How to build a marketplace for event venues

The event services industry just crossed $1.1 trillion globally, and here's the thing — people are throwing more events than ever. Weddings, corporate retreats, birthday bashes, and product launches. Nearly 89% of businesses say events are make-or-break for hitting their goals, which means they're actively hunting for venues and willing to pay good money for the right space.

These event planners and hosts represent an audience you don't want to miss. Give them a solid platform to book venues, and you're tapping into serious revenue potential. This guide shows you how to build a multi-vendor marketplace that connects venue owners with people desperate to find their perfect event space.

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What is a marketplace for event venues?

A marketplace for event venues is a digital platform where multiple venue owners list their spaces while event planners and hosts browse, compare, and book locations for their gatherings. In essence, it’s a centralized hub that brings together supply and demand: venues get exposure to more customers, while event organizers access a wider selection of spaces with detailed information, pricing, and availability in one place.

How event marketplaces work

A booking marketplace connects venue owners with people who need event spaces. Event organizers post their requirements, browse available venues, and make reservations, all through one platform instead of calling dozens of venues. The model lies in three areas. 

First, venues list their spaces with photos, pricing, and availability while event planners search and filter based on their specific needs, like location, capacity, and budget. Second, the platform handles all the stuff — secure payments, booking confirmations, and communication between both parties. Third, users get extras like reviews from previous renters, comparison tools, and sometimes additional services like catering or equipment rentals.

What makes this particularly interesting for your event venue business is that niche marketplaces like these create focused communities. Instead of competing on generic platforms, you're dealing with people who specifically need event spaces. Before diving deep, you'll want to decide between a single vendor platform or a multi-vendor marketplace.

Single vendor store vs. multivendor marketplace

The choice between going solo or building a platform where multiple venue owners list their spaces impacts everything from your revenue model to how much work you'll be doing daily.

• Ownership. With a single event space rental, you own and manage all the venues, giving you complete control over quality, pricing, and customer experience. A multivendor marketplace means you're coordinating with multiple venue owners.
• Revenue generation plays out in opposite ways. Single vendor stores make money directly from bookings at your venues: you pocket all the rental fees. Multivendor platforms survive on commissions from each booking, typically 5-15%, but you're collecting from dozens or hundreds of venues instead of just your own.
• Inventory and variety separate the wheat from the chaff here. Your single business might offer 3-5 venues, but a multivendor platform could showcase everything from tiny wedding chapels to enormous corporate event planning facilities. More options mean pulling in different customer types and higher booking numbers.
• Business risk gets distributed completely differently. Single vendor stores put everything on the line—if your venues sit empty, your bank account does too. Multivendor platforms scatter risk across multiple properties and owners, so seasonal slumps or local competition won't tank your entire operation.
• Customer experience tells two different stories. Single vendor stores deliver consistent service since you control the whole show, but customers get stuck with whatever you offer. Multivendor platforms hand customers a buffet of choices, but now you're playing referee between customers and venue owners when things go sideways.

Think of it this way: single-vendor is like running a DTC marketplace for your properties, while multivendor is like becoming the platform that connects everyone else. The decision usually comes down to whether you want to be in the venue business or the platform business.

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Why build a website for event venues?

Building a venue marketplace isn't just about putting spaces online — it's about solving problems that event planners face every day while creating multiple revenue streams for everyone involved.

Benefits for buyers

Event planners waste countless hours calling venues, waiting for callbacks, and playing phone tag just to check availability. Your marketplace eliminates this headache completely.

Search and comparison become effortless when buyers browse hundreds of venues in minutes instead of spending days on research. They filter by budget, capacity, location, and amenities without making a single phone call. Since 19% of event marketers lack the right data to measure success, having detailed venue information upfront helps them make smarter decisions from the start.

Transparent pricing means that instead of playing "call for quote" roulette, buyers see real numbers and can spot venue marketplace discounts that venues offer exclusively online. Many venues price more aggressively on marketplaces to fill their calendars faster.

Reviews and social proof matter enormously since 95% of purchasing decisions happen subconsciously through emotion. When buyers see photos of other successful events and read positive reviews, they're already picturing their own celebration happening there.

Benefits for sellers

Venue owners traditionally rely on word-of-mouth and expensive advertising to fill their calendars. A marketplace flips this model completely.

