The simplest way to take deposits online in Ireland is to switch on the deposit setting in your booking system or, if you do not have one, send the customer a payment link from Stripe, SumUp or Revolut Business. Ask for a share of the price rather than the full amount, put the cancellation terms in plain words where the customer reads them before paying, and let the tool send the receipt. Irish consumer law has no problem with deposits, but the terms have to be fair and shown up front, so the wording deserves as much care as the technology.
This guide covers why deposits are worth asking for, how much to ask, which tools suit which kind of business, what the CCPC and the Consumer Rights Act expect, and the VAT timing point that catches people out.
Why a deposit is worth the awkward conversation
A no-show on a fifteen minute trim is an irritation. A no-show on a three hour colour, a full day tattoo sitting or a wedding cake you have already bought the ingredients for is a hole in the week that nobody else can fill at short notice. The deposit is not really about the money you keep. It gives the customer something at stake, and that is what makes them turn up or ring ahead.
The businesses that gain most are the ones selling time in big blocks or making things to order: tattoo studios, cake makers, beauty salons doing lash and brow work, photographers, kitchen fitters, anyone hiring out a marquee or a bouncy castle for a date. If a cancellation costs you more than a few minutes, a deposit belongs in your process.
There is a second effect that owners mention after a few months. The people who were never going to come stop booking, and the ones who do book treat the slot like a dental appointment rather than a maybe.
How much to ask for
No Irish law sets a deposit amount. The usual practice is a share of the price, somewhere between a fifth and a half, scaled to how much you lose if the slot goes empty. The table is what we suggest to clients, not a regulation.
| Kind of booking | Usual deposit | Why that level |
|---|---|---|
| Short appointment (trim, blow dry, consultation) | None, or a small flat amount | The slot is easy to refill and a deposit puts people off |
| Long appointment (colour, lashes, massage, tattoo sitting) | Roughly 20 to 30 percent | Covers the hours you cannot resell |
| Custom order (cake, framing, alterations, jewellery) | Roughly 30 to 50 percent | Pays for materials you buy before the customer sees anything |
| Date-based hire or event (photographer, band, marquee) | Roughly 20 to 50 percent, sometimes a fixed booking fee | The date leaves your diary the moment you accept it |
Two cautions. A deposit close to the full price stops being a deposit and starts looking like prepayment, and customers resist it. And the bigger the deposit, the more carefully the refund terms need to be written, because a large non-refundable amount is exactly what a consumer body looks at hardest.
The tools that work in Ireland
Irish customers pay by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Revolut without thinking about it, so any of the mainstream tools will do. The real question is whether you want the deposit tied to a calendar slot or sent as a one-off request.
| Tool | Best for | How the customer pays | What to watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deposit setting in a booking system (Fresha, Booksy, Phorest, Timely, Square Appointments) | Salons, barbers, studios, clinics | Card or wallet at the moment they pick the slot | The system’s own fees, and whether deposits are included on the plan you are on |
| Stripe payment link | Anyone with a website, custom orders | A link sent by WhatsApp, text or email, paid on a hosted page | You need a Stripe account and a bank account in the business name |
| SumUp payment link | Shops already using a SumUp card reader | Same link, same account as the counter payments | Keep online and in-person takings separate in your records |
| Revolut Business payment link | Sole traders already banking with Revolut | Link or QR code, paid by card or from a Revolut account | Make sure it is a business account, not your personal one |
Every one of these keeps a percentage of each payment. The rates differ by provider and change often, so compare them when you set up rather than relying on anything written here.
If you already take online bookings through a system, use the deposit feature built into it before adding anything else. One tool, one set of records. If you are still choosing, the differences between them are set out in the best booking systems for Irish salons and barbers.
What Irish consumer law expects
The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission publishes plain guidance on deposits at ccpc.ie, and it is worth ten minutes of your time. As we understand it, the main points are these.
