Not legal advice. This is a template, not legal advice. A licensed attorney must review it before you rely on it. Podium Events / Will Mahurin (Salem, Missouri) does not provide legal services.
Who we are
Podium Events is operated by Will Mahurin in Salem, Missouri. We provide a WordPress website, event pages, registration forms, and Stripe Connect payments plumbing for CLIENTS (event hosts, nonprofits, golf tournaments, raffles, and fundraisers). We are not the event sponsor. We are not the organizer. We do not claim to be a 501(c)(3) organization. Using this platform does not make Podium a charity, fiscal sponsor, or professional solicitor unless a separate written addendum says so.
The event HOST is the merchant of record via Stripe Connect (direct charges on the connected Stripe account, or Express accounts). Card statements and descriptors come from the host’s Stripe account. Podium takes an application fee at capture. We do not disguise the business to processors, and we do not invent MCC, KYC, or descriptor workarounds.
Fees
Unless we agree otherwise in writing, the host pays: (a) a monthly SaaS fee for the client organization (default $49 per month), (b) a percent of tickets, donations, and sponsor packages taken as a Stripe application_fee_amount (default 2.9%), and (c) an optional per-event setup fee (default $99) when that flag is enabled on the event. These amounts are configurable by the platform administrator. Stripe’s own processing fees are charged by Stripe to the host’s connected account under Stripe’s terms. Podium’s application fee is additional and is taken at capture.
Payout timing
After a successful capture, net proceeds (charge amount minus Podium’s application fee) remain on the host’s connected Stripe account. Stripe then pays the host on Stripe Connect’s normal automatic payout schedule to the host’s Stripe balance and linked bank account. That is near-real-time remittance in the Connect sense. We do not promise same-day bank wires, Instant Payouts (unless later enabled as a separate flag), or any payout Stripe does not actually offer. We may hold a reserve for refunds and chargebacks.
Refunds, chargebacks, and cancellations
The host is liable for refunds, chargebacks, disputes, and event cancellation. Podium is not the event sponsor and is not the party that sold the ticket to the attendee. If an attendee is owed a refund, the host owes it under the host’s refund policy. If Stripe or a card network debits a dispute, the host is liable. We may debit the host, withhold payouts, or collect from the host to cover refunds, chargebacks, reserves, and unpaid SaaS or setup fees.
If the host cancels or changes an event, the host is liable to attendees. Podium does not become the sponsor or the refunding merchant because a page was hosted on our software.
Taxes, raffles, and charitable solicitation
The HOST remits ticket sales tax, amusement tax, and charitable-solicitation filings unless a written addendum says we collect and remit a named tax. The host is responsible for raffle licensing, gaming laws, and nonprofit filings in Missouri and any other state where the host solicits. We do not ship raffle “guaranteed winner” or gambling features. A ticket product may be labeled raffle or admission as a product-type flag only. We do not claim the host is tax-exempt. We do not claim we are a 501(c)(3).
Data
We collect registrant and sponsor data to run the event page, checkout, confirmation, and roster. We share that data with the event host. We also share what is required with the payment processor (Stripe). See the Privacy policy.
Stripe Connect
The host must complete Stripe Connect onboarding (KYC is Stripe’s, not a Podium workaround). Charges are created as PaymentIntents on the host’s connected account with an application fee. We never take a card number onto our servers. Elements are hosted by Stripe (PCI SAQ A).