Launch 500 Rules and Eligibility Policy

2. Definitions

Active and in good standing

The qualifying subscription is active, required payments have been received, the account is not suspended for an unresolved breach, and the provider and listing comply with Hustlefella’s applicable rules.

Activation

Successful completion of the qualifying subscription checkout process and creation of the subscription in the status required by Hustlefella.

Approved provider

A provider whose identity, eligibility and profile have passed the Profile Quality Review.

Business day

A day other than a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday in South Africa.

Founding 25

The first 25 Launch 500 places allocated under these Rules.

Early 100

Launch 500 places 26 through 100.

Launch 500

The complete group of no more than 500 original promotional PRO places allocated under these Rules.

Launch number

The internal sequential number assigned to an approved and activated provider. The number may also be displayed publicly.

Original qualifying subscription

The first subscription through which the specific Launch 500 place was validly activated. A replacement or later subscription is not the original subscription.

Provider

The natural person, sole proprietor, company, close corporation, partnership or other legitimate business applying to advertise services on Hustlefella.

Profile Quality Review

Hustlefella’s review of the provider, listing and supporting information against the standards in section 4.

PRO

Hustlefella’s paid provider subscription plan, as updated from time to time.

Promotional place

A limited place within the Founding 25, Early 100 or remaining Launch 500 group.

3. Who may qualify

To qualify, an applicant must satisfy all requirements below and any reasonable category-specific requirements communicated during review.

• Be at least 18 years old and have legal capacity and authority to act for the listed business.
• Provide a genuine service that falls within a category and service area supported by Hustlefella.
• Be legally entitled, licensed, registered or suitably qualified to provide the service where any law or professional rule requires this.
• Provide accurate identity, ownership, contact, payment and business information when requested.
• Submit a complete and truthful provider profile capable of passing the Profile Quality Review.
• Use the account, subscription and profile for a genuine operating provider and not merely to obtain, hold, resell or transfer a promotional place.
• Accept these Rules, Hustlefella’s general platform terms, privacy practices and the applicable subscription terms.

3.1 One place per genuine provider or business

Unless Hustlefella gives written approval, one person, business, beneficial owner or substantially identical service operation may receive only one Launch 500 place. Creating multiple legal entities, profiles, email addresses, payment methods or accounts to obtain additional places is prohibited.

3.2 Existing providers

An existing GROWTH provider may apply for a Launch 500 place if places remain and all requirements are met. An existing standard PRO provider is not automatically entitled to retrospective promotional pricing unless Hustlefella expressly confirms eligibility in writing.

3.3 Right to request evidence

Hustlefella may request reasonable evidence such as identity documents, company information, licences, qualifications, portfolio evidence, proof of address, proof of ownership, business contact details or other information needed to verify legitimacy. Sensitive information will be handled in accordance with applicable privacy requirements.

4. Profile Quality Review

Launch 500 places are reserved for providers who make a genuine effort to present a trustworthy, accurate and useful profile. Approval is based on the profile as a whole and not only on whether mandatory website fields have been completed.

4.1 Minimum review criteria

• A suitable provider or business name that is not misleading, offensive or designed to imitate another business.
• A clear, professional profile photo or logo that the provider has permission to use.
• A useful service description written in the provider’s own words and sufficiently detailed for customers to understand the offering.
• Accurate service categories, service areas and online-service availability.
• Current contact details and any other information required for the selected plan.
• Genuine work photographs or portfolio material where applicable, with no copied, stolen, watermarked or unrelated images.
• Accurate availability, experience, qualifications and registration claims.
• Acceptable spelling, presentation and professionalism appropriate to a public provider profile.
• No prohibited, unlawful, discriminatory, fraudulent, unsafe or misleading services or content.
• Compliance with Hustlefella’s listing, review, contact and platform policies.

4.2 Corrections before rejection

Where practical, Hustlefella may identify reasonable corrections and allow an applicant a stated period to improve the profile. This does not reserve a place indefinitely. If the applicant fails to respond or complete corrections within the stated period, the application may close and another applicant may be considered.

4.3 Ongoing standard

Passing the review is not a once-off exemption. The provider must maintain an accurate, active and compliant profile. Hustlefella may request updates or temporarily hide misleading, abandoned or materially incomplete listings.

5. How places are allocated

The Launch 500 is administered manually. Hustlefella’s application records, review decisions, checkout records, subscription records and timestamps will determine allocation.

1. The applicant creates or updates a provider profile.
2. Hustlefella reviews the provider and profile.
3. If approved and a place is available, Hustlefella issues or confirms access to the correct qualifying subscription.
4. The provider activates that subscription within the permitted activation period.
5. Hustlefella records the place, group and Launch number.

