Deposits, late fees and damage for hire shops on Shopify. Your customer agrees the terms at checkout. If something comes back late, damaged or not at all, you keep what they agreed to, and they're told why.
An example: £45 hire fee, £100 deposit, £15 a day if it's late, a scratched frame at £30 on the price list. You set all of these for each product.
Some shops want the money in hand. Others don't want to take a penny unless something goes wrong. Holdback does both, and here is exactly how they differ.
Nothing is taken unless it's needed.
You hold it, then refund it.
On both routes you confirm every amount, it can never be more than the deposit, and your customer is emailed the reason with your photos.
Recreated from Holdback's own screens, with its real wording. Each job is a couple of taps.
Late fees come out of the deposit at the rate your customer agreed. No invoice, no reminder texts, no awkward phone call.
Whenever money is kept, your customer gets an email saying how much and why, with your photos. That's what stops disputes.
A card hold expires after about a week. Holdback doesn't use one, so a deposit covers a hire from one day to a year.
Nothing is ever kept automatically. You check the item, you confirm the amount, and it can never be more than the deposit.
Your customers trust a deposit when they can see exactly what they're agreeing to and where their money stands.
The hire fee, the deposit and the terms in plain words, with a box to tick before it goes in the cart.
Shopify's own checkout. The deposit is one clear line next to the hire, never a mystery charge.
What they agreed to, in English or French, and a link to a page that always shows where the deposit stands.
You record the return. They're told the outcome straight away, with the reason and photos if anything was kept.
Plans differ only in how many deposits they cover. Holdback takes no share of your hires and adds no transaction fee.
Going over your plan never stops a deposit. We just suggest a bigger plan.
Yearly costs ten months' price, with the year's deposits pooled.
Priced in US dollars and billed by Shopify, on your usual Shopify bill.
Shopify's and your payment provider's normal fees apply, as on any order.
Better you know now than after you've set it up.
A Shopify store taking payments through Shopify Payments, or PayPal Express with subscriptions switched on.
Hires booked online, through checkout.
Works with Cowlendar and Book That App: the deposit is added to each booking, with the booked dates on the rental.
Customer emails and the deposit page in English and French.
It doesn't work for walk-in hires on Shopify POS. Those are listed separately so you can take a deposit another way.
Klarna, iDEAL and other local payment methods aren't offered on a deposit product. Customers pay by card, Shop Pay, Apple Pay or Google Pay.
Damage is never charged to a saved card without your customer's approval. They approve the claim and pay it themselves. With a deposit paid at checkout, listed damage is kept from the deposit.
A deposit paid at checkout can't be held for a hire longer than about 110 days. Use a saved card for longer hires.
That's your choice. Saved on their card: no. Your customer pays the hire fee, their card is saved, and no money is taken or held unless something goes wrong. Paid at checkout: yes. They pay the deposit with the hire and it's refunded when the item is back, less anything they agreed you could keep.
Saved on their card suits long hires, larger deposits and customers who'd be put off by paying a deposit up front. Paid at checkout suits shops that want the money in hand and a fixed price list for damage. If you're not sure, email us what you hire out and we'll say which we'd use.
Yes, on both routes. You set a rate per day and your customer agrees to it at checkout. Once the item is a day late you confirm the fee: it's charged to the saved card, or kept from the paid deposit with the rest refunded. It's limited to the days late and to the deposit, and they're emailed the reason.
Paid at checkout: you keep the price from your damage list, with a return photo, and refund the rest. Your customer agreed those prices when they booked, so there's no second approval. Saved on their card: you send a claim with your estimate and photos, and your customer approves and pays it on Shopify's own payment page.
On both routes you can keep up to the deposit, never more. Your customer agrees to that at checkout and is emailed when it happens. On a saved card, a few card types don't allow it, and in that case it goes to your customer as a claim.
Claims only apply to damage on a saved-card deposit. Your customer gets an email with the estimate and photos and pays on Shopify's page, with reminders. It isn't taken from their card without their approval. If being sure of damage money matters most to you, take the deposit at checkout.
Holdback sends the refund to the card they paid with as soon as you record the return. How quickly it shows on their statement is up to their bank, usually a few working days.
Saved on their card: from one day to a year, because nothing is held on the card. Paid at checkout: up to about 110 days, because card refunds have a time limit. If nothing has been recorded by then, the deposit goes back automatically.
Yes for Cowlendar and Book That App. Place one test booking first. For another booking app, ask us before you rely on it.
Wherever Shopify Payments, or PayPal Express with subscriptions on, is available to your store. Holdback works in your store's currency and in the currency your customer pays in.
Holdback never sees or stores card numbers. Shopify keeps the card. Holdback keeps names, emails, a record of each deposit and the photos you add, so you can prove what happened.
Finish every open rental first. While Holdback is uninstalled, hire products can be bought without a deposit until you reinstall or remove them. Your data is deleted 48 hours after you uninstall.
Yes. The set-up guide walks through every click, and if you'd rather have it done for you, we'll build your hire store on Shopify with Holdback set up for a fixed fee.
Olly here. I built Holdback because every hire shop I spoke to was handling deposits by hand: cash on collection, a note in a spreadsheet, a refund they had to remember. If that's you, I'd love to hear how you do it today, and I'll tell you the day it's live.
olly@holdback.co.uk
Email Olly
Email me and I'll let you know.