✨ Please note: Ticket costs are available on the Lite plan or above.

You can use a ticket to collect a deposit payment through Bookwhen and manually collect the remaining balance later. While this isn't automated, it offers a useful workaround if you'd like to take deposits for specific events.

This article covers:

Entry and ticket setup
Booking form
Booking confirmation email
Customer booking
Restrictions

Entry and ticket setup

To set up a deposit ticket on a new entry:

New entry

Open your Scheduling page.
Select Add a new entry:

Existing entry
Or open your existing entry by selecting it from your scheduling list, then Edit entry:
Select the Tickets & Costs tab, then Create ticket:
You can choose only to make a deposit, take the total amount, or give both options.
Add the details of your ticket. i.e.:
- Name: "Deposit payment"
- Description: "Please note this ticket is 10% of the total £1000 cost of this trip. The remaining £900 payment will be due 30 days from the purchase date of this deposit."
- Pricing - Has cost: "£100"
Once added, select Save ticket to save your ticket, then either Save or Save & Exit in the top right-hand corner to save the entry.

❗️ It's important to clarify that this ticket is not fully paid by utilising the ticket name and details fields.

Booking form

Adding a booking form field to clarify the deposit ticket option is a good idea. For example, you could include a 'Yes/No' checkbox where customers can confirm they understand the terms and conditions of purchasing a deposit ticket.

To do this:

Select Settings from the left-hand menu, then Booking fields.
Select the Ticket details tab, then Create a field:
Select the Ticket details option:
Then select the Data type of your choosing, for example, the Yes/No option (if you only intend on selling deposit tickets in the entry):
Or Multiple choice - Select one only (if you intend on selling both regular and deposit tickets):

For example:
- You may choose to add: Yes, No and N/A (no deposit ticket selected) options, so customers can choose the N/A (no deposit ticket selected) option if they added a regular ticket to their basket:
Add a description under Additional details so customers understand the field and what they may or may not be agreeing to.
Select Create field to save the field.

Adding the field to the entry
Next, either Add a new entry or open your existing entry settings from your Scheduling page by selecting it from your schedule list, then Edit entry:
Select the Booking form tab, then Select & reorder fields:
Select the add + button next to the field to add it to the booking form for the entry, then Save form:
Select Set mandatory fields:
Tick the fields you would like to make mandatory, then select Update:
Select either Save or Save & Exit in the top right-hand corner to save the entry.

Customer checkout example

The multiple choice option shows as tickboxes to customers during the checkout:

Checkout screen showing the multiple choice options

Customers can select the relevant option before continuing with their booking.

Booking confirmation message

You can include instructions on how to collect the remaining payment in the booking confirmation email that customers receive after booking.

To do this:

Select the entry from your Scheduling list, then Edit entry:
Select the Information tab and scroll down to the Booking confirmation message field:
You can add your ticket T&Cs and details on how you will collect payment (such as cash, bank transfer details, etc.).
Select either Save or Save & Exit to save your entry.

Customer booking

Once created, the deposit ticket will be available for customers to add to their basket and book. For example:

Public page with arrow pointing at the 'Select' button and the deposit ticket highlighted

Restrictions

Bookwhen doesn't allow you to manually track the total payment status. The system treats the deposit as the full payment, so any remaining balance is not marked as "owed."
Using a second ticket for the same event to collect the remaining balance won't work, as the system will consider it a double booking and prevent the same attendee from booking again.
When a customer purchases a deposit ticket, they won’t be able to complete the full payment via Bookwhen. The remaining balance must be collected manually, using any method you prefer, outside of the Bookwhen platform.