5.1 Sequential groups

An applicant cannot demand the benefit of an earlier group after that group has filled, even if an earlier member later cancels. Promotional places and Launch numbers are not recycled.

5.2 No queue-jumping

Hustlefella may prioritise complete applications over incomplete ones and may process applications in practical batches. It will not knowingly sell a place, accept an inducement or favour an applicant for the purpose of bypassing the published allocation structure.

6. Provisional reservations and activation

After approval, Hustlefella may provisionally hold the available place for 7 calendar days while the provider activates the qualifying subscription. The approval notice may specify a different period where operationally necessary.

• A provisional reservation is personal to the approved provider and cannot be transferred.
• The provider must use the checkout link, product or instructions issued for the applicable group.
• The provider must supply any required recurring payment method and complete all checkout steps.
• If activation is not completed in time, the reservation may lapse automatically and the place may be offered to another applicant.
• If activation fails solely because of a verified Hustlefella or checkout-system error reported before expiry, Hustlefella may preserve or extend the reservation while the error is corrected.
• An applicant who misses a reservation may reapply only for the best offer still available at that later time.

7. Group benefits

7.1 Founding 25

Places 1 through 25 receive PRO free for the first 4 months from the subscription activation date. Monthly billing at R99 begins after the free period, subject to the original subscription remaining active and in good standing.

7.2 Early 100

Places 26 through 100 receive PRO free for the first 2 months from the subscription activation date. Monthly billing at R99 begins after the free period, subject to the original subscription remaining active and in good standing.

7.3 Remaining Launch 500

Places 101 through 500 are charged R99 per month from activation and receive no guaranteed introductory free period.

7.4 No cash value or substitution

Free periods, promotional rates, badges and Launch status have no cash value. They cannot be exchanged for cash, account credit, another product, another person’s subscription or a refund for time not used.

7.5 No pause

Free periods and Launch subscriptions cannot ordinarily be paused. A suspension requested by the provider does not extend the free period unless Hustlefella expressly agrees in writing.

8. Billing, taxes and payment method

• All advertised amounts are in South African rand.
• PRO renews monthly after any applicable introductory free period.
• A recurring payment method supported by Hustlefella’s checkout may be required even where the first payment is deferred by a free period.
• The provider authorises the applicable payment provider to collect recurring amounts in accordance with the checkout mandate and subscription schedule.
• The checkout page and subscription record control the exact activation date, trial end date, next payment date and payment method.
• Any legally required tax treatment will be shown or applied as required. A statutory tax change does not create a right to a new free period.
• Bank, currency-conversion, chargeback or third-party payment costs imposed directly by the provider’s bank or payment service are not controlled by Hustlefella.

Providers are responsible for keeping payment and contact information current and for reviewing billing notices sent to the registered email address or account.

9. Meaning of the R99 “locked-in” launch rate

The R99 launch rate applies to the original qualifying subscription for as long as that subscription remains continuously active and in good standing. It is not a promise that every future Hustlefella subscription purchased by the provider will cost R99.

9.1 Events that may permanently end the rate

• The provider cancels the original subscription.
• The subscription expires or is allowed to terminate.
• A failed payment remains unresolved beyond the applicable retry or grace period.
• The provider requests a downgrade, replacement or new subscription that ends the original subscription.
• The subscription, account or listing is transferred without Hustlefella’s written approval.
• Hustlefella terminates the subscription for fraud, abuse, material misrepresentation or a serious or repeated rules violation.
• The provider initiates an unjustified chargeback or payment reversal and does not resolve it promptly.

9.2 No retrospective upgrade

A provider allocated to a later group cannot claim the free period of an earlier group. A place vacated through cancellation, removal or closure is not reopened or reassigned.

10. Cancellation, failed payment and subscription status

10.1 Provider cancellation

A provider may cancel through the available account or support process, subject to the subscription terms and applicable law. Cancellation may take effect immediately or at the end of the current billing or trial period, as shown by the subscription system and confirmation notice.

Once PRO ends, PRO-only features may be removed or restricted and the listing may revert to the features available under GROWTH. Cancellation forfeits the R99 launch rate for any future new subscription.

10.2 Refunds

Hustlefella does not ordinarily refund a completed or partially used monthly billing period merely because the provider chooses not to use the service. This does not limit any cooling-off, refund, cancellation or other right that cannot lawfully be excluded.

