Balance 
Deposits for bridal shops
The dress is ordered from the designer in March and collected in August. A deposit at order and a balance charged a fixed number of days later keeps cash flow and customers calm.
At a glance
How a boutique usually sets this up.
- Typical deposit
- 50% at order
- Balance charged
- A set number of days after the order
- Usual gap
- 90 to 150 days
- Reminder
- 3 days before, by email or text
- Per-order fee
- None
- Shopify plan
- Any Shopify plan
The deposit covers the designer's invoice, which you usually have to pay when you place the order with them. The balance lands before the final fitting, when the dress is in the shop and the alterations are about to start.
Where the money lands
A £1,800 gown ordered on 1 March at 50%, balance 120 days later.
That is the days-after-order rule: the balance date is set from the order date, so every bride on the same plan is on the same terms and nobody has to calculate anything. If you run a season with a fixed cut-off instead, an exact date on the plan puts every order in the season on the same day.
The deposit is a real payment through your own Shopify Payments or gateway on the day of the order. The balance is charged to the same saved card later, and the bride gets a reminder three days before with the amount and the date, then a receipt the moment it clears.
From order to collection
The bride does not need to remember anything, and neither do you.
- 1
Dress ordered in the boutique
£900 taken
She checks out through your Shopify checkout, picks the deposit option and pays the deposit. The order lands in Shopify with the balance and its date recorded against it.
- 2
Order placed with the designer
Nothing charged
The deposit is already in your account, so the designer's invoice is paid with the bride's money rather than yours.
- 3
Three days before the balance
Reminder sent
An email, or a text if you have turned those on, with the amount and the date. No phone call about money from the shop.
- 4
Balance day
£900 charged
The balance is charged to the saved card automatically. The bride gets a receipt and the order shows paid in full in your morning digest.
- 5
Card has changed
Payment link sent
A new card since March is common. The failed-payment email carries a Shopify payment link that accepts any card, and the charge retries after 1, 3 and 7 days.
- 6
Final fitting and collection
Paid in full
The dress is paid for before the alterations start, and the hold releases itself so the order can be closed off when she collects.
Reminders that do not feel like chasing
Brides are planning a hundred things. The tone of the money messages matters as much as the timing.
What she gets, and when
A reminder three days before with the amount and the date, and a receipt the moment it clears. That is the whole of it for a payment that goes through first time, which most do.
- Plain wording rather than anything that reads like a demand
- Your policy text under every message, in your own words
- A payment page she can check instead of ringing the shop
When the card has changed
The card saved in March is often not the card in her purse in June. The failed-payment email gives her a payment link to use the new one without a call, and the charge retries on its own.
- Shopify payment link that accepts any card
- Retries after 1, 3 and 7 days
- You are alerted if it goes overdue, with weeks still in hand before the fitting
What you control
The lead time on the reminder, whether texts are used at all, and how often an overdue payment is nudged are all yours to set. Many boutiques keep email only and lengthen the overdue interval, because the relationship matters more than the three days.
- Reminder lead time and channel set in settings
- Overdue cadence set in settings
- Move any single payment date from the order for a bride with an earlier wedding
Setting it up
About fifteen minutes, most of which is deciding on the number of days.
- In Shopify, check Settings, Payments: capture must be automatic at checkout or manual, not per fulfilment.
- Create a plan in Balance Due: 50% percentage deposit, balance rule a number of days after the order, set to the gap that suits your designers' lead times, 120 days for most.
- Attach the plan to your gown products. Accessories, veils and sample-sale dresses stay as ordinary products with nothing attached.
- Add the Deposit option block to your product template once, under the buy buttons. It only appears on products that carry a plan.
- Place a test order with Shopify's Bogus Gateway on a development store and watch the schedule email, the reminder and the balance charge.
Most boutiques take the order in the shop, not online. Set the gown up as a product with the price set per order through a variant, and let the bride check out on the shop iPad or from a link you send her. The order has to come through checkout, because Balance Due does not take deposits on draft orders or POS orders.
