# How to Take Deposits for Appointments (Without Scaring Off Clients)

Source: https://letsrezzy.com/blog/how-to-take-deposits-for-appointments
Description: How to take deposits for salon and spa appointments: how much to charge, the exact wording to use, and a step-by-step setup that pays your own Stripe.
Updated: 2026-08-08

**TL;DR:** To take deposits for appointments, attach a small upfront payment ($15 to $50, or 20 to 50% of the service) to online booking, collect it by card at the moment they book, and credit it to the final bill at the visit. Clients with money down show up.

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Every studio owner has done the math on an empty chair: the blowout that no-showed was not free, it cost you the client you turned away for that slot. A deposit is the one lever that changes behavior *before* the appointment, because the client now has a reason to show up or tell you they can't. Here's how to charge one without making new clients flinch, and how to switch it on step by step.

## Should you require deposits at all?

If no-shows or last-minute cancellations cost you booked time more than about once a week, yes. Deposits work because they change the default: ghosting stops being free, and the easiest path becomes tapping the reschedule link instead. Studios that pair a deposit with [reminder emails](/blog/how-to-reduce-client-no-shows) typically watch no-shows fall from "every week" to "hardly ever."

The honest tradeoff: a deposit adds one step to booking, and a small number of first-time browsers will bounce off it. That's why the decision is per-service, not all-or-nothing. **Protect the appointments where a miss really hurts** (long, high-ticket, prime-Saturday services) and leave quick, cheap ones friction-free. A 15-minute brow wax doesn't need a deposit; a 90-minute color correction absolutely does.

## How much should a deposit be?

Enough to feel real, not enough to feel like a wall. Two models work:

| Your service price | Flat deposit | Or percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Under $50 | usually skip it | (skip) |
| $50–$100 | $15–$25 | ~25% |
| $100–$200 | $25–$50 | 25–35% |
| $200+ or bridal/group | $50–$100 | 30–50% |

**The deposit's job is psychological, not financial.** It doesn't need to cover your loss; it needs to make the appointment feel owned. $25 on a $120 facial changes behavior almost as much as $60 would, with far less booking friction. Always credit it toward the final bill: a deposit that reads as an extra fee breeds resentment, one that reads as a head start on the bill feels fair.

## How do you tell clients without losing bookings?

Say it plainly, before they book, and frame it as protecting the appointment rather than punishing anyone. On the booking page or service description:

> A card deposit holds your appointment and comes off your total at the visit. Need to change plans? Reschedule free up to 24 hours before.

And when a longtime regular asks why the deposit appeared, warmth beats policy language:

> Hi Dana! Nothing changed for you, promise. We added deposits because empty chairs from no-shows were starting to cost the team real money. Yours comes straight off your total when you're in, same as paying a little early. See you Thursday!

The rule in both: **pair the deposit with an easy out.** A clear free-reschedule window is what makes a deposit feel reasonable, and it converts would-be no-shows into filled slots instead of kept fees.

> **Want deposits without building anything?** Rezzy takes card deposits at booking through your own Stripe account, credits them at the visit, and sends the reminders too. [Start free](/signup).

## Setting up deposits in Rezzy, step by step

The walkthrough below takes about ten minutes, most of which is Stripe's onboarding.

1. **Connect your own Stripe account** under Settings → Payments. This is the part worth pausing on: Rezzy routes deposits into *your* Stripe account, so the money lands with you directly and is never held by the platform. If you don't have a Stripe account yet, the connect flow creates one as you go.
2. **Open the service you want to protect** and choose its protection level: **Deposit** with the amount you picked from the table above, or **Prepay** for services you want paid in full up front (popular for bridal and group bookings).

![A Rezzy service's protection settings: no-show protection with a deposit amount](/blog_images/service-deposit-settings.png)

*Protection is per service: deposits where a miss hurts, frictionless booking where it doesn't.*

3. **That's the setup.** From the next booking on, the client picks their time, then pays the deposit on a Stripe-hosted checkout page before the slot is theirs. If two clients race for the same slot, the loser's deposit refunds automatically, no cleanup on your end.
4. **At the visit, the deposit credits itself.** The booking's record shows it as credited when you mark the appointment complete, and the confirmation email told the client that from the start.

Because payments run through your own Stripe, your payout timing is Stripe's normal schedule and yours to manage there, no platform middleman deciding when you get your money. (Deposits are part of Rezzy's Pro plan, with pricing on the [homepage](/#pricing).) On Square instead of Stripe? Same flow, same rules: the click-by-click for both providers is in the [deposits guide](/guides/take-deposits-or-full-payment).

## What happens when someone still no-shows?

First, what doesn't need you: a client who cancels outside your cutoff window gets their deposit back automatically, which is exactly the easy out you promised. The judgment call only appears inside the window. When a protected booking no-shows or cancels late, Rezzy asks you the only question that matters: **keep the deposit or refund it?** One click either way.

Use that choice deliberately. Refunding a loyal regular's first-ever miss buys goodwill worth far more than $25; keeping the third no-show from a serial offender is exactly what the policy exists for. Either way the deposit already did its main work: the people who were going to ghost mostly stopped booking casually or started using the reschedule link.

## The two numbers to watch after you switch it on

Give it a month, then check both directions:

- **No-show rate on protected services.** This should fall hard, most studios see the difference within the first two weeks.
- **Booking volume on those same services.** Expect it flat or down a hair. If a service's bookings dropped more than its no-shows justify, the deposit is set too high for that audience; step it down a tier and re-measure.

If your book skews toward high-ticket treatments, the math almost always lands the same place it does for the [day spas we wrote about](/blog/booking-software-for-day-spas): a slightly shorter booking list where nearly everyone on it actually walks in, which is a fuller till than a longer list of maybes.