Your Own Bookings and World Camps

Many camps keep their own registration system and take payment directly — World Camps is built to work alongside it, not replace it. This article covers the two things that keep both systems honest: your availability, and the payment cycle on booking requests.

WHO THIS ARTICLE IS FOR

Taking payment your own way is part of the Pro and Premium licence plans. On the free Marketplace plan, families pay through World Camps when they book — their card is authorised with the request and captured after you accept, as described in "How World Camps Works". The availability rule below applies to every camp; the payment sections apply to camps on a Pro or Premium licence.

KEEP YOUR AVAILABILITY TRUE

World Camps only ever offers the places you say are free. When you sell a place outside the platform:

• Open your camp in the editor and lower "spots left" on that session by the places you sold.
• That is the whole job — it takes seconds, and it prevents the same seat being offered twice.
• Our system never lets World Camps bookings exceed the spots you set: active bookings always hold their place, and the number cannot drop below them.

Good to know: a request that is still pending does not hold a spot forever — it expires automatically if you do not respond within the response window.

HOW FAMILIES PAY YOU ON BOOKING REQUESTS (PRO AND PREMIUM LICENCES)

When your camp is on a Pro or Premium licence, no payment runs through World Camps on a booking request and no commission applies. You accept, then settle payment in your own system. To make that smooth, you can save your payment details once under Account > Activate bookings ("How families pay you"):

• Your message to families, your payment details (bank transfer, a payment link, or on arrival), and when you usually expect payment.
• When you accept a request, families receive them automatically — in their booking, in your conversation thread, and by email — together with their booking reference (for example BK-8F2K4Q).
• Ask families to include that reference with their transfer: it is how you match each payment on your bank statement.

THE PAYMENT HANDSHAKE

• The family can tap "I've sent the payment" on their booking — you are notified the moment they do.
• When the money arrives on your account, tap "Payment received — family enrolled" on the booking. That confirms the child's place for the family and completes the booking on both sides.
• If the family never enrolled or never replied, record that outcome instead — it keeps your numbers honest and releases nothing you did not intend.

Good to know: confirming receipt is also how World Camps knows your requests turn into real enrolments — it is the only signal we ever get, because the money never touches us.