Wider reach puts your venue in front of customers you'd never find otherwise. While virtual event planning remains popular for certain types of meetings, physical venues are experiencing demand as companies return to in-person events. Your empty Tuesday afternoon suddenly becomes bookable by someone three states away planning a corporate retreat.

Reduced marketing costs happen naturally when the marketplace handles customer acquisition. Instead of spending thousands on Google Ads or wedding shows, you pay a commission only when you book an event. The platform's SEO and marketing work for all venues simultaneously.

Professional presentation levels the playing field between small venues and big hotel chains. A beautifully photographed barn venue gets the same screen real estate as a fancy conference center, and often wins bookings based on uniqueness rather than size.

Benefits for marketplace owners

Running the platform that connects buyers and sellers puts you in an enviable position with multiple revenue streams and valuable market data. Commission-based revenue scales as your marketplace grows. Every booking generates income without you planning a single event. Since 52% of CEOs believe event marketing delivers higher ROI than other channels, the market keeps expanding.

A data goldmine emerges as you track booking patterns, popular venues, pricing trends, and customer preferences. Unlike 18% of event marketers who lack proper measurement tools, you'll have comprehensive data on what actually drives bookings.

Platform leverage means your success multiplies as more venues and customers join. Each new venue attracts more customers, and more customers attract additional venues. Since 79% of event marketers use LinkedIn for promotion, you're well-positioned to build an event planner marketplace that becomes their go-to resource for venue discovery.

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Marketplace types in the event planning niche

Event venue marketplaces aren't one-size-fits-all operations. Different approaches work better depending on your target market, geographic focus, and how deep you want to go into specific event types.

Niche-specific vs all-purpose

Your first big decision is whether to focus on one type of event or cast a wide net across everything.

Niche-specific marketplaces dig deep into particular event categories and often dominate their space because of specialized expertise. For example, Gigster focuses on yoga studios, letting people search and book thousands of unique yoga studio spaces by the hour. Meanwhile, UKCraftFairs takes a different niche approach, helping craft fair organizers find a venue using their search tool to locate venues specifically equipped for craft shows and markets.

All-purpose platforms go broad and capture every type of event booking under one roof. In this field, Peerspace positions itself as "the easiest way to book event venues," boasting over 40,000+ spaces with unbiased reviews for virtually any event need. YourEventMarketplace calls itself "The Global Marketplace for Event Professionals," where users can find the right venue, agency, vendor, or service provider for meetings and events of all types.

Niche players often charge higher commissions because they offer specialized event venue management tools, while all-purpose platforms compete on volume and convenience.

Horizontal vs vertical

The next decision shapes how you organize your marketplace: do you list every type of venue or specialize in one event category?

Horizontal marketplaces cast the widest possible net by listing venues across multiple event categories on one platform. For example, EventUp encourages users to find venues for any party and event, positioning itself as the "#1 Event Venue Finder" where you can search restaurants, hotels, and unique venues. Perfectvenue offers restaurant, patio, or cafe spaces, functioning as an online platform that connects people with short-term event spaces.

Vertical marketplaces zoom in on specific event types. Wedding venue platforms focus on spaces for ceremonies and receptions, with search filters for capacity, style, and specific amenities. Corporate event platforms like Cvent target business gatherings by emphasizing venues with proper tech, catering capabilities, and accessibility tools for conferences.

The vertical approach lets you become the definitive booking marketplace for your chosen event type, often commanding higher prices because you understand the specific requirements. Meanwhile, horizontal platforms benefit from larger inventory and can serve as comprehensive event venue website examples that handle diverse booking needs under one roof.

Global vs local

Your marketplace's reach determines everything from pricing power to partnership possibilities — do you chase the entire planet or master your backyard?

Global marketplaces for events standardize venue quality while respecting local market dynamics, creating unified experiences that work whether you're activating in Rome or Bangkok. For instance, lo:live  – a platform we built for our client – provides access to over 1,250 premium spaces across 14 countries. 

Local marketplace platforms win through intimate market knowledge. They understand regional nuances like festival calendars and cultural expectations. Fabvenues exemplifies this regional mastery within India's event landscape, positioning itself as an India-specific venue rental marketplace. These platforms access distinctive venues in regions like Karnataka or Goa that rarely appear on international platforms, as they require local relationships and cultural context to market effectively.

