A Vendor Refund Policy For Fairs And Markets

Two weeks before the fair, a vendor messages you: "So sorry, can't make it anymore. Can I get my S$60 back?"

Your vendor call has the date, the stall size and your PayNow number. It says nothing about cancelling, so every answer feels personal.

Say yes, and the next three dropouts expect the same. Say no, and you kept a zine maker's money.

A vendor refund policy fixes this before it starts. It's a few lines in your vendor call saying what a vendor gets back if they cancel, if you cancel, or if nobody turns up.

Written in advance, it's fair. Invented after the message arrives, it looks like a mood.

Below are the cases a policy needs, from cancellation windows to no-shows, a worked example from a quarterly zine fair, and a template to copy.

This is practical guidance, not legal advice. If a lot of money rides on your fair, have a lawyer read your terms.

What Is A Vendor Refund Policy?

A vendor refund policy is the published set of rules for what a vendor gets back when a booking doesn't go ahead. It covers who cancelled, how close to the event, and how the money is returned.

Some organizers call it a vendor cancellation policy, and it's the same thing. It sits apart from your house rules and payment deadlines; for the rest of the money side, see our guide on how to collect booth fees.

A good policy fits on half a page. If a vendor can't tell in 30 seconds what they'd get back, it's too long.

What Should Your Vendor Refund Policy Cover?

Your vendor refund policy should cover every way a booking can fall through, not just a vendor changing their mind. These are the cases we'd put in writing:

1. The vendor cancels early. Usually a full refund.
2. The vendor cancels late. A part refund, credit, or nothing.
3. You cancel the event. A full refund, every time.
4. You postpone the event. Keep the stall, or take a refund.
5. Bad weather. Whether the fair goes ahead.
6. Handing the stall over. Whether it's allowed, and who approves it.
7. The vendor doesn't show up. Usually no refund.
8. How refunds are paid. The method, and how many days it takes.

If you curate vendors, add one line for declined applications: anyone you decline after they've paid gets a full refund, quickly.

How Should You Set Cancellation Windows?

Set two or three windows counted back from the event date, with the refund shrinking as the date gets closer. An early cancellation leaves you time to resell the stall, and a late one usually doesn't.

Write the windows as dates. "Cancel by 15 February for a full refund" is clearer than "4 weeks before", because nobody has to count.

Some organizers keep a small admin fee, say S$5, even on early refunds. For stalls under about S$100, we'd skip it: the vendor who got a clean refund is the one who books again.

If you take a deposit and a balance, say which parts are refundable in which window. The choice itself is covered in booth deposit or full payment.

What If You Cancel Or Postpone The Event?

If you cancel the event, refund every vendor in full, extras like a power point included, whatever your windows say. The windows protect you from vendors dropping out, not from a fair that didn't happen.

A postponement is different. Give vendors a choice, in writing:

• Keep the stall on the new date, at no extra cost.
• Take full credit for a later edition.
• Take a full refund if they can't make the new date.

Give them 7 days to choose, and say that keeping the stall is the default if they don't reply.

Does Bad Weather Count?

Bad weather only counts if your policy says so, which is why it needs its own line. For an indoor fair, rain changes nothing.

For an outdoor or partly covered fair, we'd write: the fair goes ahead in rain, and stallholders bring their own covers. If you, the venue or the authorities call it off for safety, that counts as you cancelling, and everyone gets a full refund, or credit if they'd rather. Don't leave it as "we'll decide on the day".

Transfers, Credit And No-Shows

In our experience, these three cases cause most refund arguments, because they sit between "cancelled" and "came".

Letting A Vendor Hand Over Their Stall

Allow transfers, but only through you. Offer the stall to your waitlist first, because you need to know who's behind each table, especially at a curated fair.

Once the new vendor has paid, refund the original vendor in full, whatever the date. A resold stall costs you nothing, so keeping the money is hard to defend. Building that waitlist is covered in our guide to finding vendors for your market.

Credit For The Next Event

Credit is a promise to put some or all of the stall fee toward a future edition instead of refunding it. It suits recurring fairs: the vendor keeps the value, and you keep the money in the event.

