Partners and vendors are businesses that take part in your event.

They may be sponsors, food and drink vendors, merchandise sellers, service providers or other businesses connected to the event.

Tambala lets you add businesses directly when you already know who you are working with, or open applications so businesses can ask to take part.

Decide how businesses will join

There are two main ways to add partners and vendors.

If you already have an agreement with a business, you can add them yourself.
If you are looking for vendors, sponsors or other businesses and want people to apply, you can open a public application page and share it.

You can use both approaches for the same event.

For example, you may add your main sponsor directly while opening applications for food vendors and small businesses.

Open Partners & Vendors

From your seller dashboard:

Open Events.
Select the event.
Open Partners & Vendors.

From here, you can manage the businesses already connected to the event, review new applications and control whether applications are open.

Add a business you already know

Use Add Business when you already have an agreement with the business and do not need them to apply.

Add the business name and choose the role that best describes how they are involved.

This may be something such as:

Sponsor — supporting the event.
Event Partner — working with you on the event.
Official Merchandise — selling approved event merchandise.
Food & Drinks — providing food or beverages.
Vendor — selling another product or service at the event.

You can also add where attendees will find the business and a useful link to their Tambala store, website or social page where supported.

Make the location specific enough to help someone at the event.

For example:

Stall A3 beside the main food court.

is more useful than:

At the event.

Once the business is added, check how it appears on the event page.

Add businesses for a reason

Do not treat Partners & Vendors as a list of every business you know. Each business should have a clear relationship with the event.

A food vendor should actually be serving attendees. A sponsor should genuinely be sponsoring the event. A business marked as official merchandise should be authorised to sell that merchandise.

Clear roles make the event easier for attendees to understand and protect the value of genuine partnerships.

Open applications

For events with several vendors or partners, applications can save you from finding every business yourself.

Open Application Settings and choose whether businesses are currently allowed to apply.

You can then set the main terms, such as whether there is a fee, how many places are available, when applications close and any instructions applicants should read before applying.

Keep the instructions practical.

For example:

Food vendors must bring their own stall setup. Power is available in selected areas. All vendors must be ready by 3:00 p.m. on event day.

A business should understand the main conditions before spending time applying.

Decide whether participation is free or paid

You may allow businesses to take part for free or charge a participation fee.

A fee can make sense when the business receives something valuable in return, such as a selling space, access to a large audience, electricity, equipment or another organised event service.

Do not charge a fee simply because the system allows it.

Think about what the business receives and whether the amount is reasonable for the opportunity.

If there is a fee, make sure the amount and what it covers are clear before the business accepts a place.

Set the number of available places

If your event has limited vendor space, set a realistic number of places.

The limit should reflect the actual space and operating plan.

If the venue can comfortably support 20 vendor stalls, accepting 40 businesses will create problems on event day.

Also think about the mix of businesses.

Ten food vendors selling almost the same thing may not be as useful as a smaller, more varied group.

Use applications to build the event you want rather than simply filling every available space.

Set an application deadline when needed

A deadline gives you enough time to review applications and prepare the final event layout.

Choose a date that leaves time to communicate with accepted businesses, collect any required payment and organise things such as stall locations, access and arrival instructions.

Do not leave applications open until the last minute if you need several days to prepare vendors properly.

Share the application page

Once your settings are ready, copy the public application link and share it with businesses you want to reach.

You might send it through WhatsApp, email or social media, or include it on an event poster or announcement.

Make the invitation clear about what you are looking for.

For example:

We are now accepting applications from food, fashion and merchandise vendors for the event. Apply through the Tambala link below.

The clearer the invitation, the more relevant the applications are likely to be.

Review applications

When businesses apply, their applications appear in the Applications section.

Read what each business is offering and decide whether it fits the event. Do not accept businesses only because there is still space.

Consider things such as the role they are applying for, whether their offer is relevant to attendees, whether you already have too many similar vendors and whether the business appears able to deliver what it is promising.