10.3 Failed or reversed payments

If payment fails, the subscription may be placed on hold and PRO features may be suspended while payment is retried. Unless the provider resolves the failure within the retry period stated in the account notices—and no later than 14 calendar days after the initial failed payment unless Hustlefella agrees otherwise—the subscription may be cancelled and the Launch rate may be permanently forfeited.

10.4 Genuine administrative error

Where Hustlefella confirms that a cancellation, expiry or price loss occurred solely because of its own administrative or technical error, it may restore the original subscription or promotional terms. This exception does not apply to a provider’s forgotten cancellation, changed mind, expired card, insufficient funds or failure to respond to payment notices.

10.5 Statutory rights

Nothing in these Rules removes a provider’s rights under the Consumer Protection Act, Electronic Communications and Transactions Act or any other applicable law where those rights apply.

11. Launch badges, numbers and recognition

Hustlefella may display a Founding 25, Early 100 or Launch 500 badge, label, membership number or “member since launch” notice on an approved provider profile.

• Recognition is assigned administratively and cannot be edited or self-awarded by the provider.
• A Launch number is historical, unique and will not be reissued after cancellation or removal.
• Recognition does not certify the provider’s workmanship, qualifications, financial standing or suitability for a particular customer.
• Recognition does not guarantee higher search placement, marketing exposure, leads, enquiries or paid work.
• Historical Launch recognition may remain on an active and compliant GROWTH profile after PRO ends, but the profile must not imply that PRO is still active.
• Hustlefella may remove public recognition where a profile is closed, transferred without approval, fraudulent, misleading, abandoned or materially non-compliant.
• Any opportunity to appear in Hustlefella marketing is discretionary, subject to consent and never guaranteed.

12. Transfers, ownership changes and multiple listings

12.1 No sale or transfer of a promotional place

A Launch 500 place, subscription, badge, Launch number or checkout link may not be sold, auctioned, gifted, leased, sublicensed or transferred to another person or unrelated business.

12.2 Genuine business changes

A provider must notify Hustlefella before changing the account owner, legal entity, controlling owner or principal business represented by the profile. Hustlefella may request proof and may approve continuity where the same genuine business continues through a bona fide name change, incorporation, restructuring, succession or sale. Approval and retention of promotional pricing are not automatic.

12.3 Multiple listings

Unless the applicable product expressly says otherwise, one Launch 500 subscription applies to one approved provider listing. Additional businesses, branches or materially separate service operations may require separate listings and then-current subscriptions.

13. Fraud, manipulation and prohibited conduct

Hustlefella may suspend review, withhold allocation, cancel a reservation, remove a promotional benefit or terminate an account where there is credible evidence of abuse. Prohibited conduct includes:

• False identities, sham businesses, impersonation or forged documents.
• Duplicate or coordinated applications intended to obtain more than one place.
• Using another person’s business, payment method, email address or documents without authority.
• Copied descriptions, stolen portfolio images, fake reviews or false qualifications.
• Creating a subscription solely to occupy, hold, resell or transfer a promotional place.
• Manipulating checkout, payment, refund, trial, coupon or account systems.
• Chargeback abuse, deliberate payment reversal or repeated activation with payment methods known to fail.
• Automated applications, bots, security circumvention or interference with Hustlefella systems.
• Threats, harassment, bribery or attempts to pressure staff into changing the allocation sequence.
• Misrepresenting oneself as a Hustlefella employee, agent, representative or authorised recruiter.

Hustlefella may ask the provider for an explanation or evidence before final action where circumstances permit. Serious fraud, security risks or unlawful conduct may result in immediate restriction without prior notice.

14. PRO features, platform changes and no guarantee of work

PRO provides the features described on Hustlefella’s current Growth Plans page and at checkout. Individual features, layouts, limits, integrations and workflows may be improved, replaced or retired as the platform develops. Hustlefella will not intentionally remove the essential value of the paid plan without reasonable notice where notice is practical.

14.1 No guaranteed customers

Joining PRO or the Launch 500 does not guarantee profile views, search ranking, enquiries, service requests, customer responses, contracts, revenue or profit. Results depend on customer demand, location, category, profile quality, pricing, responsiveness, availability, reviews, competition and customer choice.

14.2 Provider remains independent

Providers are independent businesses or individuals. Launch status does not create employment, agency, partnership, franchise, endorsement or authority to bind Hustlefella.

14.3 Separate sponsorships or promotions

Any Sponsored PRO selection, coupon, competition, marketing campaign or later promotion is separate from the Launch 500 unless its written terms expressly say otherwise. Offers cannot be combined unless Hustlefella confirms this in writing.

15. Personal information and communications

Hustlefella may process information reasonably required to review applications, verify providers, create subscriptions, collect payments, administer Launch places, prevent fraud, communicate account notices and operate the platform.

