Software for community and school markets
Updated 10 October 2026
Community markets, school fetes and fundraisers are run by volunteers with day jobs. The admin lives in somebody's personal inbox, the stallholder list is a spreadsheet only one person understands, and every year a new committee member inherits it and starts again. The goal isn't more features — it's less depending on one person.
The committee changes; the market shouldn't
The most expensive moment in a community market's life is the handover. Records that live in one volunteer's email and phone leave with them. Shared access — with the right people able to do the right things — is what lets next year's committee pick up where this one stopped.
Cash isn't going anywhere
Some stallholders will always pay cash on the day, the charity stall shouldn't pay at all, and the P&C's own sausage sizzle isn't a customer. A system that only understands card payments makes all of that a workaround.
Every dollar is a fundraising dollar
A market that exists to raise money for a school or a club can't justify a monthly software bill before it's taken a cent. Costs that only arrive when money comes in are the ones a committee can approve.
How StallsApp fits a community or school market
- A free plan
- The Free plan has no monthly fee — applications, bookings, payments, tickets and market-day tools, with a booking fee only on card payments taken through StallsApp. Paid plans lower that fee once volume makes it worthwhile.
- Cash, transfer and waived stalls
- Mark any booking as paid in cash or by transfer, or waive it for the charity stall — it sits in the same list as the card payments, so the totals are true.
- Team access for the committee
- Invite committee members as owners, admins or staff, each logging in as themselves. Staff are kept out of settings and billing.
- Contact details per market
- Each market carries its own contact email, phone and socials — so the school fete and the twilight market can have different committees behind the same account.
- Market-day check-in
- A day sheet shows who's booked, where they're set up and who has arrived, on a phone — no clipboard, no reprinting the list when someone cancels.
- Everything in one place for next year
- Stallholders, documents, bookings and payments stay with the market, so next year's coordinator inherits records rather than a password to someone's inbox.
Setting it up
- Sign up with a shared committee email rather than a personal one.
- Create your market — one-off for a fete, recurring for a monthly community market.
- Invite the committee and give each person the role they need.
- Add stall types, including a free or community type if you have one.
- Decide whether to connect Stripe for card payments now or record cash and transfer only.
- Add the market's own contact details so stallholders reach the committee, not one person.
Run your community and school markets on StallsApp
Applications, approvals, stall payments, ticketing and market-day tools in one place. Free to start — no card required.
Questions organisers ask
Is it really free?
The Free plan has no monthly fee. A booking fee applies to card payments taken through StallsApp; you can absorb it or pass it to the stallholder. Stripe's own card processing fees are separate.
Do we need to be a registered business or charge GST?
No. Whether GST applies depends on your organisation's own circumstances — many community groups aren't registered — and StallsApp doesn't assume either way. Check your position with your treasurer or accountant.
Can stallholders pay cash on the day?
Yes. Card payment is built in, not compulsory — record cash and bank transfers against the booking and everything stays in one list.