Apply to farmer's markets and craft fairs

1

Verify organizers with HubGuard

Before you pay booth fees, use HubGuard—our public organizer trust directory at popuphub.ca/hubguard.

• Search organizers by name and open a trust report with official links, published events, community mentions, and admin-published scam alerts
• Scan the scam watchlist on the same page for known impersonators and fraudulent payment requests
• Read vendor reviews left by other makers and add your own at popuphub.ca/hubguard/review
• Look for organizers who run native Popup Hub markets and publish their official Popup Hub application URL—so you can spot copycat social posts. Ad listings on Discover redirect to the organizer’s own site and are not in-app applications.

Coordinators can copy embed snippets from popuphub.ca/for-organizers/embed to link vendors to their real native application page and HubGuard lookup. These are official link badges, not live cryptographic verification widgets. HubGuard is live today with an Edmonton-metro directory focus; we are expanding region by region.

2

Always free to apply on native markets

On native Popup Hub markets, applying is completely free. You should never pay just to have your application reviewed on-platform.

• Booth fees are set by coordinators and collected only after your application is officially accepted (juried approval or open-market queue position)
• Build your reusable Vendor Passport once at popuphub.ca/vendor/passport and apply to multiple native markets without re-entering your business profile
• Ad listings on Discover do not accept native applications — use “Apply via organizer’s website” and treat off-platform intake as outside Popup Hub checkout

3

Vendor escrow protection on native checkout

When you pay booth fees through Popup Hub secure checkout (Square in production; Stripe Connect where enabled), your payment is tied to the market on-platform—not a random e-transfer request in a Facebook DM. Escrow applies only to native markets with Popup Hub checkout — not ad listings that send you to an external site.

• Held booth fees are collected as Square application fees into Popup Hub’s merchant account and tracked as escrow on Popup Hub — not a third-party locked vault; Popup Hub operates the hold for vendor protection and refunds
• Default policy: 25% may release upfront; 75% stays held until 24 hours after the event ends
• Venue contract override: coordinators upload their venue contract; Popup Hub extracts when the venue must be paid and how much is due. Venue funds release in time to clear Square settlement; the rest stays held until 24 hours after the event
• Trust fast-track: coordinators can earn full payout access through community verification—3 vouches from verified organizers or 10 from verified vendors who worked their markets
• If a fraudulent coordinator is identified, held escrow funds can be used to refund vendors who paid through Popup Hub checkout
• Off-platform payments (cash, personal e-transfers, or fees paid on an ad listing’s external site) do not receive escrow protection and cannot count toward community trust

Coordinators may pass through a small platform processing fee (3% + $1) at checkout; this funds trust infrastructure including escrow.

4

Fraud-resistant verification at market day

Popup Hub reduces fake receipts and manipulated proof-of-payment with tools coordinators run on market day.

• Signed check-in links and QR codes tied to your approved, paid application—so impersonators cannot reuse a generic screenshot
• Fraud-proof checkout capture: coordinators use an in-app camera workflow (no gallery uploads) that watermarks photos with your business name, booth ID, and a UTC timestamp before upload
• Vendor Passport risk checks at apply time block suspended or high-risk accounts from entering the queue

This is operational fraud resistance—not a vendor-facing digital receipt product. Payment records are maintained securely on-platform for disputes and refunds.