Stop Losing Money on Reservations: Why Tock’s Incentives Don’t Align With Your Winery’s Success

Over the 4 - 6 years, the wine tasting room experience has transformed. What was once relaxed, spontaneous hospitality is now a maze of fees, prepayments, cancellation and no-show policies, and rigid reservation requirements.

Some wineries listened to reservation platforms like Tock believing this would improve predictability and reduce no-shows.

But what if the very system designed to boost revenue for them is actually quietly shrinking it revenue for your tasting room?

Today, we’re uncovering the truth: Tock earns more money when you charge your guests upfront- and for more money. And that’s a problem for your bottom line.
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And that’s a problem for your bottom line.

The Hidden Revenue Drain

Tock’s business model is built on:

• Prepaid tasting fees
• Mandatory deposits
• Cancellation penalties
• No-show fees
• Avoiding complimentary tastings (they don't profit from them)

That means their success relies on:
❌ Increasing transaction friction
❌ Higher upfront costs for guests
❌ Revenue from guests who don’t show up

Your tasting room may see predictability — but you lose:

• Walk-ins who spend freely
• Casual mid-week or off-season tasters
• Spontaneous groups and tourism-driven discovery
• Bottle and club sales that far exceed tasting fees
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💡 A prepaid tasting might guarantee $75.
But a hosted tasting can easily turn into a $300+ purchase.
Which one would you rather bank on?
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The Real Cost: Lost Conversions

When a guest sees a tasting requires prepayment:

• They hesitate 🛑
• They comparison-shop 💸
• They abandon booking the reservation 🤷
• They decide to visit a different winery instead 🍻

Every extra step, every fee — it’s a conversion killer.
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Prepaid systems reduce:

• Bottle purchases
• Wine club signups
• Return trips
• Impulse bookings

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"Tasting fees are not your primary product.
Selling wine and creating long-term loyalty are."

- Jonathan Elliman, co-founder, CellarPass
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Tock’s Incentives ≠ Your Incentives

Let’s call it what it is:

📌 When Tock makes more money from penalties than from generating hospitality,
your guests become risks instead of relationships.

That shift changes how your staff speaks, welcomes, and serves:

“We need your card on file…”
“There’s a cancellation fee…”
“You’re late? We’ll have to charge you…”

Those words erode your brand the moment they’re spoken.

It’s Time to Reclaim Hospitality

CellarPass believes tasting rooms thrive when the guest experience, not fees, drives revenue.

✅ Optional, not required, prepayments
✅ Tools designed to increase onsite purchases
✅ A booking flow built for conversion
✅ Full customer data ownership for nurturing repeat visits

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We designed CellarPass to help wineries say:

“Of course, welcome! Let’s taste through some wines you'll fall in love with.”

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You Don’t Need to Focus on Tasting Fees to Drive Revenue

You need happy guests who want to stay longer, buy more, and come back often- and tell their friends all about it!

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Ready to See What You’re Missing?

We’ll prove it with real numbers — risk-free.

Try CellarPass for 60 days.
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Track:

• More walk-ins
• Higher spend per guest
• Better club conversions
• Happier hosts, happier customers
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If you don’t make more money on CellarPass than you do with Tock, our platform will be free for the rest of the year until we do!
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Stop losing guests before they even arrive.

Start gaining revenue the moment they do.

👉 Book a demo today and let’s bring hospitality back to the tasting room.

CellarPass
Stop Losing Money. Start Gaining Guests.

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