Host FAQs

There are no legal implications associated with the money you earn from WeFiFo. You will just need to make sure you abide by the tax laws in your country of residence. For some really useful up to date information on UK earnings at home click here.

Firstly calculate the cost of your ingredients for the meal (don’t forget to include a small charge for use of your cupboard essentials).

How you value your time is up to you. You can cost it as an hourly wage and factor this in to your overall costs for the event.

We strongly recommend that you charge less than your local restaurant, as you don’t have the overheads of a building or staff or offer the menu choices. But as your skills and experience grow, you gain more ratings and your events become more and more popular you will be able to increase your prices accordingly.

We recommend that you confirm a booking as quickly as you can as this is all part of providing a good service but to ensure your guest’s payment is processed you need to confirm a booking within 24hours. You might be tempted to pick and choose from a wider list of potential guests but if your event is over subscribed you can always add another event. And remember, selling out an event quickly will help to build demand for future dates.

No. Absolutely not. After you have published your event you will then get an opportunity to review a guest’s profile before accepting their booking.

If the guest has attended a WeFiFo event before, you will be able to read the review left by their host. As a host, it’s important that you review your guests to help inform future hosts who are deciding to accept or decline bookings.

Please note, if you set an event up as ‘Quick Book’ every booking will be automatically accepted.

Speak to your mentor or the WeFiFo team first. They might be able to help you out by lending a hand or sending in a replacement chef – you really don’t want to let your guests down. But sometimes this is unavoidable. Cancel your event on your event page and WeFiFo will let your guests know and ensure they get a full and prompt refund. Sending your guests a personal apology and details of a replacement event through Small Talk is good practice too.

We offer all our hosts insurance. A copy of the policy is attached here. This is issued free of charge when you sign up as a WeFiFo Novice and complete your FHC Level 2. Some of the cover you get might be similar to cover you already have in place through your home insurance, so we strongly recommend that you notify your insurance company and give them a copy of this additional cover. This is important to protect your existing policy. The wording you need to use when contacting your insurance company is here. See? Easy!

No! Although be mindful of health and safety and don’t crowd too many people into a small room, it just isn’t fun for your guests and it’s stressful for you as a host. But if you have access to a big space – perhaps a community centre, a village hall, a shared space, or even a local indie coffee shop that closes in the evening, then you really can start to increase those numbers. And if the weather’s nice, there’s always a park to picnic in… the sky’s the limit.

But don’t forget, the most important thing is that your guests have a great and memorable experience so if you do want to host an event for a lot of people, make sure you recruit some extra help.

Yes, but just in order that we can nearly cover our costs! Our charity rate is currently set at 3.5% which is lower than others on the market and doesn’t quite cover the costs we are charged by the guys that process our payments! (If they want to waive their costs for a charity event then we will too… but we’re not holding our breaths!)

No. Your only limitation is your stamina! Some of our cooks and chefs are hosting as a career and this is their principal source of income so they are hosting several events a week. Remember, it can become tiring so pace yourself and only take on what you know you can do whilst still having fun!

Yes, in fact we really recommend it. You can work out who earns what between you or you can take it in turns to help at each other’s events. Having a friend with you really shares the burden when it comes to meeting and greeting just when your food needs your full attention. It is also very good practice if you’re welcoming strangers into your home as it will help you feel more secure.

Ask them to leave, politely but firmly. If that doesn’t work, ask for assistance from your other guests – they’ll probably have seen there’s a potential problem and will be happy to help. Do not feel embarrassed to call the police if you feel threatened in any way. Your mentor or manager will also be on hand to help and they’ll be happy to pop round and lend moral support if you feel you need it. On the whole you’ll be accepting guests who have been rated and reviewed positively but it is always a good idea to host with a friend if you don’t know your guests and they haven’t yet got a track record. By taking it in turns to help each other you can really share the burden. Finally, let us know there has been a problem. We can block a guest to stop this becoming a recurring problem.

Your location won’t be made public. The precise details will only be communicated to confirmed guests and this will happen once you have accepted their booking and they have paid for their seat.

WeFiFo won’t tell you where to host. If you can’t host at home, choosing an imaginative space can really help make your event successful… a bbq on the beach on a warm summer’s day, a picnic in the park in the spring… an indie café that closes in the evenings or a local bookshop when they’ve got a author visiting might welcome a pop up restaurant for ticket holders! It might be that you have friends with great locations but they really don’t like cooking so put your thinking cap on (or should we say, chef’s hat!)

Yes, there are plenty to choose from on the event page and you can add your own specific ones too. The more information you convey before the event, the more it will help to manage expectations and ensure the evening goes smoothly.

No. There is no obligation for you to provide any drinks except water.

Typically, WeFiFo events are BYOB – this allows guests to bring their favourite drink (alcoholic or not!) to match the menu.

As a host, if you would like to supply alcohol and you are charging for a seat at the table you will have to obtain a license. You can apply for 10 Temporary Event Notices in a year (alcohol licenses) at the cost of £21 a license.

No – just be clear in your advertising. A midweek quick supper can be a really welcome treat but if your guest is expecting something more leisurely then they’ll be disappointed if they feel rushed. Be clear in your description and that way you will attract exactly the right guest.

None are required providing you follow this very sensible advice from our food hygiene experts. However, we strongly recommend that you take our online e-learning course and earn yourself your Level 2 Food Preparation Certificate. You can add this skill to your profile, which shows your guests you’re serious; you will greatly reduce the risk of making a mistake through lack of knowledge; and this is a transferable skill that will come in useful if you ever want to work with food in any arena. And best of all, we pay for it, so there really are no excuses!