Where it lives
Open Settings›Booking settings›Deposits & no-shows. The first card, Get paid, connects your Stripe account. Below it, Deposit on new bookings sets a default for everything booked through Sally or your booking page. To ask for a deposit on some services only, each service has its own Deposit dropdown under Settings›Your business›Services & team, and a per-service setting always wins over the default.
Turn deposits on
Connect Stripe under Get paid
Click Connect and follow Stripe's short sign-up if you don't already have an account. It's free to set up. Deposits are paid into this account, never ours.
You'll see: the Get paid card change to Connected, and the deposit controls below it wake up.Choose a default for new bookings
Under Deposit on new bookings pick No deposit, A set amount, A percentage of the service or Pay in full when booking, then type the amount. The What a customer sees line rewrites itself as you go, so you can check the wording before you save.
Set a different deposit on particular services
Many owners leave the default at No deposit and switch it on for colour, treatments and long appointments only. Open Services & team, find the service, set its Deposit dropdown and amount, then Save changes.
You'll see: the deposit shown on that service on your booking page and quoted by Sally in the chat from the next booking on.
What the customer sees
When someone books a service with a deposit, the booking sits as Awaiting deposit for a few minutes while they pay. In the chat, Sally shows a card with the deposit now and the balance on the day, and one Pay button. On your booking page it's a payment step before the confirmation. Either way the card details go to Stripe's secure checkout; Sally never sees or handles card numbers.
Once the deposit is paid the booking flips to Confirmed and shows a Deposit paid chip in your Bookings list. Walk-ins and bookings you add yourself are never charged a deposit.
Refunds and cancellations
A deposit is held against the booking, not a fee you've pocketed. If the customer cancels with at least your Cancellation window of notice (set under Rules & timing), it's refunded in full on its own. Inside the window, or on a no-show, the deposit stays with you unless you choose to refund it from the booking. The balance is always settled the way you normally take payment.
Common questions
Can I ask for a deposit on one service but not another?
Yes. Leave Deposit on new bookings at No deposit and set the Deposit dropdown on each service you want covered. A service-level setting always overrides the default, in both directions.
What if a service has both a deposit and confirm-to-hold set?
The deposit wins. That service uses the payment flow and the tap-to-confirm hold is skipped, so a customer is never asked to do both.
Where does the money show up?
In your Stripe dashboard, paid out to your bank on Stripe's normal schedule. In Suddenly Sorted the booking carries a Deposit paid, Deposit due or Refunded chip so you can see the state at a glance.
Still stuck on this?
Tell us the service and roughly when the booking was made. We'll check the deposit setting and the Stripe payment against it.
Send us a message