Global platforms capture scale and convenience, while local marketplaces deliver authenticity and market-specific expertise, often creating opportunities for partnerships between the two approaches rather than direct competition.

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Must-have features for a venue marketplace platform

Every thriving venue marketplace needs core functionality that bridges the gap between space seekers and space providers, creating seamless experiences that work for both sides.

User onboarding and experience enhancement

Good user onboarding defines whether new users successfully navigate a rental marketplace or abandon it. Platforms need guided experiences that introduce functionality while reducing the learning curve for both venue seekers and space providers. This becomes particularly important in complex marketplaces where users have multiple tools and workflows to master.

Our client’s platform, lo:live, addresses this with an interactive Getting Started system featuring a progress bar with step-by-step onboarding. The system helps hirers learn to search the database of listings and understand campaign management tools, while for landlords, it covers setting up listings, configuring pricing models, and managing booking workflows. This creates a manageable learning experience that encourages user adoption and platform engagement.

Advanced search and filtering

The backbone of any venue marketplace lies in helping users find exactly what they need. Search functionality must go beyond basic location queries to include sophisticated filters for capacity, amenities, pricing ranges, and real-time availability. Users need to narrow down thousands of potential spaces to a manageable shortlist that matches their requirements.

lo:live sparkles this by allowing hirers to search through over 2,000 spaces across the UK and Europe using demographic targeting, pricing parameters, and live availability data. Their filtering system lets users drill down based on campaign requirements and venue characteristics, turning a massive database into a focused selection of event space rental options.

Rich venue information and comparison tools

Beyond finding venues, users need comprehensive information to make a confident booking. Each listing should include detailed descriptions, high-quality imagery, floor plans, pricing structures, and authentic reviews from previous renters. 

The booking marketplace we co-developed with Location Live tackles this through space profiles with rich imagery and data that help users assess suitability. Their campaign management system allows hirers to organize multiple spaces into marketing campaigns with side-by-side comparisons, enabling informed decisions based on pricing, availability, and venue characteristics. 

Integrated communication and marketing tools

Successful event space rental platforms must facilitate communication between organizers and venue owners, enabling discussions about specific requirements, pricing negotiations, and booking finalization. This communication layer becomes critical for complex needs where standard listings can't capture every nuance of what clients require or what venues can offer.

lo:live addresses this through their messaging hub that enables direct communication throughout the booking process. The platform combines this with sophisticated marketing features. Their approach includes displaying major client brands, helping both sides of the event planning business understand the platform's market position and quality standards.

Flexible pricing and payment management

A secure and reliable payment system forms the foundation of any trusted venue marketplace, providing convenient and trustworthy financial processes. Beyond basic payment processing, platforms need sophisticated pricing customization tools that help venues optimize revenue while offering competitive rates to renters.

lo:live implements this through dynamic pricing models that allow landlords to create custom weekend period definitions and consecutive booking day discounts. Their venue marketplace discounts system encourages longer reservations by offering incentives for extended bookings, maximizing venue utilization. 

Comprehensive analytics and reporting

Data-driven decision making is essential for platform operators and venue owners in any booking marketplace. Analytics capabilities must provide insights into booking patterns, pricing performance, user behavior, and market trends. This functionality helps venue owners optimize their listings while giving administrators the tools needed to improve marketplace performance.

lo:live achieves this through Metabase integration that provides comprehensive data visualization and insights accessible through their LO:OPs panel for internal teams. Their analytics functionality helps Location Live's internal teams access reports, performance metrics, and data insights to better support both hirers and landlords in event venue management.

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Business model options

Choosing how your marketplace makes money shapes every other decision you'll face when starting an event venue platform.

