Deposit

A deposit is a part-payment taken when an appointment is booked and set against the final price. It gives the client something to lose by not arriving.

Also called: booking deposit, prepayment, holding fee

Deposits are best applied selectively. Long or expensive services, new clients, and the Saturday slots everyone wants are where an empty chair hurts most. Routine appointments for regulars rarely need one.

A modest deposit is enough to make someone cancel properly instead of vanishing, and small enough that it does not deter a genuine booking.

In Booked, deposits are one shop-wide setting: a percentage of each service’s price from 10 to 100, or the full amount.