Founding Guide and Lodge Terms

The Founding program is a thank-you to the guides and lodges who join WaterLynk before it has traffic. A Founding member gets a locked commission rate for a set time and a public badge. Nothing here is a promise of bookings, income, or any particular placement on the Platform.

There are 20 Founding spots in total. Guides and lodges share them. WaterLynk chooses who gets one, in its own judgment, and you cannot apply for one or buy one. You have a spot only once WaterLynk tells you so in writing (an email is enough) and it shows on your account. A spot belongs to the one guide or lodge account it is given to and cannot be transferred, sold, or shared.

While your Founding rate applies, WaterLynk's commission on each booking is a flat 8% of the booking price. If the standard commission schedule would charge you less on a booking, you pay the lower amount, so a Founding member never pays more than anyone else would.

If a new client books with you through your own WaterLynk link, the referral rate (currently a flat 5%) applies to that client's bookings with you if it is lower than your Founding rate. The referral rate is a separate program. WaterLynk may change, pause, or end it at any time for future bookings, and doing so does not change your Founding rate.

The rate is set when the guest books. A booking made while your Founding rate applies keeps that rate for the whole booking, including if it is later refunded or disputed. A booking made after your Founding period ends is charged the standard rate.

Your Founding rate lasts 24 months from the day WaterLynk gave you the spot. We email you that start date and the end date, and the end date shows in your account. The clock does not pause or restart, including if your account is paused for a while. When it ends, the standard commission schedule in effect at that time applies to new bookings.

Being a Founding member does not change anything else:

• Card processing is still charged by Stripe, about 2.9% plus 30 cents, and comes out of your side of each payment.
• You can still choose to show a separate card processing fee line to guests, the same as any other provider.
• The cancellation and refund rules, the waivers, the insurance and license requirements, and the rule that bookings made through WaterLynk are paid through WaterLynk all apply to you in full.
• You are not required to be exclusive. You can run your own business, website, and clients elsewhere.

A Founding member gets a “Founding Guide” or “Founding Lodge” badge on their profile and in listings. The badge stays after your Founding rate ends, for as long as your account is in good standing. WaterLynk may remove it if your account is suspended or closed, or if you seriously break the Terms. We may add other perks for Founding members later, but we are not required to.

Your Founding rate ends before its date if:

• you close your account;
• WaterLynk ends your account for breaking the Terms or this agreement, or because you gave us false information; or
• you stop being a guide or lodge that can take bookings on the Platform (for example, you no longer hold a required license or insurance).

If your account is only paused and then put back, your Founding rate comes back too, for whatever time is left. A spot that ends early goes back to WaterLynk and may be given to someone else.

WaterLynk may change, pause, or end the Founding program for people who have not yet been given a spot at any time. Changes to the standard commission schedule do not change the rate of an existing Founding member during their Founding period. The one exception is a change we must make to follow the law or a requirement of our payment processor, in which case we will tell you by email and keep the change as small as we can.

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Arkansas, as described in the Terms & Conditions. If any part is found unenforceable, the rest stays in effect. Questions: support@mywaterlynk.com.

WaterLynk LLC
3620 Butterfly Dr
Conway, Arkansas 72034