Balance 
Deposits for furniture makers
You buy the timber when the order lands and get paid the rest when the piece is finished. A deposit plan that charges when you say ready fits that exactly.
At a glance
How a workshop usually sets this up, before any of the detail below.
- Typical deposit
- 30% to 50%
- Balance charged
- When you mark the piece ready
- Outer limit
- 120 days, longer for big builds
- Held until paid
- Yes, fulfilment hold
- Per-order fee
- None
- Shopify plan
- Any Shopify plan
One plan, attached to the products you make to order. Stock pieces and samples stay as ordinary products and nothing about your checkout changes.
Where the money lands
A £2,400 oak dining table on a 40% deposit, which is the shape most makers land on.
Enough to cover the timber and the hardware you buy in for the job.
The reminder goes out with the amount and the date, then the receipt when it clears.
The charge, then retries after 1, 3 and 7 days with a payment link each time.
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 customer does not need to do anything.
The job, stage by stage
The only manual step is pressing mark ready, which is the moment you were going to phone them anyway.
- 1
Customer orders the piece
£960 taken
They choose the deposit option on the product page and pay the deposit at checkout. The order lands in Shopify as normal with the balance recorded against it.
- 2
Timber is bought
Nothing charged
The deposit is already in your account, so the boards and the hardware are paid for by the customer rather than by your overdraft.
- 3
Twelve weeks in the workshop
Nothing charged
Because the balance is tied to the piece being ready rather than to a date, a build that slips a fortnight does not trigger a charge or a reminder nobody is expecting.
- 4
Piece is finished
£1,440 charged
You mark the order ready in Shopify. Within minutes the balance is charged to the saved card and the customer is emailed a receipt.
- 5
Card declines
Payment link sent
The customer gets a Shopify payment link that accepts any card, and the charge retries after 1, 3 and 7 days. The piece stays on hold in the meantime.
- 6
Delivery is booked
Paid in full
The hold releases itself once the order is paid, and the piece appears in your morning digest as paid overnight, which is your delivery-booking list.
What this replaces
Most makers already take a deposit. The question is what the rest of the process costs you.
Invoicing the deposit by hand
A quote, an invoice, a bank transfer that arrives three days later, and an order that does not exist in Shopify until somebody types it in. Every piece in the workshop is a spreadsheet row that has to be kept up to date.
- The deposit is a line on the Shopify order, paid at checkout
- The outstanding balance sits on the order where anyone can see it
- No invoice to raise, no transfer to match
Chasing the balance when the piece is done
The table is finished, oiled and wrapped, and now you are ringing somebody about money. If they are slow to reply the piece takes up floor space and the delivery slot goes to waste.
- The balance is charged to the saved card the day you mark it ready
- The reminder three days before and the receipt afterwards are sent for you
- A failed card gets a payment link and three automatic retries
A piece leaving the workshop unpaid
Delivery is usually booked outside Shopify, by van or by courier, so a helpful colleague can book a table out before the balance has cleared. It happens more than anybody admits.
- Shopify will not let the order be fulfilled while the balance is open
- Release the hold by hand if you have agreed to take the balance on delivery
- Take the payment in Shopify and the hold clears itself
Setting it up
About fifteen minutes, most of which is deciding on the percentage.
- In Shopify, check Settings, Payments: capture must be automatic at checkout or manual, not per fulfilment.
- Create a plan in Balance Due: 40% percentage deposit, balance rule when the order is ready, outer limit 120 days, or longer if you run a waiting list.
- Attach the plan to your made-to-order products. A product carries one plan at a time, so keep stock pieces and commissions as separate products.
- 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 hold and the balance charge.
If you quote by hand first, create a generic product per piece type with the price set per order through a variant, and send the customer the link once they accept. The order still has to come through checkout, because Balance Due does not take deposits on draft orders.
