Member benefit

If you get scammed, we cover it.

Find an event on VendorsMap that turns out to be a scam? Submit a claim within 90 days and we reimburse you up to $500 per incident, $1000 per member per year. Backed by our verification process and member fund. Active members only.

What's covered

Vanishing organizer

You paid a booth fee for an event listed on VendorsMap. The organizer disappeared, stopped responding, and the event didn't happen.

Wire transfer fraud

You paid via Zelle, Venmo, Cash App, wire, or check to an event organizer found through VendorsMap, and the organizer turned out to be impersonating a real event.

Cancelled with no refund

The event canceled and refused to refund booth fees, in violation of their published policy. We help recover the loss up to the cap.

What's not covered

  • ·Bad weather, low foot traffic, or below-expectation sales at a legit event
  • ·Disagreement over booth placement, hours, or services provided
  • ·Damages or theft at the event (that's vendor insurance territory)
  • ·Events you found outside VendorsMap (Facebook groups, etc.)
  • ·Claims filed more than 90 days after payment to the organizer
  • ·Vendors who weren't members at the time the booth fee was paid

How a claim works

  1. 1
    Submit the claim

    Log in to your dashboard and file a claim with the event name, what you paid, how, and what happened. Attach screenshots or receipts where possible.

  2. 2
    We review within 5 business days

    We verify membership status, event listing dates, payment timing, and corroborating evidence (BBB complaints, news, other vendor reports).

  3. 3
    Approved claims are reimbursed via Stripe

    Up to $500 per claim, $1000 per member per year. Funds arrive in your account within 7-10 business days of approval.

  4. 4
    We remove the scam organizer

    We delist the event and ban the organizer's accounts. Future members never see them.

Why we can offer this

Vendor-targeted scams cost the artisan community real money every year. The BBB documents fake-event Facebook scams that average $60-$200 per victim. Most vendors have no recourse.

VendorsMap can offer reimbursement because we control the supply side. Every event on the platform is sourced and reviewed before going live. Organizer accounts that take payments through Stripe Connect go through Stripe's identity verification. Scams that slip through our filters are rare, and the membership-fund pool of $40-per-vendor-per-year is more than enough to cover them.

Aligned incentives: every payout costs us money, so we're motivated to verify aggressively. Every prevented scam is a VendorsMap win.

Membership covers more than just events

$40 a year gets you the directory, AI Application Library, weekly digest, and the scam protection guarantee. Tax-deductible. Cancel anytime.

Become a Member for $40/yr

Already a member and need to file a claim?

File a Scam Protection claim