How wallet holds work
Why creator-pays bookings shadow part of your balance, and when it releases.
For 1:1 bookings in creator-pays mode, Avatok places a hold on your wallet at booking confirmation equal to the platform fee on that booking. This shadows that amount from your spendable balance until the call settles.
Why we do this
In creator-pays mode the viewer pays the listed price and the fee is deducted on settlement from your earnings. We can't collect that fee from the viewer (they already paid). We collect it from you. The hold ensures the math always nets correctly regardless of what disposition fires.
What you see in the wallet
The wallet UI distinguishes between available balance (you can spend or pay out) and held balance (reserved against pending bookings). Holds show as line items with the booking id; you can click through to see the booking they belong to.
When the hold releases
- Successful call: hold is released, fee is debited, your wallet credit is the listed price minus the fee.
- Viewer no-show: same disposition as a successful call.
- Host no-show / mutual no-show: hold is released back to your available balance with no fee debit, but you don't earn the booking.
- Stuck: if reconciliation hasn't completed by 48 hours past the scheduled end, the hold auto-expires and releases. The booking enters a manual-review queue.
What user-pays bookings do instead
User-pays bookings don't place a hold. The viewer paid the price + fee already, so the fee is sitting in the platform balance. No hold needed.
Write to support@avatok.ai. We answer every email and we'd rather hear from you than have you give up.