Which balance rule for which product
The rule is the one decision worth getting right, and it comes down to whether you know the date.
| What you are selling | Balance rule | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Commissioned piece, made from scratch | When the order is ready | The finish date is only known when it is finished. Nothing is charged until you say so. |
| Batch-made piece on a pre-order run | Exact date | The storefront line can read 'balance on 14 March', which is far easier to sell than something vague. |
| Restoration or repair of the customer's own piece | When the order is ready | Old furniture surprises you once it is apart. Charge on completion, not on a guess. |
| Stock piece with a delayed delivery slot | A number of days after the order | Fixed and predictable. Fourteen or thirty days after the order, no mark ready needed. |
You can change the rule on a plan later, and existing orders keep the schedule they were sold on unless you reschedule them yourself from the order.
Long lead times
Twelve-week builds mean cards expire, customers move house and the person who ordered in spring has forgotten the exact figure by summer. The reminder three days before the balance tells them the amount and the date, and the payment link on any failed charge lets them use a new card without ringing the workshop.
If a build is going to run well past the outer limit, reschedule the payment from the order to a later date and the customer gets a fresh reminder before it. Nothing is charged in the meantime.
The piece is paid for the day it is ready, not the day somebody remembers to send an invoice.
That is the whole of it. The timber is funded on day one, the balance arrives on the last day, and the weeks in between are spent making rather than reconciling.
When the spec changes
A different timber, an extra leaf, a finish that costs more than the one they first chose.
Price goes up
Edit the order in Shopify to add the extra leaf. The outstanding balance goes up with it and the customer's payment page shows the new figure.
Price goes down
A simpler finish reduces the balance. If the deposit now covers the whole order, there is nothing left to charge and the plan closes.
Order is cancelled
Cancel the plan from the order and nothing further is collected. What happens to the deposit is your policy and is handled in Shopify as normal.
Because the balance is always read from the order rather than fixed at the time of sale, the conversation on delivery day is about the table rather than about the invoice.
Policy wording that works
Say four things in the product description and on your policy page: what the deposit is, that it is non-refundable once making begins, that the balance is taken from the same card when the piece is ready, and what happens if it cannot be taken. Balance Due shows your policy text under every payment email and on the customer's payment page, so the terms are in front of them at the moment they are paying.
Bespoke goods are usually outside the 14-day cancellation right in the UK, but only if you have told the customer before they buy. Put it in writing on the product rather than relying on the policy page alone.
Keep the wording plain. 'The 40% deposit covers your timber and is non-refundable once cutting starts. The balance is taken from the same card on the day your piece is ready.' That is enough.
What it costs
Nothing per order and nothing per transaction. The Free plan covers three pieces with an open balance at any one time, which suits a one-person workshop, and Starter covers thirty. The limit counts open balances rather than orders a year, so a table 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
Fulfilment hold
How the hold works with couriers and your own van.
Deposits for kitchens and joinery
Larger jobs, balance before fitting.
How to take deposits on Shopify
Setup and policy wording.
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.
Bridal shops
Dresses ordered months ahead: deposit at order, balance before the fitting.
Questions
Can I take the balance before delivery rather than on a fixed date?
Yes, that is the 'when the order is ready' rule. You control the day with mark ready, or press collect now if you want it sooner.
What if the customer changes the spec and the price goes up?
Edit the order in Shopify. Balance Due sees the higher outstanding amount and adds the difference to the balance.
We deliver ourselves. Does the hold get in the way?
No. It only stops the order being marked fulfilled in Shopify. You release it by collecting the balance or by hand if you have agreed to take payment on the doorstep.
Can I take a bigger deposit on an expensive piece?
Yes. The percentage is set per plan, so an exotic timber or a large fitted piece can carry its own plan at 50% while standard pieces sit at 30%.
What if the customer wants to pay the balance by bank transfer?
Take it however you like and record the payment against the order in Shopify. Balance Due follows the order's outstanding amount and closes the plan when it reaches zero.
Do I need Shopify Payments?
For automatic charges, yes, or PayPal Express. On other providers the customer gets a payment link on the due date instead of an automatic charge.
Can a customer pay the balance early?
Yes, from the pay now button on their payment page. Some do as soon as they get the progress photos.
Does the deposit option show on every product?
No. The block only renders on products that carry a plan, so stock pieces and samples 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.