Collecting Online Booking Deposits with Stripe

20-30 minutes

Tutorial 18.5: Collecting Online Booking Deposits with Stripe

Introduction

If you require deposits for certain services, Luminate can automatically collect them when customers book online. This uses Stripe Connect to securely process card payments during the booking flow. Customers are redirected to a Stripe-hosted checkout page after confirming their booking, and the deposit lands directly in your connected Stripe account.

This tutorial covers everything you need to set up, manage, and understand online deposit collection for your salon.

Who this is for: Salon owners and administrators who want to collect deposits automatically when customers book online.

What you'll learn:

How online deposit collection works
Connecting your Stripe account
Ensuring services have deposit requirements configured
Testing the deposit flow
Understanding the customer payment experience
How deposits reach your account
Viewing your Stripe Express dashboard
Refunding an online deposit
Disconnecting Stripe Connect

Time to complete: 20-30 minutes

Prerequisites

Before you begin:

Owner or Admin access to your salon
Online booking enabled (Tutorial 18.1)
At least one service configured with a deposit requirement (Tutorial 7.1, Step 6)
A bank account you can connect to Stripe

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Understanding How Online Deposit Collection Works

Online deposit collection requires two things to be in place:

Stripe Connect connected - Your salon must have a connected Stripe Express account
Service deposit settings configured - At least one bookable service must require a deposit

When both conditions are met, customers who book a service requiring a deposit are redirected to a Stripe Checkout page after confirming their booking. They have 30 minutes to complete payment. If payment is not completed within that window, the booking is automatically cancelled.

Key details:

A 2.5% platform fee is deducted from each deposit payment
Deposits are collected per service - if a customer books multiple services with deposits, the total is combined into a single checkout
The booking is created before payment - customers receive a confirmation immediately, and the deposit status updates once payment completes
Stripe handles all card processing securely; Luminate never sees or stores card details

Step 2: Connect Your Stripe Account

Click your salon name in the header bar
Select Salon Settings from the dropdown menu
Click the Online Booking tab
Scroll down to the Deposit Payments section
Click Connect Stripe Account
- If you previously started but didn't finish, you'll see Continue Setup instead
You'll be redirected to Stripe's onboarding page
Follow Stripe's steps to:
- Verify your identity
- Provide your business details
- Connect your bank account
Once complete, Stripe redirects you back to Luminate
The Deposit Payments section now shows your connection status

What you'll see after connecting:

A Connected status indicator
A Stripe Dashboard button to access your Stripe Express dashboard
A Disconnect option

Note: Stripe may take a moment to verify your details. If you see a "pending" state after returning, wait a few minutes and refresh the page. The account.updated webhook from Stripe will mark your onboarding as complete once verification finishes.

Step 3: Ensure Services Have Deposit Requirements Configured

Online deposits are driven by individual service settings. If a service doesn't require a deposit, no payment is collected for that service during online booking.

To configure deposits on a service:

Navigate to Services in the sidebar
Edit the service you want to require a deposit for
In the deposit section, enable Requires deposit
Choose a Deposit Type:
- Fixed amount - A specific amount (e.g., 20.00)
- Percentage of price - A percentage of the service price (e.g., 50%)
Enter the Deposit Amount (for fixed) or Deposit Percentage (for percentage)
Save the service

For full details on configuring service deposits, see Tutorial 7.1, Step 6.

How percentage deposits work with staff level pricing: If your salon uses staff levels (e.g., Junior, Senior, Director) with different prices for the same service, a percentage deposit is calculated based on the price for the specific staff member the customer selects. For example, a 50% deposit on a service priced at 60.00 for a Senior stylist would be 30.00, while the same service priced at 80.00 for a Director would require a 40.00 deposit.

Step 4: Test the Flow Before Going Live

Before promoting deposit collection to customers:

Ensure at least one service has a deposit requirement configured
Verify your Stripe account is connected (check the Deposit Payments section in settings)
Open your booking page in a private/incognito browser window
Complete a test booking for a service that requires a deposit
On the Stripe Checkout page, use Stripe's test card number if you're in test mode
Verify the booking appears in your appointments with the correct deposit status
Check your Stripe Express dashboard (see Step 7) to confirm the payment arrived

Step 5: Understanding the Customer Payment Experience

Here's what customers see when they book a service requiring a deposit:

Booking flow (Steps 1-5) - The customer selects services, chooses a stylist, verifies their identity, picks a date and time, and reviews their booking as normal (see Tutorial 18.3)
Redirect to Stripe Checkout - After clicking Confirm & Pay Deposit, the customer is redirected to a Stripe-hosted payment page
Stripe Checkout page shows:
- Your salon's name
- Line items for each service requiring a deposit, with the deposit amount
- The total deposit amount
- A secure card entry form
On successful payment - The customer is returned to the booking confirmation page showing a Deposit Paid status with the amount confirmed
On abandonment - If the customer closes the Stripe page or doesn't pay, the booking is automatically cancelled after 30 minutes

Important: The booking is created before the customer pays. This means:

The customer receives a booking confirmation immediately
The deposit status updates separately once payment completes
If payment never completes, the automatic cleanup cancels the booking

Step 6: How Deposits Reach Your Account

When a customer pays a deposit:

The payment is processed through your connected Stripe account
A 2.5% platform fee is automatically deducted (with a minimum fee per currency - e.g., 25p for GBP, 30c for EUR/USD)
The net amount settles to your bank account according to your Stripe payout schedule (typically 2-7 business days, depending on your country and Stripe settings)

Example:

Customer pays a 50.00 deposit
Platform fee: 1.25 (2.5%)
You receive: 48.75

A completed deposit transaction is also recorded in Luminate, providing a full audit trail alongside your Stripe records.

