Online booking services - should I request payment upfront?

The Pros and Cons

Payment upfront is very appealing. Its one annoying, time consuming process eliminated, you don't have the awkward in person transaction, and if the client doesn't show up, it's their problem, not yours. 

Or is it? The sad truth is that in many industries, clients WILL cancel, cancel often, and will expect a refund (that you refuse at your peril). And this is OFTEN a big pain - it doesn't take many refunds a week to completely offset the convenience of accepting payments upfront.

4 Questions to ask yourself first

So with those Pros and cons in mind, here are a few questions that could push you one way or the other:

1. What's the standard for your industry? 9 times out of 10 its easiest for everyone to just follow it.
2. Does the booking incur YOU immediate, significant costs? For example, booking a place at a retreat should incur AT LEAST an upfront deposit
3. If setting up a new system, can you start WITHOUT upfront payment, and revisit at a later date? Its complicated enough getting a system going without adding this challenge in, and can often be implemented at a later date.
4. Do you intend on offering refunds? If so, do you know how easy / difficult it is using your booking / payment software?

In conclusion

Hopefully the above helped move you forward in making a decision. Point 3 is often the most helpful - if you can, start with the simplest system possible and try it out for a little while. There's nothing like a test run to help you figure out what you actually need.

Happy Scheduling.