Balance 
Deposits for luthiers and instrument makers
A commissioned instrument can be eighteen months out. The deposit is what makes the waiting list real, for both of you.
At a glance
How a maker with a waiting list usually sets this up.
- Typical deposit
- 30% to 50% to join the queue
- Balance charged
- When the instrument is finished
- Outer limit
- 365 days, rescheduled if longer
- Held until paid
- Yes, it stays in the workshop
- Per-order fee
- None
- Shopify plan
- Any Shopify plan
One plan on your commission products. Repairs, setups and any stock instruments you sell finished stay as ordinary products with nothing attached.
Where the money lands
A £4,200 commissioned acoustic at 30%, balance fourteen months later.
Because the deposit is buying a place in a queue rather than materials, say clearly whether it is transferable if the customer changes their mind about the spec, and whether it is refundable if they drop out before you start cutting. Those two sentences in your terms settle most of the disputes this trade ever has.
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 when the instrument is done, with a reminder a few days before and a receipt once it clears.
From queue to case
Most of this is waiting, and the app is built to wait without charging anybody.
- 1
Customer joins the queue
£1,260 taken
They choose the model from the variants, pick the deposit option and pay the deposit at checkout. The order lands with the balance recorded against it and no date attached.
- 2
Months on the list
Nothing charged
The order sits in Shopify with the outstanding amount on it. Nothing looks overdue because nothing is.
- 3
Wood selected, spec confirmed
Nothing charged
Timber, inlay and hardware get decided and redecided. Edit the Shopify order each time and the balance follows. The customer's payment page always shows the current figure.
- 4
Build
Nothing charged
Weeks on the bench, then finishing, then a wait for the lacquer to cure. The balance waits with it.
- 5
Finished and photographed
£2,940 charged
You mark the order ready. The balance is charged to the saved card and the customer is emailed a receipt.
- 6
Card has expired
Payment link sent
Over fourteen months this is the normal case. The customer gets an email with a Shopify payment link that accepts any card, and most pay within the hour because they have been waiting a year for the instrument.
Long waits mean dead cards
This is the trade where the card saved at checkout is least likely to still work at the end. Cards expire inside eighteen months as a matter of routine. The retry ladder and the payment link handle that without you doing anything: the charge fails, the customer is emailed a Shopify payment link that accepts any card, and it retries after 1, 3 and 7 days.
If you would rather not rely on it, press collect now a few days before you finish and ask them to settle through their payment page. The instrument stays on hold either way until the balance clears.
Nobody who has waited a year for a guitar leaves a payment link unopened.
Setting it up
About fifteen minutes. The two settings that matter are the outer limit and the queue wording.
- In Shopify, check Settings, Payments: capture must be automatic at checkout or manual, not per fulfilment.
- Create a plan in Balance Due: 30% percentage deposit, balance rule when the order is ready, outer limit 365 days.
- Attach the plan to your commission products, one product per model with the options as variants. Repairs and setups stay as ordinary products.
- Write the queue terms on the product: whether the deposit is transferable, whether it is refundable before cutting starts, and roughly how long the wait is.
- 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 a build will run past a year, reschedule the payment from the order to any future date. The customer gets a fresh reminder before it and nothing is charged in the meantime.
Commissions, repairs and stock
Three different kinds of sale, and only one of them needs a plan.
Commissions
The waiting list. A deposit to join it, the balance when the instrument is finished, the outer limit at its maximum. The plan is attached here and only here.
Repairs and setups
Days or weeks, small sums, no deposit needed. Keep them as ordinary products so your plan limit is only used by commissions.
Stock instruments
Finished and on the wall. Payment in full as now. If a customer wants to reserve one for a fortnight, that is a short days-after plan on a separate product.
A product carries one plan at a time, so each model that is sold to order gets the plan, and nothing else does.
Spec changes, queue swaps and dropouts
The three conversations every maker with a waiting list has eventually.
The spec changes
Customers change their minds about timber, inlay and hardware across a long wait. Edit the Shopify order each time and the balance follows, which heads off the conversation at the end about what was agreed.
- Price goes up: the difference is added to the balance
- Price goes down: the balance shrinks
- The reminder before the charge quotes the current figure
Somebody wants to transfer their place
That is your policy, not the app's. If you agree to it, the simplest route is to cancel the original plan and have the new customer place a fresh order, so the saved card and the messages belong to the right person.
- Cancel the original plan from the order
- New customer checks out and pays their own deposit
- Refund the original deposit in Shopify as your policy allows
Somebody drops out
Before cutting starts, your terms decide whether the deposit comes back. After it, the deposit is what pays for the timber you have already committed to a specific instrument.
- Cancel the plan and nothing further is collected
- Handle the deposit under your terms in Shopify
- The slot goes to the next name on the list
Policy wording that works
Say on the product and on your policy page: what the deposit is, that it holds a place in the queue, whether it is transferable, that it is non-refundable once timber is cut for the instrument, that the balance is taken from the same card when the instrument is finished, 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.
An instrument built to the customer's specification is usually outside the 14-day cancellation right in the UK, but only if you have said so before they buy.
Give a wait in months rather than a date. 'Current wait is around fourteen months' survives a slow year; 'ready in March' does not.
What it costs
Nothing per order and nothing per transaction. The Free plan allows three instruments with an open balance at any one time, which covers a small queue, and the limit is on open orders rather than orders per year. A maker taking two or three commissions a year rarely needs more. Starter covers thirty for a larger workshop.
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
Deposits for art commissions
The same commission pattern, shorter wait.
When a balance payment fails
Expired cards and what happens next.
Pricing
What the free plan covers.
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 a customer transfer their place in the queue to someone else?
That is your policy, not the app's. If you agree to it, the simplest route is to cancel the original plan and have the new customer place a fresh order.
What if the card has expired by the time I finish?
The charge fails, the customer is emailed a payment link that accepts any card, and it retries after 1, 3 and 7 days. The instrument stays on hold until it clears.
I only take two or three commissions a year. Is the free plan enough?
Yes. The Free plan allows three orders with an open balance at any one time, which covers a small queue, and the limit is on open orders rather than orders per year.
What if the build takes longer than a year?
Reschedule the payment from the order to any future date. The customer gets a fresh reminder before it and nothing is charged in the meantime.
Can the customer pay the balance early?
Yes, from the pay now button on their payment page. Some do as soon as the finished photos go out.
Can I take a bigger deposit on an expensive commission?
Yes. The percentage is set per plan, so a model with exotic timber can carry its own plan at 50% while standard models sit at 30%.
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.
Does the deposit option show on every product?
No. The block only renders on products that carry a plan, so repairs, setups and stock instruments 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.