This week, a new platform launched which allows hopeful diners to bid and trade reservations for in-demand restaurants in the Netherlands.

Bid on reservations at fine-dining restaurants in the Netherlands

“Buy and sell reservations anywhere,” the platform, Appointment Trader, says on its website. It has already existed in cities and countries around the world for a while, but this week it expanded its services to also cover the Netherlands, allowing people who have booked a (non-refundable) reservation at a fine dining restaurant to sell it to a like-minded foodie - and even turn a profit. 

Would you like to dine at one of the Netherlands’ Michelin-star restaurants for an upcoming birthday, but did you fail to book a table in time? That’s where Appointment Trader comes in. 

Dutch establishments not happy with new trading platform

You could, for example, bid for a reservation at De Kas or Mr Porter in Amsterdam, each with starting bids of around 90 euros. Reservations are then auctioned off, with the starting rates calculated based on previous transactions and how busy or popular an establishment is. 

While this might come in handy for some diners, the restaurants themselves don’t seem all too impressed. Talking to BNR, the office manager of De Kas said the restaurant would be in touch with the site: “We are quite shocked by this. We do not agree that this is happening”.

Thumb: Procreators via Shutterstock.com.