Quick answers about using Popup Hub as a patron, vendor, or market coordinator. For legal policies, see our About Us, Privacy Policy, and Terms of Service.
- What is Popup Hub?
- Popup Hub helps patrons discover local community markets, vendors apply for booth space, and coordinators run events — from applications and floor plans to check-in and checkout on market day.
- Why should I choose Popup Hub instead of just running my markets through social media DMs and spreadsheets?
Operating a pop-up market through Instagram DMs, email threads, and manual spreadsheets wastes hours of administrative time and exposes your business to massive fraud risks. Popup Hub brings the entire artisan community into a single, unified ecosystem built by vendors, for organizers:
Zero-Spreadsheet Management: Say goodbye to administrative chaos. Instantly review juried applications, manage accepted makers, and map out your venue layout visually using our drag-and-drop HubGrid.
Community-Driven Trust:Our built-in verification network balances vendor safety with coordinator cash flow. Default for new organizers: 25% of booth payouts may release upfront and 75% is held until 24 hours after the event. To override that hold, 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. Held booth fees are collected as Square application fees into Popup Hub's merchant account (not a third-party locked vault) and released by published policy for vendor protection. Earn community trust to bypass holds — either 3 vouches from verified organizers or 10 from verified vendors who completed a paid booth at your markets. Endorsements from accounts on a shared network with the organizer or another endorser are blocked.
Flexible Fee Controls: Keep 100% of your listed booth price. Coordinators can choose whether payment processing and platform fees (3% + $1) are deducted from their payouts or automatically passed through to vendors at checkout.
Built-In Marketing & Discovery: Stop shouting into social media algorithms. Vendors can upload 30-second Passport Stories directly to their unified profile, letting patrons discover and "Meet the Maker" before they even step through the venue doors. Popup Hub moves your market operations away from chaotic group chats into a professional, secure, and automated headquarters that helps you scale your business.
- Do I need an account to discover markets?
- No. You can explore upcoming markets on Discover without signing in. Create a free account to save favorites, use your wallet, and get the most from quarter auctions and vendor features.
- How do I apply as a vendor?
- Sign up as a Vendor, complete your vendor passport (business details and product info), then discover open markets under Apply for open markets. Each event may have its own categories, fees, and approval process.
- How much does Popup Hub cost for vendors and coordinators?
Creating an account and building your digital profile or vendor passport is completely free for everyone. The cost depends on your role in the market:
For Vendors: Applying to markets is free; you only pay the specific booth fees set by the market coordinators. If a coordinator has enabled processing fee pass-through, you will pay a small 3% + $1 transaction tax at checkout to secure your 75% escrow refund protection.
For Coordinators: There are no monthly subscriptions. Popup Hub takes a flat platform fee of 3% + $1 per booth transaction. Best of all, you can pass that fee through to vendors at checkout so you keep 100% of your listed booth price.
A Note on Trust & Offline Payments: If an unverified coordinator processes transactions off the platform (like manual e-Transfers or cash), those transactions cannot clear the 75% escrow hold or count toward your community-trusted status. Attempting to bypass tracking to avoid fees breaks community trust and will result in an immediate reliability rating penalty for both the host and the vendor. Keeping transactions transparent directly protects the community, automates your verification, and funds our upcoming patron mobile app to drive foot traffic straight to your events.
- Why does Popup Hub charge fees?
Popup Hub was built by fellow vendors — Brad and Sonia of The Tipsy Fox — to simplify chaotic market logistics and unite local communities in one coordinated effort. Coordinator platform fees (3% + $1 per booth) keep our discovery tools and operations software funded so patrons can find every local market in one place.
To further protect our community, holding funds in escrow is our direct answer to combat market fraud. Held booth fees are collected as Square application fees into Popup Hub's merchant account and tracked as escrow on Popup Hub — this is not a third-party locked vault. Popup Hub operates the hold by published policy so vendors can recoup deposits if a fraudulent actor is identified. This protective holding period is not there to withhold hard-earned revenue from honest coordinators; rather, it serves as a critical safety net for local small businesses.
