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Charging for a spot

Charging a fee to reserve a spot is not about the money. It's about making sure the people who sign up actually show up.

Pickerty lets you charge for a spot in line. Most companies who try it are nervous about it at first, so it's worth being clear about what the fee is for.

In-person sales only

There are no sign-ups for walk-in only sales or for an online-only sale, so there's no spot to charge for.

The point of the fee is commitment

It works the same way a restaurant reservation deposit works. When a spot is free, people grab them "just in case" and may show up to none. When a spot costs even $5, the people who claim it are the people who are committed to coming.

What it fixes

How to charge for a spot

  1. On the Attendance step, find the group or the appointment block you want to charge for.
  2. Change the Price dropdown from FREE to Has Fee.
  3. Enter the amount you want to charge. Enter 0 if you change your mind and want to make it free again.
The Price dropdown on a sign-up group. FREE and Has Fee are the only two choices.
The Price dropdown on a sign-up group. FREE and Has Fee are the only two choices. Tap the picture to see it full size.
You need Stripe Connect before you can charge

Pick Has Fee without Stripe Connect set up and Pickerty stops you with this:

The dialog you get if you try to charge before Stripe Connect is connected.
The dialog you get if you try to charge before Stripe Connect is connected. Tap the picture to see it full size.

Keep Sign-Up Free backs out and leaves the group free, so you can finish building the sale. Set up Stripe Connect takes you straight into the sign-up, and brings you back to this step when you're done. The money goes from the shopper to your own bank, which is why Stripe has to be in place first — see Connecting Stripe.

The move that makes shoppers happy

Charge for the spot, then give the money right back as a discount on what they buy. The shopper pays $5 to hold a guaranteed spot, and gets $5 off once they spend $10 at the sale. If they come and buy, the spot cost them nothing. If they don't show up, they're out $5 — and you got a realistic head count.

The Discounts step. The Early Bird group paid $5 for the spot, and gets $5 back once they spend $10.
The Discounts step. The Early Bird group paid $5 for the spot, and gets $5 back once they spend $10. Tap the picture to see it full size.
The amounts are yours to pick

$5 and $10 are only an example. Use whatever suits your sales — $10 back at $50, $20 back at $100, or anything else. Two rules of thumb: keep the fee small enough that nobody feels gouged, and set the spending threshold at an amount your shoppers already reach without stretching.

  1. Set the group's Price to your fee on the Attendance step — say $5.
  2. Go to the Discounts step.
  3. On that same group, change the dropdown to Apply Discount.
  4. Set Discount to the same amount, and Min Spend to a realistic basket — say $10.

How to explain it to shoppers

Put one line in your sale description. Something like:

“Early Bird spots are $5 to hold. You get the full $5 back as a discount when you spend $10 or more at the sale — so if you come and shop, it's free.”

Pickerty's own shopper help page already explains it the same way: “Some companies—just like restaurants—may charge a small fee to make sure people who sign up actually attend.”

Start small

Charge for one group on one day, not the whole sale. Keep a free group open alongside it. Look at your no-show rate afterward and decide from there.

Where the money goes

Fees are paid through Stripe and are transferred directly to your own connected Stripe account. You can see them under My Company → Billing → Direct Payouts. Pickerty never holds your money.

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