Why a deposit
Because a yes should mean yes.
The deposit is the most unusual thing about Kept. Here is why we think it works, what it builds on, and how we are testing it honestly.
The thesis
Free yeses are cheap. Cheap yeses do not show up.
When saying yes costs nothing, people say yes to more than they will do. A maybe gets typed as a yes, and a yes gets quietly dropped when something better or easier comes along.
A small, refundable commitment changes the question. It is no longer “would I like to do this?” but “am I actually going?”. People who are going commit. People who are not, say so, and the spot goes to someone who is.
Because the hold is released when you show up, keeping your word costs nothing. Only breaking it costs a little.
In one line
It costs nothing to keep your word, and a little to break it.
- Show up
- You pay nothing
- Cancel in time
- You pay nothing
- Leave everyone waiting
- The hold is kept
What it builds on
Well-known ideas, not magic.
None of this is new. It borrows from ideas behavioural researchers have studied for decades.
Loss aversion
People feel a loss more than an equal gain. Even a small amount you could lose makes the plan feel more real than one you could win.
Commitment devices
Deciding in advance, with something at stake, helps your future self follow through when the couch is calling.
Implementation intentions
A specific when, where and with whom turns an intention into an action. “We should” has none of those. A plan has all three.
The experiment
Free RSVP versus a $10 refundable hold.
We are comparing plans where joining is free with plans where joining takes a refundable hold, and measuring what actually happens.
| What we measure | What it tells us |
|---|---|
| Joined to attended | Of the people who said yes, how many actually came. |
| Cancellations | How many people cancel, and how early. Early is good; it frees the spot. |
| No-shows | How many people neither came nor cancelled. |
| Repeat attendance | Whether people come back for another plan. |
| Satisfaction | How people rate the plan afterwards, guests and hosts. |
| Plans joined | Whether a hold puts people off joining at all. |
| People who start hosting | Whether reliable groups make more people want to host. |
We will look at both sides fairly. If a hold turns out to put people off more than it helps, we will change it.
Results get published when there is enough data.
Not before, and not cherry-picked. Small numbers are noisy, and we would rather say nothing than say something misleading.
When there is a result worth sharing, it will be on this page and in the changelog, with how we measured it.
Questions, answered
Is the $10 a charge?
No. It is a hold, sometimes called a pending authorization. Your bank sets the amount aside, but no money moves. When you show up and check in, the hold is released.
Why ask for a deposit at all?
Because free signups attract a lot of maybes. A small amount you get back turns a maybe into a yes. The only people who lose it are the ones who leave the group waiting. Read the thinking behind it.
Where do kept deposits go?
When a hold is kept, 50% goes to the host, because their court or table was booked for you, and 50% goes to Kept. Nobody earns anything when you show up, and that is how it should be.
What if I need to cancel?
Cancel 24 or more hours before and the hold is released in full. Inside 24 hours, 50% is kept, unless someone from the waitlist takes your spot. Then you get it all back.
See how it feels.
Join a plan, commit, show up. It is the quickest way to get the idea.