Booking deposits: what to charge and why they work
A deposit is not about the money up front. It is the thing that separates a real booking from a polite maybe.
Most people who start taking deposits do it after getting burned: a date held for weeks, turned-down work, and a client who vanishes. The deposit is usually framed as protection, but its real job is signalling. It tells you which enquiries are serious, early enough to matter.
What a deposit is actually for
The obvious purpose is compensation if someone cancels. The more valuable purpose is filtering. Someone willing to pay a small amount to hold a date is a different person from someone who says "yes, pencil me in".
That filter costs a serious client nothing, because they were going to pay you anyway. It only inconveniences the people who were never going to book, which is exactly who you want to inconvenience.
How much to charge
There is no universal number, and anyone who gives you one is guessing about your market. The common range across service work is somewhere between a fifth and a half of the total, with the balance due on or shortly after delivery.
Two things matter more than the exact percentage. It should hurt enough that cancelling is a real decision, and it should be small enough that a first-time client does not feel exposed sending it to someone they have not met.
Make it non-refundable, and say so early
A refundable deposit is not a deposit, it is a temporary loan. If you are going to hold a date and turn away other work, the deposit has to be at risk for the client, or it does not change their behaviour.
Say this in writing, at the point of booking, in plain language. Almost every dispute about deposits comes from a client who genuinely did not realise. This is general information, not legal advice, and local consumer rules can apply.
Attach it to the booking, not to a chat
A deposit only does its job if it is clearly tied to a specific date and scope. Sent as a bare transfer with no context, it becomes an argument later about what exactly it was for.
The cleanest version is a priced offer that names the job, which the client pays to accept. Then the deposit, the terms and the date are one object rather than three loosely related memories.
- What is a normal deposit for a booking?
- It varies by market and job size. A fifth to a half of the total is the common range in service work, with the rest due on or shortly after delivery.
- Should deposits be refundable?
- If it is refundable it does not change behaviour, which defeats the point. Whatever you choose, put it in writing before the client pays.
- Will asking for a deposit scare clients away?
- It scares away the ones who were not going to book. Clients who are used to hiring professionals expect to be asked.
- What if a client cancels far in advance?
- Many people keep the deposit but credit it toward a future date if there is enough notice. That keeps goodwill without giving up the protection.
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