• Applicants must submit their own information or have proper authority to submit information for a business or representative.
• Hustlefella may keep records of applications, approvals, rejections, Launch numbers, subscription status, rule acceptance and material account actions.
• Transactional communications about approval, activation, payment, security, policy changes and subscription status may be sent even where the provider has opted out of general marketing.
• Marketing communications will be handled in accordance with applicable consent and opt-out requirements.
• Providers must keep their registered email address and contact details current. A notice sent to the recorded details will be treated as properly sent, subject to applicable law.

Further information about personal-information handling should be read together with Hustlefella’s published Privacy Policy.

16. Administrative errors, technical faults and oversubscription

Hustlefella will take reasonable care when maintaining manual allocation records, but obvious clerical, display, counter, product, checkout or system errors may be corrected.

16.1 Apparent allocation beyond the cap

If a technical or administrative error appears to allocate more than the permitted number of places in a group, Hustlefella will review the relevant approval and activation records. Priority will ordinarily follow the valid sequence established under section 5. An affected applicant who cannot receive the displayed promotional place will be offered the best valid offer then available or, where payment has already been taken and the applicant does not accept the alternative, an appropriate refund.

16.2 Incorrect price or trial

If the checkout clearly applies a price or trial different from the written approval and current offer, the provider should stop and contact Hustlefella before completing checkout. Knowingly exploiting an obvious error may result in correction or cancellation.

16.3 Website availability figures

Any “places remaining” figure is informational and may be updated manually. The official position is determined by Hustlefella’s allocation and subscription records, not by a cached page, screenshot, social-media post or outdated advertisement.

17. Changes, suspension or closure of the programme

Hustlefella may update these Rules to improve clarity, prevent abuse, comply with law, address payment or platform changes, or administer the programme effectively.

• Changes normally apply prospectively from the stated effective date.
• Hustlefella will not arbitrarily remove a valid free period or R99 rate already earned under an active and compliant original subscription.
• Hustlefella may correct obvious errors and act against fraud even where the error or abuse is discovered later.
• Hustlefella may suspend new applications during technical problems, unusually high demand, security incidents or administrative review.
• Hustlefella may close the programme when all 500 places are allocated.
• Hustlefella may end the programme early only where reasonably necessary because of law, security, impossibility, material platform change or circumstances beyond reasonable control. Existing valid subscriptions will be handled fairly and in accordance with applicable law.
• The standard R149 price and future non-Launch pricing may change over time. Such a change does not alter an active valid R99 Launch subscription.

18. Questions, complaints and review requests

A provider who believes an application, allocation, cancellation, payment or badge decision was made incorrectly should email grind@hustlefella.com and include:

• The provider and business name.
• The registered email address.
• The relevant profile URL, order or subscription reference where available.
• A clear description of the issue.
• Supporting screenshots, receipts, emails or other evidence.

Hustlefella will aim to acknowledge a complete complaint within 5 business days and provide a substantive response within 10 business days where reasonably possible. Complex payment, identity, security or third-party gateway matters may take longer.

Nothing in this internal process prevents a person from exercising a right or approaching a regulator, ombud, tribunal or court where applicable.

19. General provisions

19.1 Relationship with other terms

These Rules apply specifically to the Launch 500 promotion and operate together with Hustlefella’s general website terms, provider rules, Privacy Policy and the subscription terms shown at checkout. If there is a direct conflict about a Launch 500 benefit, these Rules apply to that promotional issue unless applicable law requires otherwise.

19.2 Electronic acceptance

Checking an acceptance box, completing the qualifying checkout, activating the subscription or otherwise electronically confirming acceptance may create a binding electronic agreement. Hustlefella may retain the policy version, date, time and account record associated with acceptance.

19.3 No waiver

A delay or failure by Hustlefella to enforce a rule in one instance does not waive its right to enforce that rule later or in another case.

19.4 Severability

If any part of these Rules is unlawful or unenforceable, that part will be interpreted or limited as far as legally possible and the remaining provisions will continue to apply.

19.5 Governing law

These Rules are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa, subject to any mandatory rights or jurisdiction that applicable law gives the provider.

19.6 Plain-language interpretation

Headings and examples assist readability. They do not remove rights or obligations stated elsewhere. Where a phrase such as “permanent”, “locked-in” or “for the life of the subscription” is used in promotional material, it means for the continuous life of the original qualifying subscription, subject to these Rules.

19.7 Entire Launch offer

No verbal promise, social-media comment, private message or informal statement changes the Launch 500 offer unless Hustlefella confirms the change in writing through an authorised channel.