01
Read the last 3 invoices line by line
Take the last 3 invoices from the marketplace and read every line, not just the total. Look for a per-booking line, a percentage line, a subscription line, and any line that changes with the number of bookings. Write each one down with the month it appeared.
Then compare the total to the bookings that month. A cost that rises with bookings is a commission, whatever it is called on the invoice. A cost that stays flat is a software fee. Most clubs pay a mix and have never separated the two.
- A fixed monthly line that does not change with bookings
- A line that scales with booking count or booking value
- Any fee charged to the player at checkout rather than to the club
- Card-processing fees, and whether they sit on the same invoice or arrive from a separate provider
- The month each line first appeared, so you can spot changes
02
Find the notice period and the exit terms
The contract decides how fast you can move. Find the notice period, the renewal date, and whether the term renews automatically. A contract that renewed last month may lock you in for a year, and knowing that before you plan a launch saves a painful conversation.
Also check who owns the booking data and the player accounts under the contract. The clause is usually short and easy to miss. Read it twice, and if it is unclear, ask the vendor in writing.
03
Work out which players are yours
A player who found your club through the marketplace app and books there every week is, in practice, a marketplace player. A player who walks in, plays in your league, and books through whatever link you send them is your player. Most clubs have both, and the split decides the risk of switching.
Pull a month of bookings and tag each player: found you through the app, or already knew the club. If most of your revenue comes from players who already knew you, the marketplace is a booking form with a commission. If most of it comes from new players the app sent you, the marketplace is a demand channel, and leaving it without a replacement will cost bookings.
04
Ask for the export before you give notice
Before you give notice, request a full export: courts, members with contact details, future bookings, classes, and any credit balances. Do this while the account is in good standing, because support tends to be slower once a cancellation is on file.
Open the export and check it. Count the members against your own records. Look for future bookings past the switch date. Check that email addresses are present, not masked. A file that arrives with half the columns empty is a reason to ask again, not a reason to give up.
- Members with email and phone, not player IDs alone
- Every future booking with court, date, time, and paid status
- Recurring bookings and the rule that generates them
- Class schedules, capacities, and current rosters
- Outstanding credits, passes, or prepaid balances
05
Decide honestly whether you still need the marketplace
A marketplace can be the right choice. A new club in a city with several padel venues may need the app to fill weekday afternoons, and the commission is the price of that demand. The question is not whether marketplaces are good or bad. It is whether this club, this year, is paying for demand it no longer needs.
If you decide to stay listed, you can still run your own booking site for your own players and keep the marketplace for the hours it fills. Many clubs land there rather than at a full exit.
06
Plan the move in the right order
Once the invoice, contract, and export are understood, the move itself is mechanical. Set up the new system with your courts and prices, import the export, run a parallel week with staff, and tell players the new link before the old one goes dark. Each step has its own post on this blog.