Write down the amount, which editions it covers and when it expires. "S$60 credit, valid for the next two editions" is enough. Keep a list of open credits, or you'll forget one.

No-Shows

A no-show is a vendor who doesn't cancel and doesn't turn up, and the usual rule is no refund. You held the stall, turned others away, and had a gap on the floor.

Say what happens to an empty stall on the day, and by what time.

How Should Refunds Be Paid Back?

Pay refunds back the same way the vendor paid you: PayNow back by PayNow, a bank transfer to the same account, a card payment to the same card.

Card Refunds Through Your Own Stripe Account

If you take cards through your own Stripe account, you refund from there, in full or in part. As of October 2026, Stripe's own refund docs say Stripe docs: refund and cancel payments:

• Processing fees from the original payment aren't returned.
• A refund can only go back to the original payment method.
• The customer usually sees the credit about 5 to 10 business days later, depending on their bank.

Stripe's Singapore pricing page lists 3.4% plus S$0.50 for a domestic card, as of October 2026. So a S$60 card payment costs about S$2.54, and a refund doesn't bring that back.

Manual Refunds By PayNow Or Bank Transfer

For PayNow and bank transfers, you send the refund from your banking app, only to the account the payment came from, with the booking reference in the note. Then record it on the booking: amount, date, method and reason.

If someone asks for their refund to go to a different account, confirm with them on another channel first.

Whatever the method, promise a number of days and keep it. We'd say "within 7 days of your cancellation being confirmed".

Worked Example: A Quarterly 40-Stall Book And Zine Fair

Picture a book and zine fair held four times a year in a covered courtyard, with 40 stalls at S$60 each, or S$2,400 a quarter. This is an illustration, not a real event or customer.

About 30 makers pay by PayNow and 10 by card through the organizer's own Stripe account. The policy: full refund or credit up to 4 weeks before, half refund or full credit from 4 weeks to 8 days before, nothing in the final 7 days.

This quarter, four things happen:

1. A risograph printer cancels 5 weeks out, paid by PayNow. The organizer sends S$60 back by PayNow two days later.
2. A poet cancels 12 days out, paid by card, and takes the half refund. S$30 goes back through Stripe, and the original fee of about S$2.54 stays a cost, so the organizer keeps about S$27.46.
3. A comic artist cancels 6 days out. Nothing is due, but a bookbinder from the waitlist takes the stall. Once the bookbinder's S$60 is verified, the artist gets a full S$60 refund.
4. One stall is empty on the day, with no message. No refund, and the space goes to a walk-up zine swap after the first hour.

In a spreadsheet, that's a refund column with a date and reason. In BookASquare, each refund is recorded on the order with its reason, and card refunds go back through the organizer's own Stripe account.

A Plain-Language Template You Can Copy

Paste this refund policy template into your vendor call and swap in your own dates.

Refunds and cancellations

• Cancel on or before [date, 4 weeks out]: full refund, or full credit for our next fair.
• Cancel after that, up to [date, 8 days out]: half refund, or full credit for our next fair.
• Cancel in the last 7 days, or don't turn up: no refund. If we resell your stall, we'll refund you in full.
• Can't come? Tell us, and we'll offer your stall to our waitlist. Please don't pass it on privately.
• If we cancel the fair, you get a full refund. If we postpone it, you can keep your stall, take credit, or take a full refund.
• The fair runs rain or shine. If we, the venue or the authorities call it off, it counts as us cancelling.
• Credit is valid for our next two fairs.
• Refunds go back the way you paid, within 7 days of your cancellation being confirmed.

Ask vendors to tick a box agreeing to it when they book. Our post on your vendor application form shows where that goes.

What To Do Next

Write your policy before your next vendor call goes out: pick your dates, decide on credit, and settle what happens if you cancel.

One honest limit: BookASquare never holds your money, so refunds are yours to decide and make, under your terms, and vendors who ask us are pointed back to you. If you'd rather a platform collect the money and pay you out, Eventbrite or Peatix do that.

If you'd like each refund recorded on the order next to the payment it reverses, see how payments and refunds work.