Moving forward, these fees will also directly fund the development and launch of our dedicated mobile app for patrons. Because a mobile application requires continuous maintenance, hosting, and updates to stay live on the App Stores, these transaction fees ensure our patron discovery features remain completely free for vendors and shoppers while providing a high-traffic, reliable platform that drives foot traffic straight to your local events.
Read our full story for the transparent breakdown of how fees work and why keeping the system honest matters for everyone.
- How do I host a market as a coordinator?
- Sign up as a Coordinator, create a market from your Markets page, configure booth categories and fees, approve vendor applications, design your floor plan in HubGrid, and run check-in and live operations on market day.
- What if I need to cancel my market?
Life happens — Popup Hub lets coordinators cancel or unwind a market without losing access to your account.
Draft markets: If you started setup but never published, open your event hub or setup wizard and delete the draft. No vendors are charged and nothing is listed publicly.
Published markets: Open the event hub, use the status menu, and choose Cancel Event. You will confirm the cancellation reason. Cancellations with less than 7 days' notice before the event may affect your coordinator reliability score; documented force-majeure reasons are handled separately.
Vendors with paid booths are notified according to your published refund policy and platform payment rules.
- What are PopupFunds, the wallet, and quarter auctions?
PopupFunds is the wallet on Popup Hub. Patrons and vendors can hold credits in their wallet after signing in at popuphub.ca/wallet.
At markets: Pay vendors at their booth, receive vendor invoices for repeat orders, and use leftover balance at quarter auctions.
Quarter auctions: Some markets run digital quarter auctions where patrons bid on donated vendor items using quarters from their wallet. Coordinators configure whether an event includes an auction — check the market page for details.
Loading funds:Card top-ups include a pass-through processing fee (2.9% + $0.30 — Square's charge to Popup Hub). Cash at the door and Interac e-transfer at the market are free.
Reclaiming balance: Unused wallet credits can be reclaimed for free via e-transfer, cash at the door, or refund to the card you used to top up.
For vendors: You may donate an item for the auction when the coordinator requests it during event setup. Wallet credits can also apply to supported checkout flows.
Read the PopupFunds custody guide for where funds are held and how they differ from booth-fee escrow.
- Where are my PopupFunds held when I deposit?
Card top-ups are processed through Square and settle to Popup Hub's merchant account. Your wallet shows a platform ledger credit you can spend on supported flows — market booth pay, vendor invoices, and quarter auctions.
PopupFunds is not a bank deposit account, not FDIC-insured, and not the same as coordinator booth-fee escrow (which protects vendor booth payments to organizers).
Cash or e-Transfer top-ups confirmed by coordinators at the door are credited to the same ledger balance.
- How do vendor PopupFunds invoices work?
Vendors can send branded invoices when a patron wants to reorder after a market. The invoice shows the vendor's logo and contact info; the patron pays with PopupFunds.
A 3% + $1 service fee may apply. Vendors see the fee before sending and choose whether to add it to the patron total or deduct it from their payout.
Vendors can refund paid invoices back to the patron's PopupFunds wallet.
- What is HubGuard and how do I verify an organizer?
HubGuard is Popup Hub's public organizer trust directory at popuphub.ca/hubguard. Search an organizer by name before paying booth fees.
Each trust report shows official website and social links, published events, community mentions, and admin-published scam alerts. The scam watchlist on the same page flags known impersonators. Read vendor reviews at popuphub.ca/hubguard/review or leave your own after a market. Look for organizers who have claimed their HubGuard profile and publish their official Popup Hub application URL so you can avoid impersonators on social media.
Coordinators can copy embed snippets from popuphub.ca/for-organizers/embed to link vendors to their real application page. These are official link badges, not live status widgets. HubGuard is live today with an Edmonton-metro directory focus; we are expanding region by region.
Read our HubGuard verification guide for a step-by-step checklist.
- How does community trust and escrow protect vendors?
When vendors pay booth fees through Popup Hub checkout (Square in production; Stripe Connect where enabled), funds are held in escrow according to the coordinator's trust status. 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. Your payment is tied to the market on-platform—not a random e-transfer request in a social media DM.
