Payments · · 3 min read
Payments, payouts and refunds: the money side of a marketplace
Taking a payment is easy. Splitting it, holding it and paying it out correctly is where marketplaces come unstuck.
A single booking on a marketplace can involve a traveller's card, a deposit, your commission, a supplier payout, a currency conversion and, occasionally, a refund months later. Get the flow right early, because changing it with live bookings is painful.
Decide who is the merchant
Either you take the payment and pay suppliers out, or suppliers take it and pay you a commission. Taking payment yourself gives you control and a better checkout, but brings more responsibility for refunds and compliance.
Deposits suit travel
Many travel bookings are made weeks or months ahead. Taking a deposit and the balance closer to the date lowers the barrier for guests and reflects how most suppliers already work.
Automate supplier payouts
Paying suppliers manually from a spreadsheet works for ten bookings and breaks at a hundred. Automated split payments make payouts predictable, which small suppliers value more than almost anything.
Write cancellation rules suppliers can live with
Let suppliers set their own policies within a few clear options, and show them prominently at checkout. Most refund disputes start with a policy the guest never saw.
Don't build a payment system
Marketplace payments involve regulation, security and edge cases no small team should take on alone. A no-code marketplace builder with payments already built in handles deposits, commission splits and payouts through established processors from the start. Tashi handles online payments, deposits and supplier payouts for travel marketplaces, so the money flows correctly from your very first booking.
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