How do I take a deposit for an appointment?

To take a deposit for an appointment, set a Deposit at booking (%) below 100 on the service: the client pays that share of the price by card when booking, and the balance is due on the day of the appointment. With GDA Kraft Booking, the WordPress plugin by Global Digital Agency, this percentage is set service by service; online payment itself is enabled in the appointment booking module. The key is to state the amount and the refund rule clearly before the client books.

What is an appointment deposit?

A deposit is part of the price paid in advance and deducted from the total on the day of the service. The balance is what remains to be paid afterwards. Prepayment (or full payment) means paying the whole amount at booking.

Legally, how the sum is described matters, and the rules depend on the country. In France, for example, a sum paid in advance without any further description is presumed to be “arrhes”, with different consequences in the event of cancellation (this presumption applies in France only). See Deposit or arrhes: what is the difference? and word your terms accordingly.

Which payment modes are available?

Two settings combine: Deposit at booking (%) in Kraft Booking › Services, and the Payment option of the appointment booking module ("Online payment (Stripe / Kraft Pay)" or "No online payment (direct confirmation)"):

Online payment goes through Kraft Pay (Stripe): card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, with 3-D Secure authentication if the bank requires it. You need a site linked to a free Kraft GDA account (no credit card required to sign up; the edition downloaded from the client area includes everything, there is no add-on to install), then payments enabled: activation goes through the Kraft Pay flow, during which you create your own Stripe account or connect to Stripe. See Enable Stripe payments.

When does a deposit make sense?

A deposit has a commercial cost: one more payment step. It is justified when a lost slot is expensive:

• the service is long or takes up a staff member for half a day;
• you incur costs before the appointment (products ordered, preparation, travel);
• demand is high and every empty slot is a client turned away;
• the client is booking for the first time.

Conversely, for a 20-minute service booked by regulars, email reminders are often enough. The other levers are compared in How do I reduce no-shows?.

How much does a deposit collected online cost?

The GDA Kraft Booking service fee applies to appointments booked with online payment: 0.9%, reduced to 0.45% until 30 June 2027 (launch offer). It is calculated on the price of the service and added to the total, on a "Service fee" line visible to the client; the deposit is a percentage of that total. An appointment booked without online payment ("No online payment (direct confirmation)") carries no fee.

Fictional example: a €120 service with a 25% deposit.

Stripe processing fees are added, according to Stripe's pricing. The exact rounding to the cent is the one shown on the payment page.

How do I tell the client about the deposit?

A well-announced deposit surprises no one. State it in three places:

1. in the service description: "A €30 deposit is requested at booking, deducted from the price";
2. on the booking page, next to the link to your cancellation terms (the form also shows "Deposit to pay now");
3. in the confirmation email, which shows the deposit and the balance.

Also state what happens to the deposit if the client cancels. In Kraft Booking › Appointment settings, Cancellation and rescheduling by the client section, you set the online cancellation deadline ("Allowed online up to (hours before)") and the "Late cancellation fee (%)". Refunds are not automatic: they are made from the booking record (Refund), with the service fee refunded pro rata.

Frequently asked questions

Can I ask only new clients for a deposit?

The deposit is set per service, not per client. You can create a "First session" service with a deposit and an identical service without a deposit for regulars, shown on another page.

Can the balance be charged automatically?

Yes, with online payment: the balance is due on the day of the appointment and follows the same payment engine as stays (charged to the saved card). Without online payment, nothing is charged: record the payment received on site with Add an offline payment in the booking record.

Is the deposit refunded if I cancel myself?

If you cancel an appointment, there is no reason to keep the deposit: refund it from the booking record. The same applies to each participant of a cancelled group session.