Host-Leitfaden · Datumsinventar
Das Inserat verkauft den Sitz dieses Tages｜Kein offenes Guthaben
At a glance
- Job
- Sell a reservation seat for one datetime—not a floating “come whenever” credit
- Live today
- Publish needs date + time + IANA timezone. After sale, date is locked. Guest can’t-attend → fill that date (waitlist/resale). Move days only onto another published dated listing
- Not this article
- Sell-mode cards, waiver how-to, thumbnail work, yen price tables
- Sister
- Deposit ≠ cancel immunity · No-show playbook · Emergency cancel · Waitlist
Hosts sometimes list a seat as if it were a gift card: win now, show up “sometime.” That is not what SlotVail sells. A listing is inventory for that day’s seat—date, clock time, and timezone. Date-fixed inventory is why holds, escrow, QR check-in, and resale can stay honest. “Come whenever” quietly returns you to calendar chat and no-shows.
1. Why a free or date-free “yes” does not stick
A free RSVP or an open credit feels kind. It also leaves the calendar soft. Guests keep renegotiating; you keep chasing; the chair stays empty more often than the money suggests.
On SlotVail, a bid or purchase places a hold against a dated seat. The hold buys stickiness for that inventory—not a voucher that floats across weeks. Deposit feel without a date still leaves cancel ops on you. → You already take a deposit.
2. What you are selling: that datetime + timezone
Live today on publish / go-live: every experience listing needs an experience date, time, and an IANA timezone (for example Asia/Tokyo). That triple is the product—not a subtitle.
- Hold → escrow attach to that seat
- Cancel cutoffs count from that clock
- Reminders and QR check-in assume the same day
- After winners/buyers exist, you cannot silently rewrite the date into a new day
“Slot” here means a reservation seat—not gambling. The scarce thing is your calendar for that experience, not a casino reel.
3. Allowed exception: 1:1 with 3–5 candidate times
Private / single format may offer 3–5 candidate datetimes chosen at listing. The buyer picks one of those—still a closed set, still not an open calendar chat.
That path is for 1:1 only. Group / workshop / tiered formats keep one published datetime. Candidate times do not unlock “message me any Tuesday.”
4. Guest can’t come: fill THAT date first
When the winner cannot attend, the first job is to fill that dated seat—not erase the day and invent a new one.
- Waitlist / re-list (resale) — offer the next guest for the same listing day. Default: not an automatic no-show refund
- Move to another day — only onto another published dated listing. Guests cannot type an arbitrary free date; validation rejects that
Ops order and day-of rules → Streaming no-show playbook · Waitlist fills the empty chair · Experience day QR.
5. Host can’t run: emergency cancel—not a silent new day
When you cannot run the experience, that is emergency cancel—reason required, capped use. Do not treat a host-side stop as “I’ll just change the listing date and keep the same winners.”
Date lock after sale exists so escrow and QR stay attached to one shared clock. New day = new listing (or a proper transfer onto another published dated seat). Policy → Host cancellation / emergency cancel.
FAQ
Q. Dated seat vs voucher—what’s the difference?
A. A dated seat is inventory for one datetime + timezone. A voucher (“come any day”) floats; SlotVail does not sell that as the happy path.
Q. Why force timezone?
A. Cutoffs, reminders, and check-in windows need one clock. Publish with date, time, and IANA timezone.
Q. Transfer vs refund?
A. Guest can’t-attend defaults to managed resale / waitlist for that day—not an automatic refund. Moving days means another published dated listing, not a free-typed date. Host can’t run → emergency cancel (refund / hold release path), not a silent date rewrite.
Q. Does sell mode change this?
A. No. Auction, fixed price, or floor + countdown still sell a dated seat. Sell mode finds price; it does not unlock open credit. Floor philosophy → How to set a starting bid.
Next step
Set the datetime and timezone before you polish the copy. Then pick a cancel template and a floor that feels like a real deposit—so the seat sticks to the calendar you meant.
Deposit vs cancel ops →No-show playbook → · Emergency cancel → · Starting bid → · Experience day →