How to take a deposit before an appointment

A deposit turns an intention into a commitment. It is the single most effective thing available to you against an empty chair, and the reason is straightforward: somebody who has paid something has made a decision, and people keep decisions they have already made.

What a deposit is really for

It is not about the money. A deposit is a filter: it separates people who intend to come from people who are keeping their options open, and it does that at the moment of booking rather than on the day.

The second thing it does is give a cancellation a shape. Without one, somebody who cannot make it simply does not appear. With one, they contact you, because there is something to sort out, and that message usually arrives in time for you to fill the slot.

How much

Enough to be felt, small enough not to be a barrier. A useful test: it should cover the cost of the gap if nobody takes the slot, and it should be an amount somebody would be mildly annoyed to lose rather than one they would argue about.

For most appointment work that lands somewhere between a fifth and a third of the price. For long or materials-heavy work, more, and say why on the page.

Take it off the final bill. A deposit that is part of the price feels like paying early. A deposit on top of the price feels like a charge for booking, and people notice the difference.

Write the policy in one sentence

Put it next to the button, in plain words, before anybody pays:

A deposit of this much secures your slot and comes off the final price. Let me know at least two days before if you need to move, and it moves with you.

That sentence does three jobs. It says what the money is, it says what happens to it, and it tells somebody how to keep it. A policy that only appears in a confirmation email is a policy people find out about when they are already unhappy.

Be generous about moving, firm about vanishing

Someone who gives you notice should be able to move a deposit to a new date without a fuss. That is the behaviour you want, so make it the easy one. Losing a deposit should be for disappearing on the day, and even then a first time is often worth forgiving once, with the policy restated.

Being reasonable here costs you very little and earns a good deal, because the people who reschedule are the same people who rebook.

Deposit or the whole amount

Take the full price up front for anything short, popular or hard to refill, and for anybody booking a long way ahead. Take a deposit for longer work, for first time clients, and wherever the final price depends on what you find when they arrive.

What changes after you start

Expect slightly fewer bookings and noticeably more kept ones, which is a trade almost everybody who tries it keeps. If enquiries drop further than you are comfortable with, the amount is probably too high or the policy sentence is missing from the page.