Accepting Payments

Taking payment at the booking step changes who carries the risk. While the client is committed to nothing, the risk is yours: an empty hour costs exactly what a busy one does, only without the revenue. Once they have paid even part of it, the risk is shared — and behaviour changes on its own, without any conversation about responsibility.

This guide covers how to switch it on, how much to ask for, how to word the refund rules, and where people most often get it wrong. It is not about bookkeeping but about the decisions you have to make before the first payment goes through.

Why take money up front

A deposit does not punish the client and is not a statement of distrust. It simply moves part of the risk to the person who took your time — and does so in advance, rather than at the moment they fail to arrive.

What it does in practice:

• fewer no-shows — someone who has paid either comes or warns you early;
• fewer conversations about money during the visit itself;
• a clearer plan for the day: you can see which visits are backed by payment;
• fewer “I’ve changed my mind” messages an hour before the start;
• less anxiety around expensive services: the client is already invested.

There is a flip side: some people dislike paying a stranger in advance. That is exactly why deposits are switched on selectively, where a no-show costs the most, rather than across the board.

Step 1. Connecting

Payments run through the payment provider connected to your account. It takes the client’s card, holds the money and transfers it to your bank — Bookly only starts that process at the right moment and marks the booking as paid.

Fees

The fee belongs to the payment provider, and it is yours rather than ours. Check it before you announce prices: with small tickets the percentage is noticeable, and it is better built into the price list in advance than discovered at the end of the month, when repricing is awkward.

If most of your services are inexpensive, work the fee out in money rather than percentages. Three percent of a large sum and three percent of a small one feel identical only on paper.

Payout timing

Money does not land instantly but on the provider’s schedule — usually a few working days. That is normal, but worth knowing: buying materials “out of tomorrow’s payments” will not work, and the first month deserves a buffer.

What to check before launching

Make a test booking with a real payment for a small amount and refund it immediately. You will see exactly what the client sees, learn how long a refund actually takes, and have an answer to “what if I change my mind” before anyone asks it.

Step 2. What the client pays for

This is configured per service, not with one switch for the whole business. Different services carry a different cost of failure, so they deserve different treatment.

Full payment up front

Suits short, standard services with a fixed price, online consultations, and anything that involves no negotiation on site. The client pays once and stops thinking about money, and you do not spend time settling up.

A deposit

The best option for long treatments, expensive materials and peak hours. The client pays part now and the rest on site. This is the variant that works best against no-shows while still not scaring off first-time clients.

A deposit makes particular sense where you buy materials for a specific person. Then it covers real costs rather than “time”, and it is far easier to explain.

Paying on site

Keep this where the amount is not known in advance, or where a deposit would scare off more than it protects — a first consultation, say, or an assessment after which the price is still open.

Do not switch deposits on for everything at once. Start with the services where a no-show costs you most, and see how the calendar changes over a month.

Step 3. How much to ask for

The amount should sting to lose but not be big enough to scare off a first-time client. For most services that is a quarter to a third of the price.

A fixed sum or a percentage

A fixed sum is easier to explain and lands more calmly: “£15 to book” is clearer than “25% of a price that depends on your hair length”. A percentage makes sense when your prices vary so widely that a fixed sum would look trivial at one end and steep at the other.

When a deposit is unnecessary

For long-standing clients who have arrived on time for years, a deposit costs more goodwill than it protects money. The same goes for short, inexpensive services: the deposit is so small that losing it is painless, while the inconvenience is real.

Step 4. The refund rules

This is the most important part of the guide and the one most often skipped. A rule written before the visit almost never becomes an argument; a rule invented during one damages the relationship even when it is fair.

What needs to be stated in advance:

• how long before the visit cancelling is free;
• what happens to the deposit on a late cancellation;
• whether it carries over to a rescheduled visit, and how many times;
• what happens when you are the one who reschedules;
• how you handle genuine emergencies — illness, transport, weather.

Put it on the booking page and repeat it in the confirmation: that message is read far more carefully than any page on a website. Keep the wording short and free of legal language — a rule that has to be read twice does not work.

The last point about emergencies is worth having even if you decide to make no exceptions. “We don’t have a policy for that” is a worse answer than “in those cases we move the visit once”.

Step 5. What the client sees

The payment step comes after the time is chosen, on the same page and without a separate app. The booking is confirmed once the payment goes through, so there is no window in which the slot is half-taken and nobody knows whether the person is coming.

The confirmation should make clear what has been paid and how much remains to settle on site. That removes the most common misunderstanding, where a client believes they have paid for everything.

Money and the team

If you do not work alone, decide early who sees the amounts. A stylist only needs to know the visit is paid for; revenue, reports and payment settings are best kept with the owner and whoever keeps the books.

Agree separately on who issues refunds. It is an action that touches money and reputation at once, and it is better done by one person following one rule than by three following their own judgement.

Common mistakes

Switching deposits on for everything at once — and losing clients where they were not needed. Asking for a token amount nobody minds losing — then it does nothing. Writing no refund rules — and negotiating them in the middle of a conflict. Announcing prices without checking the provider’s fee. And the most common one: never walking the payment path yourself, and learning what it looks like from a client’s complaint.