How to set up vendors: a step-by-step walkthrough

Vendor management is an Expert-tier feature, and it's off by default even on Expert shows. Open the show, go to Edit Show, and find the Vendor Applications card. Switch on Accept vendor applications — this opens a public application form and unlocks the show's Vendors and Spaces tabs (both live under the Commercial group in the show sidebar, alongside Sponsors).

Before applications start rolling in, it's worth setting up your Spaces tab — a named inventory of every booth or stall you have to offer, so you can assign approved vendors to an actual spot instead of juggling it on paper. This step is optional; you can approve vendors first and add spaces later, or skip Spaces entirely and track booth numbers by hand.

Click + Add space and fill in a Label (required — e.g. "A1", "FT-1" for a food truck spot), an optional Size, whether it has Power available and at what amperage, a Default Fee, and any Notes (surface, shade, water, etc.).

The default fee matters later: when you assign an approved vendor to a space, Car Show Expert automatically fills in that vendor's fee from the space's default — but only if you haven't already typed one in manually. Set your default fees once here and most vendors won't need a fee typed in by hand at all.

There's no way to invite a specific vendor from inside Car Show Expert — instead, everyone applies through the same public link, and you decide who gets in. Open the show's Vendors tab and copy the Vendor Application Form link shown at the top (it only appears once applications are switched on). Post it on your show's Facebook page, put it in your vendor recruitment emails, add it to your website — however you'd normally reach vendors.

The form itself asks for Business / Trading Name, Contact Name, and Email Address (all required), plus optional Phone Number, a description of what they'll be selling, and a Space Requirements section — a booth/space size and whether they need electrical power (and at what amperage). Submitting sends the vendor an automatic confirmation email and creates a pending application on your Vendors tab.

Every application lands on the Vendors tab as Pending, with the company name, contact details, description, and any booth size or power requirements they entered. Click Approve or Decline on each one — either action emails the vendor automatically, and a declined application can be reset back to pending if you change your mind.

If you set up Spaces in Step 2, an approved vendor gets a Space dropdown — assign them to one and their booth number and fee both fill in automatically (the fee only if one isn't already set). No Spaces defined? Type a fee straight into the vendor's Payment row instead — click Edit to set the Fee, Status (Unpaid, Paid, or Waived), Method (cash, cheque, bank transfer, or online), and any reference notes.

The tab totals fees, amounts collected, and what's still outstanding across every approved vendor, plus your total electrical load across occupied spaces that have power — useful for checking generator capacity before show day. Removing a vendor who's already paid asks you to confirm first, since deleting the application also deletes the only record of that payment.

Every status email — including the approval email — links the vendor to their own booking page, which shows their application status, show details, and, once approved with a fee attached, a Payment due section listing every way you accept payment.

Which options they see depends on your organisation's payment setup in Settings → Payment Collection — the same setting attendee registrations use. A card option only appears once you've connected Stripe Connect and ticked card as an accepted method; otherwise vendors see whichever manual methods you've enabled — Venmo, Zelle, Cash App, or cash on the day — with your handle or instructions filled in and the amount pre-filled.

Once a payment is recorded — automatically for card payments, or manually by you for cash and other methods — the vendor's booking page updates to Payment confirmed and there's nothing more for them to do. If you've waived their fee instead, it shows Fee waived. A vendor can also withdraw their own application from this page at any time before the show, and, once the show goes live, use it to drop a pin so their booth shows up on the public show map.