Deposits

On the Ink plan you can ask for a deposit on each project before its first booking. The client pays it by card from the chat and the money goes to your own Stripe account: you collect it, and Drop only records it.

Connecting your Stripe account

Deposits are charged in a Stripe account in your name. You connect it once, from the website:

1. On the website, open Account → Deposits and, under Payments, press Connect Stripe. Stripe asks for your ID, your IBAN and your address, in about 5 minutes (the law requires it); your email, your Drop page and that you do tattoos are already filled in.
2. If you already have a Stripe account, press I already have a Stripe account and sign in with it.
3. When you come back you see the account's status: Pending while you finish signing up or Stripe reviews it, Needs details if Stripe needs something more (while the account can charge, deposits keep working), and Active when everything is in order. In the app you see it in Settings → Account, on the Payments with Stripe card.

You can Disconnect the account whenever you want: Drop stops asking for deposits, and your Stripe account stays yours, with its balance and payouts.

Deposit settings

In the app, Settings → Deposits (or on the website, Account → Deposits):

• Minimum deposit (50 by default, in your currency) and, if you want, a Percentage of the price. Each project suggests the higher of the two, or the minimum if it has no price.
• Ask for a deposit by default: new projects ask for one on their own. It starts off.
• Time to pay the deposit: within 48 h or within 1 week (the default) after accepting the booking, or until 1 week or 24 h before the session. Always 24 h before the session at the latest.
• Cancellation policy: see the next section.

You can prepare the amount, the deadline and the policy before connecting Stripe. Ask for a deposit by default, and each project's deposit, turn on once your Stripe account can charge.

Your cancellation policy

The policy says how far ahead the client can cancel and get the whole deposit back: 24 h, 48 h (the default), 1 week or 2 weeks before the session.

• If the client cancels with that notice or more, they get all of it back.
• If they cancel later or do not show up, you keep the deposit.
• If you cancel, they always get all of it back.

The client sees your policy in the chat and on the deposit page before paying. It is yours: you choose the notice and you answer for it to your clients. If you change it, each deposit already paid follows the policy the client saw when paying.

On each project

The deposit belongs to the project and is charged once, before its first booking; the project's other sessions do not ask for it again. In the project's Edit you can remove it or change the amount, and the project's summary shows the one it asks for. Once it has been asked for, it no longer changes from there.

While the client has not paid it, on the project's Deposit card (or on the booking waiting for it) you can:

• Change amount: lower it. The client gets the link with the new amount in the chat, and if they had Stripe's payment open, that one is closed.
• Waive deposit: the booking becomes Confirmed without charging it and we tell the client.
• Send link again: we send it to them again, at most once an hour.

What the client sees

The agent holds the slot the client chooses and you accept it in the app. If the project asks for a deposit, the booking moves to Waiting for deposit: the client gets Pay deposit · 60 € in the chat and by email, with the deadline and your policy, and a link to the deposit page, where they pay by card on Stripe's secure payment page. The link is always the same. We remind them halfway through the deadline and 24 h before it runs out. The same happens when you create the booking yourself with New booking: creating it is accepting it, so it waits for the deposit too, and the consent goes out once it is paid. From the chat you can send the deposit again with Send deposit.

• Once they pay, the booking becomes Confirmed on its own, you get a notification and the client gets their confirmed appointment and the consent to sign.
• If they do not pay in time, the booking is cancelled, the slot is freed and we tell you both.
• On the booking, Change deposit deadline gives them another deadline (between an hour from now and 24 h before the session) and sends them the link again.
• The agent explains the amount, the deadline and the policy, and sends the link again if they lose it. It never treats it as paid or changes the amount. If the client asks not to pay it or to pay less, the agent tells them you decide and you get the Deposit question notification, which you can turn off in Settings → Notifications.

Cancellations and refunds

Because the deposit belongs to the project, your policy applies once: when you cancel the project's last remaining booking, or the whole project. Cancelling a session of a project that has more ahead, rescheduling it or marking it No-show does not touch it, and a completed project keeps it charged.

• When you cancel with a paid deposit, the app asks The client cancels or I cancel and fills in what your policy says, counting from the first session being cancelled. Before confirming you can change how much is refunded, from 0 to what was paid.
• Drop asks Stripe for the refund from your account. Meanwhile the booking says Refunding 60 € to the client; when Stripe confirms it, the client sees it in the chat and gets an email.
• If Stripe cannot make it, we email you so you can make it from your Stripe dashboard. What you refund from your dashboard is also noted in Drop.
• If the client asks to reschedule within your policy's notice, you decide: you can just move it or treat it as a cancellation.

Who answers for the charge

You collect the deposit, in your Stripe account and in your name. So:

• Stripe charges you its usual card fee. Drop adds no commission and does not hold the money.
• Payouts to your bank follow your account's Stripe schedule.
• If a client disputes the charge with their bank (a dispute or chargeback), you handle it from your Stripe dashboard, as you do fraud or a negative balance.
• Drop does not sell the tattoo: prices are for reference, and how the deposit counts when you charge for the tattoo is up to you.

On the website, Account → Deposits → Collected shows what you collected this month and in total, what was refunded, what Stripe still has to transfer to your bank (available and on its way) and your latest deposits with their client, project, amount and status, with a link to your Stripe dashboard. In the app, Home shows what you collected in deposits this month and this week (swipe to switch) with your three latest charges; tap one to open its project. The full detail of your charges is in your Stripe dashboard.

Frequently asked questions

Can I charge the whole tattoo through Drop?
No. Drop only handles the deposit; you charge the rest as always.

What happens to deposits if I move to a lower plan?
New bookings stop asking for a deposit at once; those already asked for follow their course and paid ones are honoured. Your Stripe account stays connected.

Can I ask for a deposit on every session?
No: it is one per project, before the first booking.