Take Deposits and Collect Balances
Let customers pay a deposit on your booking page and have Resytech collect the rest before the activity, by pay link or automatic charge.
Multi-day trips, private charters and other high-ticket bookings often take a deposit up front and the rest closer to the date. This guide sets that up so customers can choose Pay a deposit or Pay in full at checkout, and Resytech collects the balance for you on the due date.
Prerequisites
- A connected Stripe account (see Set Up Stripe).
- Permission to edit activities.
Set Up the Deposit
- Open the activity and go to Settings > Payment.
- Turn on Deposit Enabled.
- Choose a Deposit Type:
- Percentage of the total: for example 25% of the booking total.
- Fixed amount per booking: the same deposit whatever the party size.
- Fixed amount per guest: for example $750 per person, multiplied by the number of guests.
- Enter the percentage or amount.
- Set Balance due before the booking: how many days before the booking the balance is due (for example 45).
- Choose how to Collect the Balance (see below).
- Click Save Changes.
Choose How the Balance Is Collected
| Option | What happens on the due date |
|---|---|
| Manually | Nothing automatic. Your booking page doesn't offer a deposit, and you collect any balance yourself (for example by sending an invoice). |
| Email the customer a link to pay | The customer is emailed an invoice with a link to pay the balance. |
| Charge the card used for the deposit | A week before, the customer is emailed a reminder of the amount and date. On the due date, the card they paid the deposit with is charged and a receipt is emailed. |
The due date is the booking's start date minus your collection days, at 10:00 AM local time. If you reschedule the booking, the due date moves with it, and a new reminder goes out if the date changes after one was sent. If the new due date has already passed by more than two days, the customer is emailed a pay link instead of being charged.
A booking made less than a week before its due date gets the reminder shortly after booking. The card is always charged at least 48 hours after the reminder, so a reminder that goes out late moves the charge back, and the reminder states the date the card will actually be charged.
What Customers See
- At checkout, a Payment Options section offers Pay a deposit or Pay in full, with the amount due today and the balance and its due date.
- With automatic charges, checkout explains that the remaining balance will be charged to the same card on the due date.
- The confirmation email and the customer's manage-booking page show when the balance is due and how it will be collected.
Bookings made inside the collection window pay in full. For example, with a 45-day window, a booking made 30 days before the trip has no deposit option.
When an Automatic Charge Can't Go Through
Resytech never charges more than the customer agreed to at checkout, and never charges without the reminder having gone out at least 48 hours earlier. Instead of charging, it emails the customer a pay link and notifies you when:
- the card is declined or needs the customer to confirm the payment,
- the reminder email couldn't be delivered (you're notified right away so you can fix the customer's email address; the pay link goes out two days after the due date),
- the balance went up after booking (for example you added an add-on),
- the booking had a refund, or a payment on it is disputed or charged back,
- an invoice is already open on the booking.
If the customer pays only part of the pay link, or the balance changes so the link no longer matches it, a new pay link for what's left is emailed. You'll get a Balance Collection notification for all of these (in the dashboard, and by email and push unless you turn them off in your notification preferences).
Check or Stop Collection on a Booking
Open the booking. The Pricing card shows the balance due date, how it will be collected and its status:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Scheduled | Waiting for the reminder or due date. |
| Charging now | A charge is in progress. |
| Collected | The balance was charged automatically. |
| Pay link sent | The customer was emailed a pay link. |
| Paid another way | The balance reached zero some other way (for example you took a payment). |
| Stopped | Collection was stopped. |
To collect the balance yourself instead, click Stop automatic collection. If you take a payment for the full balance, collection stops on its own.
While the status is Charging now, you can't take another payment on the booking or stop collection, so the balance can't be collected twice. This usually clears within a few minutes. Cancelling or changing the booking's status waits for the charge to finish. If the charge finishes after the booking was cancelled or paid another way, you're notified so you can refund the customer.
Platform Fee on Deposits
The Resytech platform fee for the whole booking is taken with the deposit, so the balance payment doesn't carry it again. Anything added after the deposit, such as an add-on or a price increase, carries the normal fee.
Related
- Pricing: Payment Settings
- Create an Invoice
- Create a Down Payment (card authorization holds, a different feature)