Step 7: Viewing Your Stripe Express Dashboard

Your Stripe Express dashboard lets you view payouts, transaction history, and manage your connected account settings.

Go to Salon Settings > Online Booking tab
In the Deposit Payments section, click Stripe Dashboard
You'll be redirected to your Stripe Express dashboard in a new tab

From the dashboard you can:

View individual payments and payouts
Check your payout schedule
Update your bank account details
Review your account status

Step 8: Refunding an Online Deposit

If you need to refund a deposit collected through Stripe:

Card refund (back to customer's card):

Navigate to the deposit transaction in Luminate
Process the refund as a card refund (see Tutorial 8.2)
Luminate calls the Stripe API to process the refund on your connected account
The refund appears on the customer's card statement (typically within 5-10 business days)
The appointment's deposit status is reset to unpaid

Cash or manual refund:

If you refund by cash or another method, process the refund as a cash refund in Luminate
No Stripe API call is made - you handle the refund manually
The transaction is marked as refunded in Luminate

Note: If a full refund is processed directly through the Stripe dashboard (outside Luminate), the system will detect it via webhook and mark the deposit as unpaid on the relevant appointments. Partial refunds made through the Stripe dashboard are not automatically reflected in Luminate.

Step 9: Disconnecting Stripe Connect

If you no longer want to collect online deposits:

Go to Salon Settings > Online Booking tab
In the Deposit Payments section, click Disconnect
Confirm the disconnection

What happens when you disconnect:

New online bookings will no longer collect deposits (customers can still book, just without a payment step)
Existing paid deposits are unaffected - they've already been processed
Your service deposit settings remain unchanged (they're still used for manual POS deposits)
If you reconnect later, deposit collection resumes automatically

Common Pitfalls

"My deposits aren't being collected on online bookings"

Check both prerequisites:

Is your Stripe account connected? Go to Salon Settings > Online Booking and check the Deposit Payments section shows Connected
Do your services require deposits? Edit the service and verify Requires deposit is enabled with a deposit amount set

Both must be true for deposits to be collected during online booking.

"The customer says they paid but the deposit shows as unpaid"

There can be a short delay between payment and the deposit status updating in Luminate. The system relies on a webhook from Stripe to confirm payment. This usually arrives within seconds but can occasionally take a few minutes. Refresh the appointment page to check for updates.

"A booking was cancelled even though the customer intended to pay"

Bookings with unpaid deposits are automatically cancelled after 30 minutes. If the customer was delayed (slow internet, card issues, distraction), the booking may have been cancelled before they completed payment. The customer would need to book again.

"Stripe says my onboarding is incomplete"

If you see Continue Setup instead of Connected, you may not have completed all of Stripe's verification steps. Click Continue Setup to return to Stripe and finish providing the required information.

"The deposit amount looks wrong for a percentage deposit"

Percentage deposits are calculated based on the service price for the selected staff member's level. If the customer chose a higher-level stylist, the deposit will be higher than expected for a lower-level stylist. This is correct behaviour.

"I refunded a deposit but the customer hasn't received it"

Card refunds typically take 5-10 business days to appear on the customer's statement, depending on their bank. Check the Stripe Express dashboard to confirm the refund was processed.

Tips and Best Practices

Start with your highest-value services - Enable deposits for bridal, colour corrections, and other high-value services first, then expand to others based on your experience.
Set clear terms - Update your booking terms and conditions to mention your deposit policy (see Tutorial 18.2, Step 5). Customers should know what to expect before they book.
Test regularly - After changing service prices or deposit settings, do a test booking to verify the correct deposit amount appears at checkout.
Monitor your Stripe dashboard - Check your Stripe Express dashboard periodically to ensure payouts are arriving as expected.
Communicate with customers - If a customer contacts you about a deposit, you can look up the transaction in both Luminate and your Stripe dashboard for a complete picture.
Keep deposit amounts reasonable - Very high deposits may discourage online bookings. Consider 20-50% for most services, with higher amounts only for premium or specialist services.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do all my services need to require deposits?

No. Only services with Requires deposit enabled will trigger deposit collection during online booking. Services without a deposit requirement can still be booked online - customers simply won't be asked to pay anything upfront.

What happens if a customer books multiple services and only some require deposits?

The Stripe Checkout page shows line items only for the services that require deposits. The customer pays the combined deposit total for those services. Services without deposit requirements are included in the booking but not in the payment.

Can I set different deposit amounts for different customers?

No. Deposit amounts are configured per service (and adjusted by staff level pricing if using percentage deposits). All customers booking the same service with the same stylist pay the same deposit.

What happens if I disconnect Stripe while customers have upcoming bookings with paid deposits?

Existing paid deposits are not affected by disconnecting. The payments have already been processed through Stripe. Only new bookings will stop collecting deposits.

Does this affect how I take deposits at the point of sale?

No. Online Stripe deposits and POS deposits are separate flows. You can continue taking manual deposits through Quick POS as described in Tutorial 8.4, regardless of your Stripe Connect status. Both types of deposits appear in the appointment's deposit tracking.

Is there a minimum deposit amount?

There is no minimum deposit amount enforced by Luminate. However, Stripe has its own minimum charge amounts (typically 0.30 in your currency). Very small deposits may not be practical due to payment processing fees.

When is the platform fee charged?

The 2.5% platform fee is deducted automatically from each deposit payment at the time of the transaction. You receive the net amount in your Stripe payouts. There is no separate invoice for platform fees.

How can I tell if a deposit was collected via Stripe or manually at the POS?

Deposit transactions created from Stripe payments include a card payment reference starting with pi_ (Stripe's payment intent ID). Manual POS deposits show the payment method used at the till (cash, card via terminal, etc.). Both types are visible on the appointment's payment history.

Last Updated: February 2026