A deposit is part of the contract, so the terms attached to it have to be agreed before the customer pays, not announced afterwards. If someone pays and only then learns the deposit is non-refundable, that term is on shaky ground.
Terms have to be fair. The unfair terms rules, now part of the Consumer Rights Act 2022, let a court strike out a term that tilts the deal too far towards the business. A clause that keeps the whole deposit for any cancellation at any notice, while giving the customer nothing if you cancel, is the kind of clause that gets struck out. A reasonable cancellation window, and a refund when you are the one who cancels, keeps you on the right side.
The amount kept should bear some relation to your real loss. If a customer cancels a week ahead and you fill the slot, holding on to a large deposit is hard to justify.
One more point for anyone taking bookings through a website. Contracts made online are distance contracts, and the Consumer Rights Act gives consumers a fourteen day cooling-off period on many of them, with exceptions for services tied to a specific date. Whether a given appointment falls inside or outside those exceptions is not something we would state with certainty. If you rely on non-refundable deposits for big bookings, ask the CCPC helpline or a solicitor once and write the answer into your terms.
Writing the policy in plain words
The policy needs to be short enough that people read it and specific enough to settle an argument. Put it on the booking page, in the payment link description and in the confirmation message. This is the shape we use, as an example only, with the numbers changed for each business:
A deposit of 30 percent holds your appointment. Cancel or move it with 48 hours’ notice and the deposit carries over to your new date or is refunded, whichever you prefer. With less than 48 hours’ notice, or if you do not arrive, the deposit covers the time set aside for you. If we have to cancel, you get the deposit back in full.
Avoid “no refunds under any circumstances”. Avoid legal words you would not say across the counter. Say what happens, in the order it happens.
Receipts, records and VAT
The payment tool emails a receipt automatically, and you should leave that switched on. For your own records, note the deposit against the booking so whoever is on the till knows the balance owed. Revenue expects business records to be kept for six years, and deposits are part of those records whether or not the customer ever turns up.
If you are registered for VAT there is a timing point. As we understand it, VAT on a deposit falls due in the period you receive the money, not when the service is delivered, and if the customer forfeits the deposit the VAT generally still stands. Your accountant will know how to book it, but tell them deposits are coming in so it is handled correctly from the first one.
Deposits also mean you are holding names, phone numbers and payment references, so the basics in GDPR and cookies for small business websites in Ireland apply: say what you collect and why, and do not keep it longer than you need.
What we do for clients
Deposits sit in our Complete plan, which is €1,499 to set up and €100 a month. The booking system on your site takes the deposit when the customer picks the slot, sends the receipt and the reminder, and the money lands in your own bank account rather than passing through ours. Card, Apple Pay and Google Pay are included, and gift vouchers can run through the same setup.
If you already use Fresha, Booksy or another system and it is working, we connect it to the site instead of replacing it, and we keep its deposit settings. We also write the cancellation wording with you so it is plain, fair and visible before anyone pays.
For a business that only needs the odd deposit on a custom order, a payment link from one of the tools above costs nothing to set up, and we will say so rather than sell you the bigger plan. The two plans are compared on the pricing page.
Take deposits online: the steps
- Decide which bookings need a deposit. Start with the slots that hurt most when someone fails to show: long appointments, custom orders and anything you buy materials for in advance.
- Set the amount and the policy. Pick a share of the price, usually between a fifth and a half, and write down in plain words when it is kept, refunded or moved to a new date.
- Choose the tool. Use the deposit setting in your booking system if you have one. Otherwise create a payment link in Stripe, SumUp or Revolut Business.
- Show the policy before payment. Put the cancellation terms on the booking page and in the payment request so the customer reads them before the money leaves their account.
- Send a receipt and record it. Let the tool email the receipt automatically, then note the deposit against the booking so the balance is right on the day.
- Settle the balance and keep the books straight. Take the remainder at the appointment and, if you are VAT registered, account for the deposit in the period you received it.