Pricing, deposits and payment deadlines
Set a price for a booking service and choose whether clients pay a deposit, pay in full or book without payment. If payment is required to confirm, CoreHue reserves the time until the payment deadline.
Setting the price
Direct booking and mini sessions have one Price per slot, under Pricing on the Price & duration tab (or Price & slot on mini sessions). That's what one booking costs. If you let clients book several slots in a row, you can set a total for each length. See Offering longer sessions.
Inquiry services don't take money, so their price is a signal. On the Details tab, choose Fixed price, Starting at, Per hour or Don't show a price. The real number goes in the proposal you send afterwards. See Setting up an inquiry service.
Currency
Currency sits at the top of the Pricing section. On Free and Plus it's fixed to your default currency, with a link to Upgrade to Pro to select another. On Pro you can set a different currency for each service. See Invoicing in more than one currency.
Once a booking has an invoice, its currency is locked, and any invoice you create from that booking uses the same currency.
Tax
Direct booking and mini session services can carry a Tax rate beside the price. It's applied to the service line on the invoice CoreHue creates from the booking. Each add-on can have its own rate too, once Collect payment is on. Set your rates up first under Setting up tax rates.
Taking payment at booking
- Open the service, go to Booking flow and expand step 4 Payment.
- Turn on Collect payment, "Collect a deposit or full payment at booking."
- Under Payment at booking, choose Full payment or Deposit.
- For a deposit, pick a Deposit type of Percentage or Fixed amount, and enter the amount. Percentage starts at 50.
- Under Payment methods, pick what clients can pay with.
- Choose Save.
Leave Collect payment off and the booking confirms as soon as your client finishes the other steps. You can invoice them afterwards.
When the balance is due
With a deposit, Balance due decides when the rest falls due:
- Before the service, with a Days before the service field between 1 and 90. It starts at 7.
- On booking, which makes the whole amount due straight away.
The deposit and balance sit on the same invoice. This setting just gives the balance its due date, which is what lets it go overdue and be chased by invoice reminders on Plus and Pro.
Payment methods
You can offer card payments through Stripe and any manual methods you've set up, like a bank transfer. A service that collects payment can't be published without at least one method.
Set your methods up first under Payments → Settings → Payment methods. See Accepting card payments with Stripe and Bank transfer, cash and other manual payments. Then book the service yourself once to see it work.
The payment deadline
Expand More payment settings under step 4 Payment to find Expire unpaid bookings after. It's a number plus Minutes, Hours or Days, from 15 minutes up to 30 days. It starts at 24 hours.
The clock starts when your client opens online checkout or reports a manual payment, not when they first land on your page. That's also the moment the booking is created, as pending. Until the deadline passes, the booking stays pending and the time stays reserved. If payment is recorded in time, the booking confirms itself. If the deadline passes first, the booking expires and the time goes back on your page.
| How clients usually pay | A sensible deadline |
|---|---|
| Card through Stripe | A few hours |
| Bank transfer | Two or three days |
| Any method you confirm by hand | Long enough to cover days you're away from your desk |
A short deadline on bank transfers expires bookings from people who did nothing wrong. See Unpaid bookings and held times for extending a deadline on one booking and what to do if someone pays late.
What your client sees
On the Review step, the button reads Pay deposit or Full payment with the amount. When there's a deposit, a small menu on the button lets them pay in full instead.
Choosing it opens a panel headed Pay and the amount:
- Card or digital wallet, "Via Stripe · Apple Pay and Google Pay where available", takes them to a secure checkout.
- A manual method shows your instructions, a place to add proof of payment (an image or PDF up to 5MB) and a Note (optional) box. The button reads I've made this payment.
The booking is created when they choose a method and go through to pay, not when the panel opens. Afterwards they land on their booking page, where any remaining balance can be paid later.
Frequently asked questions
Can I take a deposit and collect the rest later?
Yes. Choose Deposit, then set Balance due to Before the service with the number of days. The balance sits on the same invoice with its own due date.
Does CoreHue take a cut of my booking payments?
CoreHue doesn't charge a platform fee on your client payments. You only pay Stripe's processing fees.
Can clients pay by bank transfer?
Yes. Add a manual payment method with your bank details under Payments → Settings → Payment methods, then tick it on the service. You confirm the payment when it arrives. See Reviewing payment proof.