Which balance rule for which order
Not every dress is the same shape of order.
| What you are selling | Balance rule | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Standard gown, designer lead time known | A number of days after the order | Every bride on the same terms, no dates to calculate. The usual choice. |
| Season with a fixed cut-off | Exact date | Everyone in the season is charged on the same day, so reconciliation is one job rather than forty. |
| Rush order for a near wedding | A number of days after the order | Same rule, shorter gap. A second plan at 14 or 30 days attached to a rush product. |
| Sample-sale or off-the-peg dress | No plan | She takes it home that day. Payment in full as you do now. |
A product carries one plan at a time, so a standard product and a rush product are two products. The deposit percentage can differ between them as well.
When the wedding moves
Dates change, dresses get swapped, and sometimes the whole thing is called off.
Wedding brought forward
Move the balance date on the order to suit the new timeline. She gets a fresh reminder before the new date and nothing is charged until then.
Wedding pushed back
Same thing in the other direction. Reschedule the payment from the order, and the dress is not charged for months before it is needed.
Wedding cancelled
Cancel the plan from the order or cancel the order in Shopify. Balance Due stops collecting. What happens to the deposit is your policy and is handled in Shopify.
Alterations, veils and accessories added later are usually a separate order with no plan. If you would rather add them to the gown order, edit it in Shopify and the difference is added to the balance.
Non-refundable deposits
Say it plainly before checkout and on the order confirmation: the deposit is non-refundable once the dress is ordered from the designer. Put it in the product description and on your policy page, and let Balance Due carry your policy text on every payment message and on the bride's payment page.
A dress ordered to a bride's measurements is usually outside the 14-day cancellation right in the UK, but only if you have told her before she buys. Writing it on the product is what makes that stick.
The deposit pays the designer. The balance pays for the dress. The reminder is the only time money comes up between the two.
What it costs
Nothing per order and nothing per transaction. The Free plan covers three dresses with an open balance at any one time, and Starter covers thirty, which suits a boutique with a season's worth of orders open at once. The limit counts open balances rather than orders a year, so a dress paid in full stops counting the moment it clears.
Deposits taken through Balance Due are ordinary Shopify payments, so your normal gateway rates apply and nothing is deducted by us. See pricing for the plan limits.
Related
Reminders and receipts
Exactly what the customer gets and when.
Deposits for bespoke tailoring
The same fitting-led timeline.
Pricing
Seasonal stores fit the Starter plan well.
Furniture makers
Deposit on order, balance when the piece is ready, nothing leaves the workshop unpaid.
Upholsterers
Fabric is cut to order and cannot go back: the deposit covers it before you order a metre.
Jewellers
Bespoke and engagement pieces: the deposit covers the stone, the balance lands on completion.
Questions
Can I set the balance date per order?
The plan sets the default and you can move any payment from the order, so a bride with an earlier wedding gets an earlier balance date.
What if the wedding is cancelled?
Cancel the plan from the order or cancel the order in Shopify. Balance Due stops collecting. Refunds of the deposit are your policy and are handled in Shopify.
We sell in store too. Can POS orders use it?
Not yet. Balance Due handles orders that come through the online checkout. Let the bride check out on the shop iPad or from a link you send her, and the deposit plan applies as normal.
Can she pay the balance early?
Yes, from the pay now button on her payment page. Some do as soon as the dress arrives in the shop.
Can her parents pay the balance on a different card?
Yes. The payment link in the reminder and on her payment page accepts any card, so whoever is paying can use their own.
Can I turn text messages off and keep email only?
Yes, in settings. Texts are optional and many boutiques keep email only for this.
What if the balance fails and the fitting is next week?
The failed-payment email carries a payment link, the charge retries after 1, 3 and 7 days, and you are alerted when it goes overdue. With the balance set weeks before the fitting there is time to sort it without a difficult conversation on the day.
Does the deposit option show on every product?
No. The block only renders on products that carry a plan, so veils, accessories and sample-sale dresses look exactly as they do now.
Not on the list?
If your customers commit before the work is done, Balance Due fits. Tell us what you sell and we will suggest a plan.