Host guide · Resale
Waitlist fills the empty chair|Guest cancel → offer, not emergency cancel
Key points
- Job
- Fill the empty chair after guest cancel—without calling it emergency cancel
- Live today
- Waitlist FIFO → offer at original / resale floor → if empty, re-list until cutoff
- Honest limit
- Escrow does not walk someone through the door; waitlist reduces empty chairs
- Sister
- Deposit guide · No-show playbook · Cancel templates · Emergency cancel
A won seat goes quiet. The guest can’t make experience day. The wrong reflex is emergency cancel—or hoping for an auto-refund. Neither is the path. Guest can’t-attend is managed resale: offer the next person on the waitlist, then re-open until cutoff. Host can’t run stays a different door.
1. Three things that are not the same
- Guest can’t attend → managed resale (waitlist / re-list)
- Host can’t run → emergency cancel (reason + cap)
- No-show at the door → still not auto-refund by default; follow the no-show playbook
Blurring guest flake into emergency cancel burns quota and records the wrong side. Policy → Host cancellation / emergency cancel.
2. Order live today
When a guest cancels a won / purchased seat:
- Waitlist first — offer the next guest in FIFO order at the original win/purchase price or your resale floor
- If the waitlist is empty — re-list / re-open the same seat until the resale cutoff from your cancel template
- Host is notified — you should not have to start a brand-new auction as the happy path
Cutoff hours differ by template. Details → Four cancel templates.
3. What the host does / does not do
You do: keep the listing honest, confirm the guest-side cancel when asked, pick a sensible resale floor, and stay ready for day-of check-in if the seat fills again.
You do not: treat guest cancel as emergency cancel, invent an auto-refund story for no-shows, or assume escrow will magically produce a body at the door.
Deposit stickiness still helps—but it is not cancel immunity. → You already take a deposit.
4. Honest limit
Escrow holds funds. It does not walk someone through the door. Waitlist and re-list reduce empty chairs; they do not guarantee a full room. Day-of still needs a playbook. → Streaming no-show playbook · Experience day QR.
FAQ
Q. Is guest cancel the same as emergency cancel?
A. No. Guest can’t-attend → managed resale. Host can’t run → emergency cancel. Do not burn emergency-cancel quota for a guest schedule change.
Q. Does a no-show auto-refund?
A. No. Participant-side absence is managed resale by default—not an automatic no-show refund.
Q. What order does the product use?
A. Waitlist FIFO at original price or resale floor; if empty, re-open the seat until the template cutoff.
Q. Who sets the cutoff?
A. Your cancel template (private / small group / workshop / retreat). → Four cancel templates.
Q. Does escrow walk them through the door?
A. No. Escrow holds funds; waitlist and day-of check-in reduce empty chairs. Money alone does not fill the seat.
Next step
Pick a cancel template so the cutoff is clear, then read the no-show playbook once before the first experience day.
Open cancel templates →Deposit guide → · No-show playbook → · Sell without live → · Reminders & waivers →