Is the initial franchise fee for Crepe De Licious refundable?
Crepe_De_Licious Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
IAL FEES**
You must pay us an initial franchise fee ("Initial Franchise Fee") of $35,000 when you sign the Franchise Agreement. The Initial Franchise Fee is payment for all of our pre-opening assistance that we will provide to allow you to open your Crepe de licious Business and also offsets some of our franchisee recruitment expenses. In 2024, we collected Initial Franchise Fees ranging from $2,000 to $20,667 , though we intend for this fee to be uniform across the system.
You can reserve a particular geographic territory for a Crepe de licious Business for a period of 90 days by paying us a non-refundable territory reservation fee ("Territory Reservation Fee") of $10,000 before you sign a Franchise Agreement and signing the "Territory Reservation Agreement and Receipt," which is attached as Exhibit G-6 to this Disclosure Document. If you choose to purchase a Crepe de licous Franchise, the Territory Reservation Fee will be applied towards the Initial Franchise Fee. You will only be
able to pay the Territory Reservation Fee and sign the Territory Reservation Agreement and Receipt after you have waited the prescribed federal and state waiting periods (generally 14 calendar days after you have received our Franchise Disclosure Document). The Initial Franchise Fee is due in full at the time you sign the Franchise Agreement(s), and is deemed fully earned by us once paid and is non-refundable. The Territory Reservation Fee is uniform to all franchisees.
Source: Item 5 — INITIAL FEES (FDD pages 11–12)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Crepe De Licious's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, the initial franchise fee is generally non-refundable. Specifically, the FDD states that the initial franchise fee is deemed fully earned by Crepe De Licious once paid and is non-refundable. The standard initial franchise fee is $35,000. This fee compensates Crepe De Licious for pre-opening assistance and franchisee recruitment expenses.
However, there is an exception regarding a territory reservation fee. A prospective franchisee can reserve a specific geographic territory for 90 days by paying a non-refundable territory reservation fee of $10,000. If the franchisee proceeds to purchase a Crepe De Licious franchise, this $10,000 territory reservation fee is then applied towards the initial franchise fee.
In summary, while the initial $35,000 franchise fee itself is non-refundable once paid to Crepe De Licious, the $10,000 territory reservation fee can be credited towards the initial franchise fee if the franchisee moves forward with opening a franchise. It is important to note that all expenses paid to Crepe De Licious or its affiliates are considered uniform and non-refundable under any circumstances once paid.