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Bookings.

How the booking lifecycle works—from inquiry to review—and how fees apply to discovery vs. your own traffic.

A booking represents a connection between a venue (booker) looking for talent and a performer / speaker ready to showcase their skills. Understanding the booking lifecycle is crucial for both bookers and talents to ensure smooth collaborations and successful events. From the initial inquiry to the final review, each status represents a key milestone in your booking journey.

For talents, Spotcast's standard service fee is 25% on bookings that come from discovery on spotcast.live (browsing, search, and profile visits without your shared link). The fee is reduced over time through the Loyalty Program.

When clients book through your Spotcast embed, booking link, or QR code, those bookings are tagged as your own marketing traffic:

  • on the Connect plan a reduced 5% service fee applies;
  • on the Engage and Impact plan no Spotcast service fee applies;

Stripe card and Connect processing fees still apply — see Stripe pricing. Full details are in the Terms of Service.

Pending

The initial status when a booker submits an inquiry to a talent.

  • Booker submits a booking request through a talent's profile
  • Talent receives notification of the inquiry
  • Talent can decline, counter with an offer, or the request can expire

Offered

Talent has responded with a quote for the booking.

  • Talent creates a custom offer with pricing and details
  • Booker receives the offer and can review the terms
  • Booker can approve the offer, reject it, or let it expire

Approved

The booker has accepted the talent's offer - the booking is confirmed!

  • Booker approves the talent's quote
  • Both parties are notified of the confirmation
  • Event details are locked in and the date is reserved
  • Booking can still be canceled if circumstances change

Completed

The event has taken place and it's time for payment.

  • Automatically set after the event end date passes
  • Booker is prompted to pay the talent
  • Payment should be completed within 14 days
  • After 14 days without payment, status becomes Past Due

Paid

Payment has been successfully processed.

  • Booker completes payment through the platform
  • Talent receives payment (minus Spotcast service fee when it applies — in Stripe as an application fee — and Stripe processing fees)
  • Booker can now leave a review of their experience

Reviewed

The final status - the booking lifecycle is complete.

  • Booker submits a review and rating for the talent
  • Review appears on the talent's profile
  • Helps future bookers make informed decisions

Exceptional Statuses

Declined

Talent has declined the booking request.

  • Talent chooses to decline during Pending status
  • Booking is closed and cannot be reopened

Canceled

The booker has canceled the booking.

  • Can occur from Pending or Approved status
  • Cancellation policies may apply depending on timing

Expired

The booking request or offer has expired.

  • Pending requests expire if talent doesn't respond in time
  • Offers expire if booker doesn't approve before event date
  • Also occurs when lead time requirements aren't met

Past Due

Payment hasn't been made within 14 days of event completion or first payment failed.

  • Automatically set 14 days after event ends or first payment failed
  • Booker is reminded to complete payment
  • Can transition to Paid once payment is received