Collecting payments for gigs

When an event planner accepts your quote, they will pay the total amount (deposit and balance) in one transaction at the time of booking. We’ll process the payment and send you the deposit in advance and the balance one or two business days after the event. This provides the event planner with a safe, secure, and simple way to book you for their event and ensures you get paid. Learn more about how clients make payments.

⚠ Important: Once the client submits payment to GigSalad, you are booked. If the event occurs before receiving your deposit from GigSalad, you are still obligated to honor that booking and perform the event. If the client has paid us, we can guarantee you will receive both the deposit and the final balance as long as you complete the gig, the planner does not dispute the booking or submit a chargeback, and we don't determine the transaction is fraudulent.

Payout options

There are three ways to receive payments, depending on when you joined and what country you are located in.

Direct deposit

This is the easiest and fastest payout option. Provide your banking information, and we'll send money directly to your bank account.

Note: In April 2016, we switched payment processors to reduce the payout time. If you signed up for direct deposits prior to April 2016 and have not yet updated your payout info, be sure to do this so you can get paid faster!

PayPal

You must have an established US PayPal account to be paid via PayPal. If you do, just click the button to connect your PayPal account with GigSalad and we'll send your money there.

We cover the PayPal fee! PayPal charges a small fee to collect payments for goods and services through its platform. However, GigSalad is footing the bill, so you will receive your full payment without any additional PayPal fees.

Check by mail

With the introduction of the direct deposit option, we are no longer offering checks as a payout option for members in the United States. For the foreseeable future, we will honor this payout option if you already had it prior to our discontinuation. If you switch to direct deposit or PayPal, you will not be able to return to check payments.

Attention Canadian members:

Because GigSalad operates in the United States, we cannot send payments outside the country via PayPal. However, Canadian members can receive payments via direct deposit and may also still choose to receive checks by mail. If you would like to receive your payments as quickly as possible, update your payout information to use direct deposit.

Payout time frames

We collect full payment from the client at the time of booking and will disperse that payment to you in two separate installments (deposit and balance). Your cancellation policy and the payout method you've chosen will determine the timing for receiving these payouts.

Deposits

If you offer a non-refundable deposit, we will send the money as soon as we’ve fully processed the payment. This includes all fraud prevention and security screening measures.

Direct deposit: The deposit will be in your bank account 2 business days after the client accepts your quote and makes a payment.
PayPal: The deposit will be in your PayPal account within 2 business days of the client accepting your quote and making a payment.
Check: Depending on the speed of the postal service, the deposit should arrive in the mail 7-14 business days after the client accepts your quote and makes a payment. We strongly recommend switching to direct deposit or PayPal if you want to get your deposit payments faster.

If you offer a refundable deposit, we will hold this payment until the end of your cancellation window. For example, if your cancellation policy says a client may cancel at least 14 days before the event and receive a refund of the deposit, we will not send your deposit until 13 days before the event.

Direct deposit: The deposit will be in your bank account 1 business day after we send the payment.
PayPal: The deposit will be in your PayPal account immediately after we send the payment.
Check: Depending on the speed of the postal service, the deposit should take 7-14 days to arrive in the mail.

Balances

Balance payments are not sent until the event is completed. Payments will be sent 1-2 business days after the event, assuming we receive no disputes, chargebacks, or fraud alerts. We always allow a full day after the event for you or your client to report any problems. For example, if your event is on a Wednesday at 4:00 p.m., we will send the balance to you that Friday morning.

Direct deposit: The balance will be in your bank account 1 business day after we send the payment.
PayPal: The balance will be in your PayPal account immediately after we send the payment.
Check: Depending on the speed of the postal service, the balance should take 7-14 days to arrive in the mail.

Setting up your payout info

You must provide your payout info before you'll be able to send a quote through our booking platform. To choose your payout preference:

1: Log into your control panel and go to Account.
2: Select Payout Info from the menu.
3: Select a payout method and provide the required information.
4: Click Update Payout Info.

If you have not added your payout info prior to sending your first quote, you'll be prompted to do so before you can proceed.

If you have a free membership, you must provide payout info before you can see your first lead. When you receive your first lead, you will see a prompt and be directed to the Payout Info page. Once you've added payout info, you won't be asked to provide it again.

If you need to change your payout details or switch your payout option, you can do so at any time by going through the steps listed above.

About tax reporting:

If you are a U.S. taxpayer who receives payments via direct deposit or check, you must provide your W-9 information. To make it easier, we’ve built the form right into the site with secure encryption to be completed electronically. You may provide your tax info at any time or update it when needed. Failure to provide your tax info may result in delayed booking payments.

At the start of each year, we will use your W-9 information to generate a Form 1099-K if you meet the current year's reporting requirement threshold. We also send each applicable Form 1099-K document to the IRS, and we provide a notice and a secure electronic copy to you within your control panel.

Held payments and fraud

Preventing and fighting fraud is an important part of the GigSalad platform. From the initial transaction to the final balance payment, we employ sophisticated fraud detection and transaction analysis systems. This provides trust and safety to all users. In most cases we prevent fraudulent transactions before they occur.

It is rare, but possible, that your booking payments might be held or returned. GigSalad reserves the right to hold payments or return payments for a number of reasons:

If a member has a history of problematic activity, such as not showing up for gigs or repeated cancellations.
If we determine that a booking is at high risk for fraud or if we determine that a booking payment was made by fraudulent means, such as a stolen credit card or fake billing information. This can happen after an event has taken place.
If a planner charges back the credit card transaction after a booking.
For a full description of how GigSalad might hold or return payments, please read Section 20 of our Terms of Use, which is an important part of the terms you agree to by using GigSalad.

Important information about same-day bookings

Events that are booked on the same day that the event takes place raise the risk of fraud and are more likely to be held. If a same-day booking is determined to be fraudulent, we will consider the event disputed, the payment will be returned, and the deposit and/or balance will not be sent because we never actually received these funds. Because of this, you should be cautious when an event is happening on the same day you're sending a quote. If you do not want to receive same-day requests, you can adjust your lead preferences to prevent this.

About returned payments

We may also request that deposit and/or balance payments be returned to us if you fail to honor a booking agreement or if we determine you’ve violated our Terms of Use. A failure to return payments when requested will result in your account being permanently removed from GigSalad.