Balance 
Deposits for marquee and event hire
You are not selling a product, you are selling a Saturday. Once it is booked you cannot sell it twice, which is exactly what a deposit is for.
At a glance
How a hire business usually sets this up.
- Typical deposit
- 25% to 30% to hold the date
- Balance charged
- Two to four weeks before the event
- Balance rule
- Exact date, moved per booking
- Reminder
- 3 days before the charge
- Per-order fee
- None
- Shopify plan
- Any Shopify plan
One plan on your hire packages. The deposit is a percentage of the booking, and the balance date is set so the money has cleared before you commit crew and transport.
Where the money lands
A £3,200 marquee for 14 June at 25%, balance three weeks before the event.
Enough to make the date real, small enough that people book early.
The usual balance point. Time to sort a failed card before the crew is committed.
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 booking. The balance is charged to the same saved card on the date you set, and the customer does not need to do anything.
From enquiry to strike
The money is settled before anybody loads a van.
- 1
Date confirmed, link sent
£800 taken
The customer checks out through your Shopify checkout, picks the deposit option and pays the deposit. The date is theirs and the order lands with the balance and its date recorded.
- 2
Months of planning
Nothing charged
Guest numbers change, the dance floor comes and goes. Edit the Shopify order each time and the balance follows. Nothing is charged until the date you set.
- 3
Three days before the balance
Reminder sent
An email, or a text if you use them, with the amount and the date. No phone call about money from the office.
- 4
Balance day, three weeks out
£2,400 charged
The balance is charged to the saved card. The customer gets a receipt and the booking shows paid in full in your morning digest, which is your crew-planning list.
- 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. You are alerted if it goes overdue, with two weeks still in hand.
- 6
Build, event, strike
Paid in full
The hold releases itself once the booking is paid, so the order can be closed off after the strike without anybody checking whether the money came in.
Why the date matters more than the goods
In most trades the deposit covers materials. Here it covers opportunity: a date you have turned other customers away for. That changes the policy wording. Say plainly what happens if they cancel, and when, because a cancellation eight weeks out costs you much less than one eight days out.
A tiered cancellation policy in your terms, with the deposit non-refundable from the moment the date is held, is standard in this trade. Balance Due repeats your policy text under every payment message and on the customer's payment page, so the terms are in front of them at the point they are paying.
You cannot put a Saturday back on the shelf. The deposit is the price of taking it off.
Setting it up
About fifteen minutes, then a few seconds per booking to set the date.
- In Shopify, check Settings, Payments: capture must be automatic at checkout or manual, not per fulfilment.
- Create a plan in Balance Due: 25% percentage deposit, balance rule exact date, set to a date that suits most of your bookings.
- Attach the plan to your hire packages. If you quote per event, create a product per package with the price set per order through a variant and send the customer the link once they accept.
- When each booking lands, move the balance date on the order to three weeks before that event. It takes a few seconds and keeps every customer on the same rule.
- 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.
Balance Due does not take deposits on draft orders. The booking has to come through checkout, which is also what saves the card for the balance.
Which balance rule for which booking
A wedding, a festival season and a corporate repeat are not the same shape of order.
| What you are booking | Balance rule | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A single wedding or party | Exact date, moved per order | Three weeks before that event. The money is in before the crew is committed. |
| A season with one cut-off | Exact date on the plan | Every booking in the season is charged on the same day. One reconciliation job rather than fifty. |
| A corporate client who books monthly | A number of days after the order | Fourteen or thirty days, predictable, no dates to set by hand. |
| A booking inside three weeks | No plan | There is no gap to bridge. Take payment in full as you do now. |
A product carries one plan at a time, so a package that is sometimes booked a year ahead and sometimes next week is two products: one with the plan and one without.
Dates that move and add-ons that arrive late
Events get postponed, and nobody has ever ordered fewer chairs than they first thought.
The event is postponed
Reschedule the balance payment from the order to three weeks before the new date. The customer gets a fresh reminder before it and nothing is charged in the meantime.
- One edit on the order, no new booking
- The deposit stays where it is
- If the whole event is cancelled, cancel the plan and the collection stops
Add-ons close to the day
Extra tables, heating, a dance floor, more chairs. Edit the Shopify order and the difference is added to the balance if it has not been taken yet.
- Before the balance date: the balance picks up the difference
- After the balance has been taken: sell the extras as a separate order
- The customer's payment page always shows the current figure
A damage deposit as well
Balance Due collects the balance of what was ordered. A refundable damage deposit is a separate arrangement, usually a hold or a separate payment you handle yourself.
- Keep the hire balance and the damage deposit as two different things
- Take the damage deposit as its own payment, not as part of the plan
- Refund it in Shopify as normal after the strike
If the balance fails two weeks out
It retries after 1, 3 and 7 days with a payment link each time, and you are alerted when it goes overdue. With a three-week window you have time to call them before the crew is committed, and the order stays on hold so nobody adds it to the loading list by mistake.
If they pay by bank transfer instead, record it against the order in Shopify. Balance Due follows the order's outstanding amount and closes the plan when it reaches zero, so the saved card is not charged on top.
Set the balance date earlier for your busiest weekends. Four weeks out on a bank holiday Saturday gives you more room than three.
What it costs
Nothing per order and nothing per transaction. The Free plan covers three bookings with an open balance at any one time, and Starter covers thirty, which suits a seasonal business with a summer's worth of weddings on the books. The limit counts open balances rather than bookings a year, so an event 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
Automatic balance collection
Dates, retries and overdue alerts.
Reminders and receipts
What the customer gets before the charge.
Pricing
Seasonal businesses fit Starter 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 the balance be due a set number of weeks before the event rather than a fixed calendar date?
Set the plan's default to a date that suits most bookings, then move the payment date on each order to three weeks before that event. It takes a few seconds per booking and keeps every customer on the same rule.
We take a damage deposit as well. Does the app handle that?
No. Balance Due collects the balance of what was ordered. A refundable damage deposit is a separate arrangement, usually a hold or a separate payment you handle yourself.
What if the balance fails two weeks before the event?
It retries after 1, 3 and 7 days with a payment link each time, and you are alerted when it goes overdue. With a three-week window you have time to call them before the crew is committed.
Can a customer pay the balance early?
Yes, from the pay now button on their payment page. Some settle up as soon as the invoice from the venue arrives.
What if the event is cancelled after the balance has been taken?
The money is already with you. Refund whatever your cancellation policy says in Shopify as normal. Balance Due has nothing further to collect.
Can I take a bigger deposit on peak dates?
Yes. Create a second plan with a higher percentage and attach it to a peak-season product. A product carries one plan at a time.
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 consumables and small hire items 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.