Accepting and redeeming order deposits

Site URL: https://www.amandajamesbridal.com/

Any ideas on workarounds or custom code for selling and accepting deposits toward a purchase?

I have a bridal collection and sell made-to-order gowns. I'll be launching e-commerce soon and was hoping to have it totally replace my current invoicing system. I currently use Square and email invoices to my clients.

- The 1st invoice I send is to receive a deposit.
- The 2nd invoice I send it to receive the remaining balance.

In launching e-commerce, I was hoping to:
- Have customers purchase a deposit through my site. Deposits are a set amount. Ideally the process would be similar to how a gift card works- a digital code is generated and emailed to clients once they make the purchase.
- I was hoping they could then apply that credit towards the final purchase by entering the digital code.

Currently Squarespace does not allow you to change the wording in the order confirmations of gift cards, otherwise I would just create a gift card product and call it a Deposit. 

I also tried creating a discount code labeled Deposit, but this doesn't work because when entered, it changes the taxable amount of the product. I need the original taxable amount to stay the same.

Any suggestions?

Hi Amanda

Unfortunately, Squarespace wasn’t built to do this so there isn’t a straightforward solution available. Gift cards would be great for deposits if it weren’t for the issue with the fixed wording that you’ve already described.

One workaround is to create a specific ‘service’ product for deposits. You could then process the deposit as an ordinary online payment. The deposit can appear on a ‘pay deposit’ page to enable the customer to easily pay the deposit.

When it comes time for the customer to pay the remaining balance, you can email the customer a link to a special version of the product that has been priced to show the remaining balance rather than the full price listed on your shop page.  This will enable them to checkout and pay their outstanding balance. While the deposit and the balance would be processed as separate orders, they would both go through the Squarespace checkout and you would be able to keep a track of things though the Orders panel. 

The ‘final payment’ products should appear on an unlisted page that has been configured to be hidden and unsearchable. To avoid confusion, the description should make it clear that these products are priced for the final payment, and aren’t the full price of the product.

If you enable ‘Express Checkout’, the customer will go straight to the checkout for both deposit and final payments instead of being confused by the add-to-cart > view-cart > view-checkout process.

I hope this helps.

-Paul

Thanks @paul2009!

I do like this idea, however a bit of a sticky issue when it comes to charging the sales tax. Normally I charge the total sales tax with the final balance. If a deposit is made in December of 2020 and the final balance is paid in 2021, I report the total sales tax in 2021.

With the suggested workaround (again, thank you for the idea!) I am not sure how to force the sales tax to calculate off the product total and not just the remaining balance. The only thing I can think of is if I charge sales tax on the deposit amount as well so that the total sales tax amount is correct... but technically I shouldn't be collecting sales tax off of the deposit as I file when the final balance is received. 

Let me know if you have any ideas!

Also, I see you are a developer. I am trying to do as much as possible myself at the moment, but I do have a growing list of code wishlist items! I may need to reach out soon!

2 hours ago, AmandaLJ said:

The only thing I can think of is if I charge sales tax on the deposit amount as well so that the total sales tax amount is correct

That's what I imagined, with the tax point being at the time of each payment, but I'll let you consult your Accountant or Tax Lawyer 🙂 on the legalities of this, and I'll stick to developing websites and stores.

I have a similar question (I hope)... Is there a way to allow the customer to choose the amount they want to pay?  We have to send paper invoices sometimes and more and more of our clients want to pay online through our site.  Is there a way for the customer to specify a custom amount?

Man, this is still really driving me nuts. I cannot figure out a way to apply a deposit amount to the total balance WITHOUT it affecting the original taxable amount AND utilizing Squarespaces ability to auto generate sales tax reports.

The only workaround is to charge sales tax on the deposit, and then later separately on the remaining balance, which isn't ideal for accounting. 

@AmandaLJ find any good workaround for the tax accounting issue?  I need to take deposits and later final payment on my products as well.

I have also come here to find a solution to this. 

However, my issue isn't collecting tax it is more that I want the customer to be able to put through a complete order of items (usually many items) and pay a 50% deposit for it, then pay the balance when the items are completed. The gift card solution or the deposit page wouldn't really work for me as their selections have to come through with their order.

I currently have to ask customers to email me a list of the items they want to order, then I manually put it though Square, and send them an invoice through square. 

I really need to centralise my ordering though my website. Is there any help on the horizon?

thanks for your time.

On 5/14/2021 at 8:44 AM, AdeleM said:

I have also come here to find a solution to this. 

However, my issue isn't collecting tax it is more that I want the customer to be able to put through a complete order of items (usually many items) and pay a 50% deposit for it, then pay the balance when the items are completed. The gift card solution or the deposit page wouldn't really work for me as their selections have to come through with their order.

I currently have to ask customers to email me a list of the items they want to order, then I manually put it though Square, and send them an invoice through square. 

 

I really need to centralise my ordering though my website. Is there any help on the horizon?

thanks for your time.

I also came here to find a solution, AdeleM, have you found a workaround for this situation?

I have a similar problem as yours.

Thank you!

any other work arounds? I have a similar problem.

I am just about to embark on setting up deposits for my workshops (services). I am wondering if Squarespace has progressed this since 2020?

Also, the deposit is only pertinent if the payment is made in excess of 2 months before the workshops starts, if not they need to pay the full amount. So, I am trying to envisage how to give the client the right price / option to pay (deposit or full price) depending on timescale to the workshop start date.

The above 'workaround' seems fine, but doesn't talk about the timeline issue I describe.

3 hours ago, SteveKingswell said:

I am wondering if Squarespace has progressed this since 2020?

There have been no changes that relate to deposits.

On 5/18/2023 at 11:51 AM, SteveKingswell said:

I am just about to embark on setting up deposits for my workshops (services). I am wondering if Squarespace has progressed this since 2020?

Also, the deposit is only pertinent if the payment is made in excess of 2 months before the workshops starts, if not they need to pay the full amount. So, I am trying to envisage how to give the client the right price / option to pay (deposit or full price) depending on timescale to the workshop start date.

The above 'workaround' seems fine, but doesn't talk about the timeline issue I describe.

I've just come across this while searching for a similar answer myself. Have you looked at the scheduling system for this as that does have the ability to take deposits? 🙂