How booth rent and vendor settlement work
Each vendor gets a booth carrying a rent schedule and a commission rate. Tags carry the vendor code, the central register credits each line to its booth, and settlement nets sales against rent and commission in one run per period.
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The structure
A vendor mall is a shared storefront hosting many small businesses. The software problem is keeping one customer experience — one register, one line, one receipt — while keeping many separate sets of books.
SECND models that with booths. A booth belongs to a vendor and carries the terms: what rent they pay, on what schedule, and what commission you take on their sales. Terms live on the booth so settlement never depends on anyone remembering a verbal arrangement.
Vendor codes on tags
Every item tag carries the vendor or booth code alongside the barcode. That is what makes central checkout work: whatever scans at the register is credited to the right vendor automatically, without the cashier having to know or care whose booth it came from.
Mixed-basket checkout
A customer picks up a lamp from booth 12, a book from booth 3 and a chair from booth 27. That is one transaction, one payment and one receipt, with three separate credits behind it. Handling that cleanly is the whole reason a mall needs purpose-built software rather than a generic register.
Settlement
- 1
Close the period
Usually monthly. The period defines which sales and which rent charges are included.
- 2
Calculate per booth
Gross sales, commission taken, rent charged, adjustments, and the resulting amount payable.
- 3
Review the exceptions
Vendors whose sales did not cover rent, or who have adjustments. These are the conversations; everything else is arithmetic.
- 4
Pay and record
Record payments against each vendor so the balance clears with a traceable history.
- 5
Issue statements
A per-vendor statement showing the sales behind the number, not just the number.
| Line | Example |
|---|---|
| Gross sales | $1,840.00 |
| Commission (10%) | -$184.00 |
| Booth rent | -$275.00 |
| Adjustments | -$0.00 |
| Payable to vendor | $1,381.00 |
Taking booth stock online
Booth inventory is exactly what online collectors search for, and almost none of it is listed anywhere. Vendors can opt into crosslisting per booth, so their items appear on the marketplaces you have connected and are pulled down automatically when they sell on the floor.
That opt-in matters. A vendor who has not agreed to online listing should not find their inventory on eBay, and a vendor who does opt in needs the delisting to be reliable or they are exposed to double sales they did not sign up for.
Frequently asked questions
Can a vendor have more than one booth?
Yes. Booths are the unit of terms and reporting; a vendor with three booths can have three rent schedules and see them separately or combined.
What if a vendor's sales do not cover their rent?
Settlement shows a negative payable, which is a balance owed to the mall. How you handle it — carry it forward, invoice it, or terminate the booth — is a policy decision, but the number is at least unambiguous.
Do vendors see their own sales in real time?
Yes. Per-vendor visibility into sales and balance is usually the biggest reduction in office phone calls a mall gets from switching systems.
Can I mix booth rental and consignment in one building?
Yes, and many malls do. Booths carry rent and commission; consignors carry splits. Both settle from the same ledger in the same run.
Step-by-step product docs
This guide explains how it works. These show you exactly where to click.
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