Booking deposits: when to ask, how much and how to chase them

It's Saturday morning and you've blocked two hours for a colour and cut. At five to ten a WhatsApp comes in: "Sorry, can't make it after all." You won't fill that slot now, and the colour you mixed isn't going back in the tube. If that's happened more than once, you've probably thought about asking for a deposit. And you've probably kept putting it off, because asking a new customer for money upfront feels awkward.

This article is for the owner of a service business — salon, workshop, catering, renovations, photography, classes — who is on the fence about deposits. By the end you'll have a way to decide which services need one, a simple rule for how much to ask, and a couple of messages for asking and chasing without making the customer feel distrusted.

A deposit isn't about the money, it's about commitment

Start by being clear about what the deposit is for, because that shapes everything else. It isn't there to fund your cash flow. It's there so the customer takes the booking as seriously as you do.

Someone who has paid something, even twenty euros, lets you know when they can't come. Someone who hasn't paid anything sometimes just doesn't show. That's why the amount matters less than you'd think: what changes behaviour is the act of paying, not the size of the payment.

It also does a second job people forget about: it separates the customer who actually wants the service from the one collecting prices from five places at once. If someone vanishes when you ask for a reasonable amount, you haven't lost a customer. You've freed a slot that would otherwise have sat empty.

When it's worth asking: three questions

Not every service needs one. Before making deposits the default, run each service through three questions.

1. If the customer doesn't turn up, do you lose something you can't get back? Two hours on a Saturday, yes. Ten minutes on a Tuesday morning, probably not — someone walking in will fill it.
2. Do you have to buy or prepare something just for them? A part ordered for a motorbike, materials for a renovation, the menu for an event, a dress that needs altering. If the cost is bespoke, a deposit is close to mandatory.
3. Are they booking far ahead? The further away the date, the more likely plans change and the less the booking weighs on them. A wedding eight months out with no deposit is a blocked date with no guarantee at all.

If a service gets a yes to one or more, ask for a deposit. If it's a no on all three, leave it alone: adding friction to something cheap and easy to replace loses you more customers than it saves.

How much to ask without scaring people off

There's no magic percentage, but there is a sensible way to work it out: ask for what you'd lose if they didn't show, rounded down so it doesn't feel like a penalty.

A few examples to show the reasoning (they're illustrative — adjust to your own prices):

• Salon, long colour appointment. What you lose is product and some of the time. A small fixed amount is usually enough; asking for the full price is off-putting and unnecessary.
• Workshop with a part on order. What you lose is the part, if it can't be returned. The deposit should cover at least its cost, and it helps to tell the customer exactly that: "it's so we can order the part."
• Catering or events. You're blocking a date you can't sell to anyone else. A percentage of the total is common here, with one or more further payments as the day approaches.
• Renovations. Materials get bought before work starts. A deposit that covers materials, with the rest in stages, is what customers understand best.

Two rules work almost everywhere: keep the amount fixed and round (twenty, fifty, a hundred euros) rather than a percentage with decimals, and keep it the same for everyone booking the same service. If every customer pays a different deposit, sooner or later someone will ask why theirs was higher.

How to ask without sounding suspicious

Timing matters more than wording. Ask for the deposit when you confirm the booking, not a few days later. Ask later and it looks like you've had second thoughts, or second thoughts about them.

Explain it once, matter-of-factly, as part of how booking works. Something like:

"Done! I've got you down for Saturday the 24th at 10:00 for colour and cut. To confirm, we take a €20 deposit, which comes off the total. Here's the payment link: [link]. If you need to move it, just let us know 48 hours ahead and we'll rebook you, no problem."

Look at what that message does: it says the deposit comes off the bill (not an extra charge), puts the link right there (no "I'll send the bank details later"), and states the change policy upfront. That last line is the one that saves arguments down the road.

What you want to avoid is the long justification. "We've had a lot of trouble with people not turning up" tells the customer that others have let you down, and makes them feel like a suspect. If deposits are normal in your business, treat them as normal.

Chasing it without nagging

This is where most people get stuck. You ask for the deposit, the customer says "I'll send it now", and three days go by. Do you message them? Hold the slot anyway? Decide once, then do the same thing every time:

1. At booking: the message with the payment link, as above.
2. After 24 hours, if unpaid: a short, friendly reminder. "Hi Marta, just following up on Saturday the 24th — the deposit hasn't come through yet. Here's the link again in case it slipped your mind."
3. After 48 hours, if still unpaid: let them know the slot is being released. "As the deposit hasn't come through, we've opened up Saturday's slot for someone else. If you'd like to rebook, message us and we'll see what's free."

That third message is the hardest to send and the one that brings the most peace of mind. It isn't a punishment, it's information — and the customer who really meant to come pays right then. What never works is the halfway house: holding the slot "just in case" with no deposit and no message. You end up with the same empty chair you started with, plus an awkward conversation still to have.

When NOT to ask for a deposit (or not from everyone)

Deposits have a cost, and it's worth knowing when that cost is higher than going without.

• Regulars. Someone who has come in every month for two years has nothing left to prove. Suddenly asking them for a deposit lands badly. The sensible approach is to ask new customers and anyone who has already no-showed once.
• Emergencies. If someone messages about a breakdown or something that's gone wrong, the last thing they want is a payment link before they know whether you can help.
• Short, cheap services. If the deposit is almost the full price, just take payment upfront, or ask for nothing.

One practical warning: put your cancellation terms in writing — how much notice gets a refund and when the deposit is kept. In Spain, the word arras has a specific meaning under the Civil Code and can commit you to more than you expect, so stick to plain "deposit" wording and, if you're unsure how to phrase your policy, check with your adviser before publishing it. The amount rarely causes trouble; a vague policy almost always does.

Where to start

You don't have to change everything at once. Pick the service with the most no-shows, set a fixed amount using the "what you'd lose" rule, write the three messages and run it for a month. At the end, count how many slots sat empty compared with the month before, and how many customers backed out when asked for the deposit. Those two numbers will tell you whether to roll it out further.

If you'd rather the link, the reminders and the release notice went out on their own while you get on with the work, that's what our operations agent does: it handles the follow-up and checks with you before making any call that isn't clear-cut.