of the site directly breaches platform rules. Violating these terms will result in the immediate removal and permanent closure of your store without any subscription refunds.

You’ve got your order ready to go! Next is to update the details in your vendor dashboard so your customer knows exactly what is happening.

Here is what to do:

• Add Shipping & Tracking Details: In your dashboard, go to the order and open the shipping/tracking section.
• If shipping: Enter the courier provider and tracking number.
• If it’s for local collection: Use this same section to select or enter Ready for Pickup.

1. Update the Order Status: Once you have filled in the shipping details or marked it ready for pickup, update the overall order status to Completed (or Shipped).
2. Use Customer Notes for Extra Info: We highly recommend using the Order Notes feature if you want to add extra details, such as specific pickup instructions, collection times, or a friendly personal message.

How your customer stays informed: Every single update you make prompts an automatic email straight to the customer. When you update the tracking section, mark an item ready for pickup, or type in a custom note, the system handles the emails for you.

This builds incredible trust with your buyers and saves you from doing any manual follow-ups!

You must begin making or shipping an item immediately when an order appears in your dashboard. We use a “dispatch upon payment” system, meaning the buyer’s funds authorize and deposit into your connected Stripe account instantly.

Please do not wait for the funds to transfer from Stripe into your private bank account. While bank payouts can take a few days depending on your schedule, the payment is already completely secure and belongs to you.

For custom or made-to-order listings, receipt of the dashboard notification is your official green light to begin your craft.

To prevent disputes and negative feedback, you must clearly communicate your build schedule. Ensure you list these specific processing times directly in your product descriptions or within your dashboard shipping tab layout (see step 2 of the shipping guide).

This prevents shipping delays and keeps your buyers happy.

Product and store reviews build instant trust! However, leaving a product review and a store review are two entirely different steps.

Please note that product reviews are tied directly to that item. If you delete a product from your shop, all reviews for that item disappear permanently. To keep your hard-earned ratings, always edit and update an existing listing rather than removing it completely. Your store reviews will remain completely safe as long as your shop page stays active.

Because your overall store rating automatically shows up on every product listing anyway, a highly effective strategy is to ask customers specifically for a store review. This builds your global brand reputation across the whole site.

Updated Review Request Template (Copy & Paste):

“Thank you so much for supporting my small business! If you have a spare moment, I would love it if you could leave a review for my shop. Just log into your account on The Hive NZ, go to your Orders, and click on my shop name. From there, scroll to the reviews tab to share your thoughts. Your feedback means the world to me!”

You manage all customer service and returns directly through your dashboard messaging system. This setup allows you to offer that personal “Kiwi touch” and build genuine, lasting relationships with your buyers.

As an independent business, you are fully responsible for ensuring your products comply with New Zealand standards. This includes displaying correct food allergen labels, tracking expiry dates, and honoring the Consumer Guarantees Act for returns. You hold full authority over your customer resolutions, provided they align with national laws.

Security Notice: Never move a conversation or sale away from our website. Doing so violates our terms and conditions and will result in the immediate removal of your store without any subscription refunds.