Heratio Help Center article. Category: Marketplace.

Marketplace — Buyer Quick Start

A short walk-through of the buyer side of the Heratio Marketplace: registering, finding items, and the three ways to acquire something.

1. Get an account

Anyone with a Heratio account is automatically a buyer — no separate registration is required. New users can sign up at /marketplace/register (chooses between buyer-only and seller signup).

Authenticated convenience entry: /marketplace/buyer/start lands logged-in users on the Browse page with a confirmation flash.

2. Find an item

Page	URL	When to use
Browse	`/marketplace/browse`	Filter by sector / category / price
Search	`/marketplace/search`	Free-text search across all listings
Featured	`/marketplace/featured`	Curated highlights from the operator
Auctions only	`/marketplace/auction-browse`	Live and upcoming auctions
By sector	`/marketplace/sector`	Walk a single GLAM sector (Gallery / Library / Archive / Museum / DAM)
By collection	`/marketplace/collection`	Items grouped by seller-curated collections
By seller	`/marketplace/seller`	All listings from one seller
Single listing	`/marketplace/listing?id=…`	Item detail page

Each listing has a price block showing one of three sale types: Buy Now (fixed price), Auction, or Make an Offer.

3. Acquire the item — three paths

a. Buy Now (fixed price)

Open the listing.
Click Buy Now.
You're redirected to PayFast to pay.
After PayFast confirms, the transaction moves from pending_payment → paid. The seller is notified.

Behind the scenes: POST /marketplace/checkout/buy/{listingId} creates the transaction and hands you off to PayFast's process URL. The ITN webhook (/marketplace/payfast/notify) flips the transaction to paid once the bank confirms.

b. Auction

Open the auction listing or browse /marketplace/auction-browse.
Click Place bid — the bid form opens (/marketplace/bid-form).
Track your bids at My Bids (/marketplace/my-bids). Outbid → re-bid; winning bid at close → checkout.
When the auction closes and you're the winner, complete payment via POST /marketplace/checkout/win/{auctionId}.

c. Make an Offer

Open the listing and click Make an Offer (/marketplace/offer-form).
Submit your price + optional message.
Watch My Offers (/marketplace/my-offers) for seller responses: accepted / countered / declined.
If accepted, you're prompted to pay via PayFast.

4. Hold an item — Reservations

Spotted something you want to think about? Use Reserve on a fixed-price listing:

12-hour hold. Buy Now during the window or it auto-releases.
Maximum 2 reservations per buyer per 24 hours.
Cancel any time at the listing page or via My Following.

Endpoints: POST /marketplace/listing/reserve/{listingId}, POST /marketplace/reservation/cancel/{reservationId}.

5. After the purchase

Page	What's there
My Purchases (`/marketplace/my-purchases`)	All paid items, with a "Download licence" link per item
My Licences (`/marketplace/my-licences`)	Per-item licences for digital purchases (CC / commercial / etc.)
My Following (`/marketplace/my-following`)	Listings you favourited
My Bids	Active and historical bids
My Offers	Offers you've made + counters from the seller
Review form (`/marketplace/review-form`)	Leave a seller review after delivery

6. Payment & refunds

All payments run through PayFast. The site never stores card details.
A successful payment returns you to /marketplace/payment/return. Cancellations land at /marketplace/payment/cancel.
For refunds, contact the seller first; if unresolved, escalate via the marketplace operator (admin contact in site settings).

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