Stripe Connect Marketplace Build

Here's the clean, reduced scope:

What we build:

Stripe Connect Express onboarding for hosts (so they can receive vendor fees)
A simple refund flow where hosts initiate refunds to vendors
Refunds pull from the host's Stripe Connect balance
If the balance is insufficient, the refund fails with a clear message — "Your Connect balance is too low to cover this refund. Add funds to your Stripe account or contact the vendor to arrange directly."
What we skip entirely:

No backup card collection
No Stripe Customer for hosts
No payment method management UI
No fallback charging logic
The host is the merchant of record — if they can't cover a refund, that's on them to resolve with Stripe or the vendor directly. BoothBase just facilitates the pipe.

This cuts roughly 30–40% off the original scope. Want me to scope just the MVP (Connect onboarding + basic refund flow)?

Jun 1 at 10:53 AM
so can you give me the full updated simplifed posting. to reiterate this is so that hosts can choose if they or the vendor pays the $4.99 and if the host charges an application fee they need to set it I do not take any of the commision and when something is booked our comision is taken out this is to stop me from being responsible for their charges

BoothBase — Stripe Connect Integration (MVP)
What we're building
Stripe Connect integration so hosts (event organizers) can collect vendor application fees and booth payments directly, with BoothBase taking its platform commission off the top. Hosts are the merchant of record — they handle their own refunds, chargebacks, and disputes. BoothBase is just the pipe.

Core requirements
1. Stripe Connect onboarding (hosts)
Stripe Connect Express onboarding flow for hosts
Hosts complete KYC directly with Stripe
Onboarding status visible in host dashboard (pending / active / restricted)
Hosts cannot publish paid events until Connect account is active
2. Application fee configuration (per event, host-controlled)
Default application fee: $4.99 per vendor application
Host chooses on each event:
Who pays the $4.99 app fee — host absorbs it, OR vendor pays at apply-time
Whether to charge an additional application fee on top (host sets the amount, e.g. $10, $25 — their call)
Vendor sees clear breakdown at checkout: "$4.99 application fee + $X host fee = total"
3. Booth booking payments
When a vendor is approved and pays for their booth, payment flows through Stripe Connect
BoothBase platform commission is automatically deducted via Stripe application_fee_amount on the charge
Remainder goes directly to the host's Connect account
Host never touches BoothBase's commission — Stripe handles the split at charge time
4. Refunds (host-initiated, host-funded)
Hosts can issue refunds to vendors from their dashboard
Refunds pull from the host's Stripe Connect balance
If the host's balance is insufficient, the refund fails with a clear error:
"Your Stripe balance is too low to cover this refund. Add funds to your Stripe account or contact the vendor to arrange directly."

BoothBase does NOT cover failed refunds. BoothBase does NOT store backup cards. Host is fully responsible.
Explicitly out of scope
No backup payment method / card-on-file for hosts
No platform-funded refunds
No multi-currency (USD only at launch)
No automated payout scheduling — Stripe's default payout schedule applies
No internal ledger — Stripe balance transactions are the source of truth
Tech notes
Stripe Connect Express accounts (not Standard, not Custom)
Destination charges with application_fee_amount for commission split
Webhooks for: account.updated, charge.succeeded, charge.refunded, charge.refund.failed
All sensitive logic server-side; no Stripe secret keys client-side