If the business is suitable, accept the application.
If it does not fit the event, decline it.
Keep the process fair and consistent.

What happens after acceptance

For a free place, acceptance may confirm the business immediately.

If the event charges a participation fee, the business may need to complete payment before its place is fully confirmed.

Follow the payment status shown in Tambala. Do not treat a payment screenshot as final confirmation if Tambala is still showing the payment as incomplete.

Once the required payment is confirmed, the business can become a confirmed partner or vendor for the event.

Do not oversell available places

If you have set a maximum number of vendors, pay attention to how many places have already been confirmed.

Applications are not the same as confirmed places.
A business that has merely applied should not necessarily take one of the final spaces until it has completed the steps required for confirmation.
Tambala may manage this automatically where supported, but the organiser should still understand how many businesses are actually taking part.

Keep partner information accurate

As the event gets closer, review the confirmed list.

Check that business names, roles, stall locations and links are still correct.

If a vendor's location changes, update it.

If a sponsor is no longer involved, do not leave them displayed as though the relationship still exists.

The event page should reflect the real event.

Give confirmed businesses useful information

Accepting a business is not the end of the process.

They may still need to know when to arrive, where to set up, who to contact, what equipment is provided and what they are expected to bring.

Keep operational instructions clear and send them early enough for businesses to prepare.
For larger events, you may want one person or teammate responsible for communicating with partners and vendors.

The easier you make it for businesses to understand the event, the easier it is for them to perform well on the day.

If a business can no longer participate

If a confirmed partner or vendor pulls out, update the event rather than leaving their place active.

For a free place, this may simply mean removing or cancelling their participation.

For a paid place, check what refund or cancellation rules apply before making promises about the money.

Use the proper Tambala process, especially where payment has already been confirmed.

If you are unsure what should happen financially, use support rather than handling the refund privately.

If you need to remove a business

Sometimes you may need to remove a business because the relationship ended or they can no longer participate.

Before doing so, check whether they have already paid for their place or whether another agreement affects the decision.

Do not remove a paid confirmed business and then deal with the money later.

Resolve the participation and payment situation together so both sides have a clear record.

Think about the attendee experience

Partners and vendors should make the event better.

Ask what attendees will actually experience when they arrive.
Will there be enough food options?
Are vendor areas easy to find?
Are sponsors represented clearly without overwhelming the event?
Can people find official merchandise?
Does the mix of businesses make sense for the audience?

The strongest vendor programme is not necessarily the one with the most businesses.

It is the one where the businesses fit the event and attendees can actually use what they offer.

Use the event to build stronger business relationships

A good partner or vendor relationship can continue beyond one event.

Afterwards, look at which businesses performed well, which partnerships worked smoothly and which vendors attendees responded to.

Those businesses may be worth inviting again.

Over time, you can build a reliable network of sponsors, vendors and partners who already understand how your events work.

Tambala can help you keep those relationships connected to the event instead of starting from zero every time.

The important thing to remember

There are two simple ways to bring businesses into your event:

Add businesses you already know and trust.

Open applications when you want businesses to come to you.

Whichever method you use, be clear about the role, cost, available space and what the business should expect.

Choose partners and vendors because they make the event stronger, not simply because there is room to add them.

For the rest of your event setup, see Edit and Manage Your Events.

If you want to sell food, merchandise or other add-ons directly to attendees, see Manage Event Extras.

For ticket purchases, see Process Ticket Orders.

Decide how businesses will join

Open Partners & Vendors

Add a business you already know

Add businesses for a reason

Open applications

Decide whether participation is free or paid

Set the number of available places

Set an application deadline when needed

Share the application page

Review applications

What happens after acceptance

Do not oversell available places

Keep partner information accurate

Give confirmed businesses useful information

If a business can no longer participate

If you need to remove a business

Think about the attendee experience

Use the event to build stronger business relationships

The important thing to remember

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