• Commission-based model works like a traditional middleman arrangement, where you earn a percentage of every transaction. Most marketplaces gravitate toward 10-25% rates because this approach aligns your success directly with your users' success.
• Subscription model charges venues recurring monthly or annual fees for access and visibility. This creates predictable revenue streams and works well for established venues that want consistent exposure without worrying about per-booking costs.
• Hybrid model combines multiple revenue streams, perhaps small commissions plus optional premium subscriptions for enhanced features. This flexibility accommodates different venue types and business preferences within your event venue business plan.
• Listing fees charge venues upfront costs to appear on your platform, regardless of whether they book. This front-loaded approach covers platform maintenance costs but can deter smaller venues from joining, potentially limiting your inventory diversity.
• Freemium model hooks users with basic free features, then upsells premium ones like analytics or priority placement. This strategy builds large user bases but requires careful balance between free value and premium incentives to drive conversions.
• Featured listings and advertising generate income from venues paying for premium visibility through banner placements or priority search positioning. This works especially well for competitive markets where standing out becomes crucial for venue success.
• Lead generation fees charge venues for qualified inquiries regardless of booking outcomes, shifting risk from the platform to individual venues. This model works best when you can deliver consistent, high-quality leads that convert at predictable rates.

The development process for implementing these models requires careful consideration of user experience, technical complexity, and market positioning.

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8 steps in venue marketplace development

Building your marketplace means navigating eight phases that determine whether your platform thrives or becomes another forgotten startup.

1. Define your niche and value proposition. Start by answering the questions about your target audience and market position. Understanding whether you're targeting corporate events, weddings, or specialized gatherings shapes every development decision. Your value proposition must articulate why venues and event planners should choose you.
2. Attract high-quality vendors. Be strategic while building your initial vendor base before launching to the public. Reaching out to venue owners and explaining visibility benefits, expanded audience reach, and event venue management capabilities helps establish credibility. Offering free listings during the early stages also accelerates vendor adoption.
3. Build a user-friendly platform focusing on creating intuitive interfaces that help users find what they need quickly. Essential features include search and filtering options, vendor profiles with photos and reviews, and integrated booking systems. Consider using an event venue website template as your starting foundation, then customize it.
4. Develop booking and payment systems, integrating payment gateways like Stripe or PayPal. Implementing escrow services where payments are released only after service completion also adds accountability. This convenience becomes valuable for large event bookings that traditionally require complex contract negotiations.
5. Reviews and recommendation systems create the credibility foundation that drives booking decisions in the events industry. Building robust review mechanisms with verification systems helps authenticate feedback and differentiate high-quality venues from competitors. 
6. Create vendor management tools with features that simplify venue operations and demonstrate platform value. Calendar integration for real-time availability management, lead tracking systems, and analytics showing page views and booking metrics help venue owners optimize their listings. 
7. Focus on brand building, establishing content marketing through event planning tips and vendor spotlights, advertising campaigns, and social media partnerships with influencers. Implementing SEO tools for eCommerce sites helps drive organic traffic while paid advertising on Google and Facebook targets specific customer segments.
8. Develop unique differentiating features through event planning templates, price comparison tools, and budget calculators. These features turn your platform into a comprehensive resource that encourages repeat usage and customer loyalty.

Now that we have outlined the steps, it’s also important to define the potential downsides you may face.

Challenges of creating a venue rental platform

The path to launching a thriving booking marketplace for event services winds through some tricky terrain. Here are some possible issues you might encounter.

• Attracting vendors is hard.

Getting quality vendors to notice your rental marketplace means proving you can deliver something their current methods can't. Your solution has to make vendor onboarding feel natural, with verification systems and management tools that help vendors present their work.

• The trust isn’t easy to gain.

Hiring a wedding photographer or booking a venue means buying trust and expertise, as one failure can ruin a milestone moment. While reviews build trust, events face unique challenges: delayed feedback, fake reviews, and no trial runs. Clients also make these high-stakes decisions during emotional moments, investing in deeply personal or professional outcomes.

• The technical struggle is unique.

Anyone can sketch out an event space business plan, but building the digital infrastructure is challenging. Modern booking platforms must run scheduling, payments, and confirmations in a simple, fast, secure way. Event planning adds complexity, as a single booking may involve caterers, photographers, and more, requiring systems that sync multiple vendors effortlessly.

• Scaling may not go as planned.

Scaling from dozens to thousands of vendors and clients often breaks systems. Your best way out is to sidestep this complexity by providing integrated solutions from day one, with your platform handling payment processing, booking management, and vendor coordination, and a modular approach allowing you to expand as much as you need.

The latest challenge causes a natural conclusion: while pre-built solutions might seem tempting, cookie-cutter platforms rarely handle the complex vendor relationships. In this case, custom marketplace development services bring immense value.