New or community-unverified coordinators may have 25% of payouts released upfront and 75% held until 24 hours after the event. To override that hold, 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. Held funds can be used to refund vendors if a fraudulent organizer is identified.
Coordinators earn community trust through peer vouches (3 from verified organizers or 10 from verified vendors who worked their markets) or admin community verification. Off-platform payments (cash or personal e-transfer not tracked in Popup Hub) cannot clear escrow holds or count toward trust.
- What payment methods does Popup Hub support?
- Coordinators connect Square and/or Stripe to accept card payments for booth fees. Vendors pay through the checkout flow after application approval. Coordinators can also record offline payments (cash, Interac e-transfer) in the dashboard — these must be marked paid for trust and reliability tracking. Platform fees are 3% + $1 per booth transaction; coordinators can pass fees through to vendors at checkout.
- What is the ad listing tier vs native hosting?
- Ad listing puts your market on Discover with a tracked “Apply via organizer’s website” link — vendors leave Popup Hub to apply, so there is no Vendor Passport intake, booth checkout, or HubGuard escrow. Your first 2 ad markets are free; when billing is enabled, $49/mo covers additional Discover placement, click analytics, and AI flyer auto-fill while you keep booth fees collected on your own site (no 3% + $1). Native hosting is free to run and charges 3% + $1 only when vendors pay through Popup Hub — that unlocks applications, HubGrid, payments, check-in, and market day ops. Upgrade from ad listing to native is free when you are ready.
- How do digital booth contracts work?
- Coordinators can attach booth contract templates to events. Vendors review and accept terms as part of the application or payment flow. Templates can be imported from Google Docs. Some events also require insurance document uploads after approval. Contracts help both parties agree on fees, teardown rules, and cancellation terms before market day.
- How do I report a scam or suspicious organizer?
Search the organizer in HubGuard and review scam alerts, the scam watchlist, or community mentions. If you believe you encountered an impersonator or fraudulent payment request:
- Report it with HubGuard at popuphub.ca/hubguard/report
- Email hubguard@popuphub.ca with the organizer name, links or screenshots, and what happened — emails enter the same HubGuard review queue as the web form
Both the form and email reports are reviewed by our team and, when confirmed, published to the HubGuard watchlist or organizer scam alerts. Never pay booth fees through unsolicited social media DMs unless you have verified the organizer through an official Popup Hub listing or their verified website.
- How does Popup Hub protect vendors from market scams?
Popup Hub layers vendor protections across apply, checkout, and market day—not just a disclaimer in a Facebook post.
HubGuard: Search organizers at popuphub.ca/hubguard before paying booth fees. Read vendor reviews, scam alerts, and claimed organizer profiles.
Free apply: Applying to markets is free; booth fees are collected only after your application is officially accepted.
Escrow on native checkout:Card payments through Popup Hub hold a portion of organizer payouts until 24 hours after the event—or, when the organizer uploads a venue contract, venue funds release in time for Square settlement and the rest stays held until after the event. Held booth fees are collected as Square application fees into Popup Hub's merchant account (not a third-party locked vault) and released by published policy. Held funds can refund vendors if fraud is identified. Off-platform payments do not receive this protection.
Market day verification: Signed check-in QR codes, coordinator-run camera capture with UTC watermarks (no gallery uploads), and Vendor Passport risk checks at apply time reduce fake receipts and impersonation.
See the full breakdown on popuphub.ca/for-vendors.
- How do I submit a feature request or product feedback?
- Use the in-app feature request button (available on most portal pages) or visit popuphub.ca/suggestions to share ideas, report workflow blockers, or flag urgent issues. Include your role (coordinator, vendor, or patron) and the screen you were using.
- How do I contact support?
- For policy or legal questions, email help@popuphub.ca. For product help, include your account email and a short description of the issue. Browse our Market Guides at popuphub.ca/legal/guides for step-by-step articles, or submit feedback at popuphub.ca/suggestions.