From wait list
to revenue list.
Tonight, twenty-three percent of your covers won't show up. Encore prices the seats that would otherwise walk — cancellations, no-shows, the deposit-failed booking at 7:42pm. The diner pays for the table. You keep the cover.
Three steps. No POS. No comps.
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01
A seat opens up
Cancellation, no-show, deposit-failed booking, oversold patio — whatever the reason. Your host releases it from the book the same way they would today.
-
02
Encore prices it & refills it
The seat hits a vetted pool of nearby diners who've already pre-paid for the chance. They bid; the highest bid clears; the booking transfers to their name in your existing system.
-
03
You collect
The diner walks in, sits at the table they paid for. The cover charge, the wine spend, the tip — all yours. Encore takes a flat share of the seat price only on filled seats.
“Reservation bots are stealing spots at your favorite restaurant. AppointmentTrader puts those spots back on the market — and pays the restaurant for them.”
Stop comping. Start collecting.
Every restaurant runs on the same broken math: deposit-failed cancellations, no-shows, oversold patios — the seats you can't fill in 90 minutes are pure margin lost. Encore turns each of them into a paying diner. No SaaS, no POS plug-in, no per-seat license.
- Diners pre-pay for the seat. The price is set by demand — tonight's covers go for what tonight's covers are worth.
- Coexists with your reservation system — whatever you use today. Bookings transfer into your existing book; no migration, no dual-entry.
- Blackout any night, any seating, any party size — one switch in the partner dashboard. You decide when Encore is on.
- Diners are vetted — rated, identity-verified, payment-on-file. The walk-in is a regular Encore user, not a stranger.
- You get the cover, the wine, the tip. We take a share of the seat price. No management fee, no monthly minimum, no exclusivity clause.
The honest answers.
What does it actually cost?
Zero setup, zero monthly. Encore takes a flat share of the seat price — only on seats we actually fill. If a Tuesday goes by with nothing released to us, you owe nothing. The cover, the wine, the tip, the deposit-recapture: all yours. Our slice comes out of what the bidding diner pays for the seat itself, not your service.
Will this fight with your reservation system?
No. Encore lives downstream of your existing book — it only sees seats you've already released back to the floor. The booking transfers in via a normal name change in whichever system you use today. No migration, no API project, no dual entry. We've shipped with every major book; the host workflow stays exactly the same.
Who actually shows up?
Vetted diners with payment on file, an identity check, and a public rating tied to no-show history on AT. They've already paid for the seat before they even walk over — the financial incentive runs the other direction from a typical no-show. Across active partners, our diners no-show on us at under 2% — lower than walk-ins.
What if we don't want to do it on a busy Saturday?
Then don't. Blackout any night, any seating, any party size, any time — one switch in the partner dashboard. Encore only ever fills the seats you actively release to it. Most rooms run it Tuesday through Saturday and let the team in the book decide on the night.
Will my brand show up on AppointmentTrader?
Your call. Some partners list publicly — the visibility moves more covers, on average. Others stay anonymized: the seat shows as “a Michelin-starred tasting room in SF” until the diner's payment clears, and the room name unlocks at confirmation. Either choice is reversible from the partner dashboard.
How do we apply?
Email partners@appointmenttrader.com from a venue address. We'll send back a 20-minute call slot, your booking system, and a few questions about your typical no-show pattern. Onboarding is a single afternoon; first refilled seat usually clears the same week.
Stop comping. Start collecting.
No upfront cost. No POS migration. No fight with the book you already use. Just the seats you'd otherwise lose, paying for themselves.
Average partner is live within seven days of first contact.
