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Prends Booking Terms

Beta draft. A lawyer reviews these before paid bookings open.

These terms explain how paid bookings work. They are part of the Terms of Service.

Who is who

  • Payer: the member who pays. For a sponsored spot, the guest pays the host. For an appearance fee, the host pays the guest.
  • Payee: the member who gets paid.
  • Stripe: the payment company that charges the payer, holds the money and pays the payee. While a booking is open, the money is held by Stripe in Prends's Stripe platform balance. It is never moved into Prends's own bank account.

1. Request and accept

  1. The payer sends a request with the show, the amount, the currency and the review window.
  2. The payee accepts or declines.
  3. For a sponsored spot, the host must commit to telling listeners on air that the spot is paid, and to saying so in the episode's show notes. Without that commitment the booking can't be accepted. See section 7 of the Terms of Service.

2. Paying

  • Under 1,000 (USD, EUR or GBP): pay by card or bank transfer.
  • 1,000 or more: bank transfer only.
  • Cards use 3D Secure where your bank supports it. You may be asked to confirm the payment in your banking app.
  • The payer pays the agreed amount, plus Prends's fee (at least 3%), plus payment and payout costs. You see one total before you pay.
  • Payment methods: card (under 1,000 in the booking currency), bank transfer, or crypto (USDC through Stripe). Bank transfers and crypto payments are not covered by card chargebacks. Some bank transfers can still be recalled or reversed by the bank for a short time (see section 5).
  • The booking is paid only when Stripe confirms the money has arrived. For a bank transfer, that is when your transfer reaches the account details shown to you.

3. Recording and publishing

  • Record the episode as agreed.
  • If the payee doesn't show up or cancels, the payer gets a full refund.
  • The episode counts as live when Prends finds it in the show's public RSS feed, or when the payee submits the episode link.

4. The review window

  • When the episode is live, a review window starts. It is 24 hours unless the host chose a longer window, up to 7 days.
  • During the window, the payer can flag a problem, for example the interview was cut or the disclosure was missing.
  • A flag freezes the money. Prends reviews it and then releases, refunds or splits the money.
  • After the window closes, the payer can no longer flag.

5. Release

  • With no flag, the money is released to the payee automatically when the window ends.
  • Money paid by bank transfer is never released before day 6 after payment. This is because some US bank transfers can be reversed for 5 days.
  • The payee receives the agreed amount. Prends keeps its fee and the payment costs it collected.

6. Automatic refund

  • If the episode is not live within 60 days of payment, the payer is refunded automatically.
  • A refund returns the agreed amount. Prends's fee and the payment costs are not refunded. The payer is told this before paying.
  • Refunds are processed by Stripe. Prends starts the refund and is not responsible for how or when Stripe, a bank or a crypto network completes it. Refunds of bank transfers may first go to the payer's Stripe balance before reaching their bank.

7. Chargebacks and strikes

Use the flag button before going to your bank. A chargeback filed instead of a flag:

  • freezes the booking while the bank decides,
  • adds a strike to the payer's account,
  • 1 strike: bank transfer only,
  • 2 strikes: paid bookings suspended.

Prends sends the booking records to the bank as evidence. These include the accepted booking, both members' messages, the recording confirmation, the episode link and the feed timestamp.

If a dispute is lost after release because the payee broke the agreement, Prends may take the amount back from the payee's Stripe account.

8. Currencies and countries

  • Bookings can be in US dollars, euros or British pounds. The currency is fixed when the booking is requested.
  • Bank transfers use the local system for the currency: US bank transfer for USD, SEPA transfer for EUR, and UK bank transfer for GBP.
  • Your own bank may charge fees or convert currency. Those costs are yours.
  • Hosts and guests can both get paid: whoever receives the money in a booking is the payee.
  • Bank payouts: available in the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Economic Area, Canada and Switzerland. Stripe converts the payout to your local currency.
  • Crypto payouts (USDC): available in many more countries once Stripe enables them for Prends. You link a crypto wallet in your Stripe payout dashboard. Crypto payouts are final. A payout sent to a wrong wallet address cannot be recovered. USDC is a stablecoin, not a bank deposit: it is not covered by deposit insurance, and its value and your ability to convert it depend on its issuer and the networks it runs on. Prends does not give investment advice.
  • Payout and conversion costs are included in the payer's total. Your own bank or wallet may charge its own fees.
  • Members outside the supported countries can still make free bookings.

9. Taxes

Each member is responsible for their own taxes. Before a payee is paid, Prends or Stripe on our behalf may ask for tax information (such as a US Form W-9 or W-8 and a tax identification number). Where the law requires, we or Stripe will issue tax forms and report payee earnings to tax authorities, including in the United States, the European Union (DAC7) and the United Kingdom.

10. Questions

Email [bookings@prends.app].