Work / Belmont Batcave
One system for a 70+ vendor store.
Belmont Batcave is a vintage/thrift store with 70+ vendors in Belmont, NC. We built the software it runs on: the online shop, the register, the vendor and customer apps, and vendor payouts.
- 70+vendors on one system
- 3,800+sales rung up
- 11,000+items sold
- 300+payouts sent automatically
Every screen on this page uses made up vendors, people and dollar amounts. The product photos come from the real shop.
- ClientBelmont Batcave
- WhereBelmont, NC
- What it isVintage/thrift, 70+ vendors
- Register liveJuly 2026
01 The problem
One register for 70+ vendors.
Each sale has to be credited to the right vendor, and at the end of the month every vendor owes rent and is owed what they sold.
The Batcave opened in May 2026 on Boundary Street in Belmont, about 15 minutes west of Charlotte.
It has 70+ independent vendors under one roof, selling clothing, oddities, taxidermy and local art. Each one has a booth or a rack and sets their own prices.
Before
- A subscription point of sale that only tracked dollars per booth
- A separate inventory add-on
- A card reader that rang sales as custom amounts
- Paper checks
- Cash in a keyed lockbox, with no record of who took what
After
- One system, from pricing an item to paying the vendor
- Every sale line tied to a vendor's booth
- Cash tracked by drawer session
- Rent and commission taken out when the month closes
- Payouts sent automatically by direct deposit
The owners wanted a single system of their own that covered everything, from pricing an item to paying the vendor for it.
02 What we built
Six parts sharing one set of books.
Sales from the store and the website go into the same books.
Vendors, staff, customers and the owners each see the part they need.
Public site and online shop
Vendors list pieces from their portal, staff approve them, and they show up in one shop with search and categories. Customers can buy from several vendors in one cart and check out as a guest. Vendors ship their own orders.
Vendor storefronts
Every vendor gets a storefront page with their own link to share, so a booth with a following can send people straight to its pieces.
In-store register on iPad
We built the register for a room full of booths. The clerk scans a tag or types the booth and price, and each line knows whose item it is.
- Clerks sign in with their own PIN
- Cards on a Stripe Reader S700
- Receipt printer that opens the cash drawer, with cash tracked by drawer session
- Gift cards, member card scan, and rewards sign up by phone number at the reader
- Printed or emailed receipts
Vendor portal and iOS app
Vendors see what sold, how much of this month's rent is covered, what they are owed and when it pays out. They use the same account on the web and in the app.
- Add and price items, print price tags on label sheets, import a list from a spreadsheet
- A ledger and monthly statement they can read line by line
- Chat with the store and a push when something sells
- Connect a bank once and get paid by direct deposit
Customer app for iOS
Customers can shop the booths from a phone without making an account and pay with Apple Pay. Their orders show up in the app.
Rewards members earn points and carry a member card with a barcode that the register scans at checkout.
Owner admin
This is where the owners run the store. It shows today's sales, what is owed to vendors, payouts, and what the store itself made from commission and booth rent.
- Reports for sales tax, top vendors, and sold and profit
- Vendor applications, listings to approve, gift cards and promos
- Staff time clock with pay weeks ready for payroll
- Show and band booking
Rent rules
A booth only works for the store if it sells. Each month the admin measures every vendor's sales against their rent and shows who fell short.
Rent tiers follow the store's own rule, and vendors get written notice before anything changes. The system only suggests a change. An owner has to approve it.
03 How it works
From the tag to the bank.
Each line on a sale is tied to a booth, so the vendor's share and the store's cut are set as soon as it rings up.
- The item goes on the floorThe vendor adds it in the app or portal and prints a tag. If they want it online too, staff approve the listing.
- It sellsAt the register by tag scan, card or cash, or online through Stripe checkout. Each line on the sale is tied to a booth, so the vendor's share and the store's cut are set as soon as it rings up.
- Online money is split right awayAn online order pays each vendor their share as its own Stripe transfer. In-store sales go into the vendor's ledger.
- The month closesThe ledger takes out commission and booth rent, carries any shortfall into next month, and builds a statement the vendor can check line by line.
- The vendor gets paidBy direct deposit through Stripe Connect, at month end or early when they ask for it.
04 Decisions
What we chose, and why.
We kept the books in our own system and would not risk a day the store couldn't ring up a sale.
Our own ledger, Stripe only for payouts
The store is the seller on every in-store sale, and a vendor can end a month owing the store rent. Stripe Connect has no way to show a vendor owing money, so we keep the books in our own system and use Stripe only to send vendors their money.
One record per physical item
Most of what the Batcave sells is one of a kind, so every piece is its own record with its own tag. That also means two people shopping online can't buy the same piece at once.
No big switch-over day
We ran the new register next to the old system. Clerks rang up booth and price straight off the tags already on the floor, and the old barcodes still scanned. What we would not risk was a day the store couldn't ring up a sale.
Tell the clerk when it goes offline
The register needs a connection. If it loses one, it tells the clerk so a sale never gets dropped quietly. We chose to leave a full offline mode for later.
A person approves every rent change
Sales are measured per vendor, not per booth, and new vendors are left out until their first full month. The system drafts the proposal and an owner decides whether to send it.
05 Results
Live since July 2026.
The register went live on July 30, 2026.
August was the first full month the store ran everything on it.
“Absolutely awesome, efficient and fairly priced, made functional automated systems that takes so much workload off my part. Couldn't suggest enough, easily customizable and great at communication, helped remake my entire POS and make a system for 70+ vendors”
06 Your store
Run a vendor mall or a collective?
Most stores don't need all six parts on day one.
Many start with the register and payouts, then add the shop and the apps. See everything we build on the services page.
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