Security deposits (also known as damage deposits) help give you insurance that customers return your products the way you rented them out or cover the costs of repairs or replacements.
In this article:
Different security deposit methods
There are a couple of ways you can charge a security deposit on an order:
None: Don't charge a security deposit.
Order amount: Charge a percentage of the total order amount.
Note: Only rental items are included; services, consumables, and custom lines do not count towards the total amount.Product security deposit value: Charge a percentage of the total security deposit value of the products on an order; this lets you charge different deposit amounts for different products.
Fixed amount: Charge a fixed price, regardless of the products on the order.
Add a security deposit to an order
The security deposit for an order is listed in the totals section.
To a security deposit to an order:
View an order.
Click the pencil icon behind the security deposit line in the totals section.
Select the desired security deposit method (and fill in a value).
Click Apply.
Charging security deposits
You can charge a security deposit from your online store, or manually from your Booqable admin.
To manually charge a security deposit:
Click the Payment button from your list of orders, or from the sidebar of an individual order.
Choose a payment method.
Fill in the amount you wish to charge in the Security deposit field.
Click Register payment.
๐ก Tip: Use credit card holds for security deposits to prevent transaction costs for refunds.
Refunding and keeping security deposits
You can keep or refund security deposits from multiple places in Booqable.
From the Return items popup:
In the top bar of an order, click Return items.
Fill in how much of the security deposit you want to keep in the appropriate field.
From the Refund popup:
In the sidebar of an order, hover over over a payment and select Refund.
Fill in the amount you want to keep or refund in the appropriate fields.
๐ก Tip: When an order is paid and returned, but you still need to keep or refund (part of) the security deposit, the payment button for an order shows 'Process deposit'. Clicking the button takes you straight to the Refund popup, leaving the field for the order amount empty.
How kept security deposits show on orders
If you keep a security deposit, it appears on your order as a new line containing the reason, the kept amount (including taxes), and the applied tax profile:
Note: The kept amount is always entered including taxes, regardless of whether you set up Booqable to display your prices including or excluding taxes.
Set different security deposit values for different products
Some products are more expensive to replace than others, so you can set different security deposit values for different products.
To set the security deposit value for a product:
Click Products and then select the product for which you want to set the deposit value.
Click the Pricing tab.
Fill in your desired security deposit value.
Click Save.
Note: The security deposit method for an order needs to be set to 'Product security deposit value'.
Set a default security deposit for new orders
You can apply a default security deposit to all new orders (both online and offline), which you can override from the order screen.
To set up a default security deposit:
Head over to Settings > Pricing > Security deposits.
Select the security deposit method.
Click Save.
Set a default security deposit for specific customers
You can configure default deposit rules for individual customers (regulars you trust, for example).
To set the default security deposit for customers:
Click Customers from the main menu and then select the customer for which you want to configure the default security deposit.
Select a value under Security deposit.
Click Save.
Troubleshooting
I don't see the security deposit applied to my online store.
First, verify that you selected a default security deposit other than 'none'.
When you interact with your online store (like selecting a rental period or adding products to your cart), your browser stores the then-current settings (including security deposits).
Here are three ways to clear these settings:
Visit your store from a private browsing window.
Check out your current shopping cart; the updated settings apply to the next order.
Clear the settings manually:
1 - While in your online store, open your browser console,
2 - Pastewindow.localStorage.clear();
in the console and press Enter,
3 - Refresh the page.