With 15 years in the market, COAX brings battle-tested expertise to building your solution. We've mastered every flavor of marketplace architecture, from B2B platforms that connect event service providers with corporate clients, to B2C solutions that bring consumers directly to photographers and planners, to C2C networks where individuals can rent out their event space rental properties. 

What sets us apart is the thorough analysis that ensures your business addresses real market gaps. From discovery, UX design, custom development, SEO strategy, and QA testing, we handle every aspect of bringing your vision to life. Our team also provides marketing services to drive user acquisition.

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Cost and options for building an event venue marketplace

Now that you are aware of the possible expertise you can utilize, let’s examine the costs and various options for building your event venue marketplace platform.

Custom development vs. marketplace builders

When launching your event venue management platform, you have two options: building a platform from scratch or customizing a pre-made template.

• The custom development route.

Custom development tailors your marketplace: every feature solves real problems, with full control over vendor profiles, client search, and booking flow. The platform scales precisely as your business grows, handles complex event planning tools integrations, and remains entirely yours — no monthly fees to third-party platforms. However, custom builds require months of development, high upfront costs, and ongoing tech needs.

• The marketplace builder path.

Marketplace builders offer quick, functional solutions, like regional venues that started basic before scaling. For instance, Squarespace delivers sleek event sites (paid only), while Webador’s free tier works for testing and offers a free .com domain. IONOS offers affordable pro tools, and CC-Cart excels for venues selling tickets/rentals. However, with this approach, you're working within someone else's framework, limiting you from event venue management features.

Many entrepreneurs often start with a builder to validate their concept, then migrate to custom development once they've proven market demand and identified feature requirements that generic platforms can't handle. This approach lets you launch quickly, gather user feedback, and make decisions about which custom features actually matter most to your audience.

Considering development costs

When you decide to create a multi-vendor marketplace from scratch, you're funding three main expense categories that determine your platform's success. 

Development costs cover your core team: whether in-house developers or outsourced specialists, who build everything from venue listings and search functionality to booking systems and payment gateways, with expenses varying dramatically based on your platform's complexity and your team's location and expertise. 

Infrastructure costs handle the technical backbone that keeps your booking marketplace running smoothly, including server hosting, domain registration, SSL certificates, and the additional security measures needed to handle sensitive booking and payment data, with monthly expenses scaling alongside your user base and traffic volume.

However, this upfront investment isn’t the end. Let’s consider the ongoing costs as well.

Ongoing costs

Once your platform launches, the real financial commitment begins with ongoing maintenance that can easily match or exceed your initial development investment. 

Regular updates, bug fixes, and feature improvements require continuous development resources, while customer support becomes essential as venue owners and event organizers rely on your platform for their business operations. 

Marketing expenses to attract both sides of your marketplace — venue owners listing their spaces and customers booking them — often represent the largest ongoing cost, since even the most perfectly designed booking marketplace fails without users, and acquiring quality vendors and customers in competitive markets requires sustained investment.

Whether you choose custom web and mobile eCommerce development software like the one our company provides or marketplace builders, the key lies in understanding that your real work begins after launch — nurturing vendor relationships, optimizing user experience, and scaling as your community grows. Meanwhile, the opportunity is still very promising, and your platform has the potential to capture this growth.

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FAQ

How long does it typically take to build a functional event venue marketplace from scratch?

A custom platform typically requires 4-8 months of development time, depending on the complexity of features like payment systems and vendor dashboard functionality.

What legal considerations should I be aware of when operating a venue booking marketplace?

You'll need to address liability issues, data protection, payment processing regulations, and establish clear terms of service that define responsibilities between your platform, venue owners, and event organizers using your event planning and management system.

How do I handle disputes between venue owners and event planners?

Implementing a structured dispute resolution process with clear documentation requirements, escrow payment systems, and mediation services helps resolve conflicts while maintaining trust in your event venue management marketplace.

What's the best way to verify venue quality and legitimacy before allowing them on my platform?

Establish a rigorous vetting process that includes site visits, insurance verification, license checks, and reference validation to ensure your event planning and management platform maintains high standards and user trust.

How can I differentiate my marketplace from established competitors?

Focus on specialized niches within event planning and management, offer unique features like sophisticated venue matching, provide superior customer service, or target underserved geographic markets that larger platforms haven't fully penetrated.