Setting up deposits
With deposits you ask clients to pay part of the service price in advance when they book online. This reduces the risk of no-shows and gives your calendar more certainty. The payment runs through your connected payment provider (Mollie or Stripe).
Requirements
Deposits require a default payment provider: you must have chosen Stripe or Mollie as the default provider under Setting up payments, and that provider must be connected. Salonnare uses that provider for the deposit.
If your default payment provider is set to None (or you remove the chosen provider), you cannot turn deposits on -- the toggle is then not enabled and you see the note that no payment provider is connected. If deposits were already on and you later set the provider to None, deposits are automatically switched off.
Deposits are available from the Pro plan. On a lower plan you see a message asking you to upgrade and you cannot turn the setting on.
Enabling deposits
- Go to Settings.
- Find the Deposits section.
- Turn on Enable deposits.
As soon as you enable deposits, extra options appear.
Choosing the deposit type
You can choose between two types:
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Percentage | A percentage of the total service price. For example 25% of a 60 euro service = 15 euro deposit. For multiple services, the sum of the prices counts. |
| Fixed amount | A fixed euro value, regardless of the service price. For example always 10 euros. |
Choose the type via the Percentage or Fixed amount radio buttons.
Setting the amount
- For percentage: enter the percentage, for example
25for 25%. - For fixed amount: enter the amount in euros, for example
10for EUR 10.
Minimum amount (percentage only)
For a percentage type you can set a minimum amount. This is the lowest amount that will be charged, even if the calculated percentage comes out lower.
Example: you set 20% with a minimum of 8 euros. For a 30 euro service, 20% would normally be 6 euros -- but because of the minimum the client pays 8 euros.
Deposit deadline
This is the most important rule, determining what happens when a client does not pay the deposit. A booking with an outstanding deposit stays provisional in your calendar. With the deadline you automatically cancel such bookings so the slot frees up again.
Choose one of the three modes:
| Mode | What it does |
|---|---|
| Off | Unpaid bookings stay; you cancel them manually if needed. |
| After creation | The booking expires this many hours after the booking is created. Enter the number of hours. |
| Before appointment | The booking expires this many hours before the appointment time. Enter the number of hours. |
When the deadline is set to After creation or Before appointment, Salonnare checks outstanding deposits every hour. If the deadline has passed, the deposit is marked as expired and the provisional appointment is cancelled automatically.
Confirmation email
The Confirmation email on payment option automatically sends the client a confirmation as soon as the deposit succeeds. This is on by default. Turn it off if you prefer to communicate yourself.
Saving
Click Save to lock in the settings. If you enabled deposits without entering an amount, Salonnare shows a validation error.
When is a deposit required?
A deposit is requested for direct online bookings when deposits are enabled. In request mode no deposit is requested (see Online Bookings).
You can override this per client. Open a client in Clients and set Deposit required:
- Default (follow salon setting) -- the general setting applies.
- Never (exempt) -- this client never has to pay a deposit, even if the salon setting is on.
- Always (required for this client) -- this client must always pay a deposit, even if the salon setting is off.
How it works for the client
When a client books online and a deposit is required:
- They go through the normal booking steps (service, staff member, date/time, details) and confirm.
- There is no separate payment step in the wizard. After confirming they are automatically redirected to the secure payment page of Mollie or Stripe.
- They pay the deposit.
- The appointment stays provisional in your calendar until the payment is confirmed; after that the appointment becomes final.
If the payment fails or the client does not pay before the deadline, the provisional booking is cancelled automatically (see Deposit deadline).
Deposits and no-shows
If a client still fails to show up after paying a deposit, you can mark the appointment as no-show. The deposit is not refunded automatically -- you decide what to do with it. If you want to charge a no-show fee for the remaining amount, see Setting up no-show fees.