Booking fees, full payment, or pay in person
Which payment setting to use for which service, and how a booking fee holds a time without asking for the full price.
Each service and product has its own payment method, so you can be strict where no-shows hurt and relaxed where they do not.
Pay online
The customer pays the full price when they book. Best for anything with a high no-show cost (long appointments, products you prepare in advance, tickets) and for services where the customer is new to you.
Pay in person
No payment until they arrive (or until you arrive, for a service at their place). Best for regulars, low-cost services, and businesses whose customers prefer to pay in person. Also the automatic fallback whenever online payment is off: until your identity is verified, a payout account is connected and your cancellation and refund policy is written, or while your plan is paused. See Before customers can pay online.
To ask for a commitment without the full price, add a booking fee (below).
Customer's choice
The customer picks: pay now, or pay in person. A good default for most services: people who want to prepay can, and nobody is put off. With a booking fee on, the in-person side becomes the fee: the customer pays the full price now, or the booking fee now and the rest at the visit.
Booking fee
A booking fee holds the time: the customer pays part of the price online when they book, and the rest at their appointment. Use it where no-shows hurt but asking for the full price up front would put people off.
To set one, open the service in Store → Services, choose Pay in person or Customer's choice, and switch on Ask for a booking fee. Then enter either:
- a fixed amount (say $10), or
- a percentage of the price (a whole number from 1 to 90).
A line under the switch shows what customers pay now and what they pay at the visit.
- Services only. Products never take a booking fee.
- Online payment must be on (your identity verified and a payout account connected). Until then the service works as plain Pay in person, with nothing taken online.
- The smallest fee is $2, or about the same in your currency, because every payout carries a fixed cost.
- The fee is less than the price. A percentage is worked out on the price after any sale. If a sale takes the price below a fixed fee, the customer simply pays the sale price in full.
- The processing fee is added on top for the customer, as on any online payment.
Customers see the fee and the balance before they pay, on your booking page, in the chat and on WhatsApp: "You pay $10 now to hold your time, and $40 at your appointment." A service with a booking fee cannot be paid on a phone call, so the Secretary sends your booking link instead.
After the booking, the appointment shows the fee paid and what is still due. Collect the rest at the visit; completing the appointment marks the balance collected. Your revenue counts the fee when it is paid and the balance once it is collected.
Your cancellation and refund policy
Every business writes its own. Customers see it before they book or pay: under the Pay and Confirm buttons it says, for example, By booking, you agree to Glow Studio's cancellation and refund policy, and the policy's name opens the full text. It is also on your page under Visit, in the confirmation email, and on the pages where customers cancel or move a booking.
Write it in Your page → Business → Policies. Pick a starting point (Flexible, Standard (24 hours) or Strict (48 hours)) and make it yours. Every saved version is kept, so each booking records exactly the words that customer agreed to. You can also ask your Secretary to write or change it.
- Without a policy, online payments are off (booking fees included). Pay in person keeps working. Businesses that joined before 24 October 2026 have 14 days; Home and an email tell you the date.
- The Secretary answers from it. Asked about cancelling, moving, late arrival or refunds, it quotes your policy and never promises more than it says.
- Ordina never refunds anything by itself. The fee or payment is paid out to you with the booking, so a refund is yours to send, the way your policy says, and then recorded in Payments.
Free items
Mark a service or product Free and it is shown as such and never charged, with no payment step at all. Useful for consultations, taster sessions and lead magnets.