Take a deposit at booking that covers what you've committed to the venue and suppliers, then split the balance into payments that end before the start date, with a few weeks to spare. Set the final date once and let the number of payments shrink for people who book late, so nobody's last payment lands after arrival. Decide your cancellation and refund terms before you take the first deposit, and put them on the checkout.
Why offer a payment plan for a retreat or workshop?
Because the price is decided months before the money is easy to find. A $2,400 retreat is a hard yes on the day someone sees it, and an easy yes as a $400 deposit and five payments of $400.
The plan also fills the gap between booking and arrival. You owe the venue and suppliers deposits long before the event, and a deposit from every attendee at booking pays for those commitments as they come in.
How big should the deposit be?
Start from what you've committed to. If the venue, catering and travel deposits come to a fifth of the program's cost, a deposit of 20% to 25% of the price covers your exposure on each seat.
A flat deposit ($400) is easier to explain than a percentage on a sales page. A percentage works better when you sell several programs at different prices from one checkout.
When should the last payment fall?
Before the date your own final bills fall due, and before arrival. A final date 30 to 60 days out leaves time to chase a missed payment, release the seat, or fill it from a waitlist.
Set that final date once, per event. Everything else follows from it.
What about people who book late?
Late bookings are where a fixed plan breaks. Someone who books seven weeks before a retreat can't fit five monthly payments before a final date six weeks out.
Two ways to handle it:
- Let the plan shrink. With a fixed final date, the number of payments available falls as the date gets closer: five monthly payments in March, two in July, payment in full the week before the cutoff.
- Switch frequency. Payments every two weeks or weekly fit more payments into a short window. The same $2,000 balance is four monthly payments of $500, or eight payments of $250 every two weeks.
Either way, the rule lives in the checkout, not in someone's inbox.
What should the cancellation terms say?
Write them before you take the first deposit and show them at checkout. Cover three cases:
- Cancelling before the final date: whether the deposit is kept, and whether payments already made are refunded or held as a credit.
- Cancelling after the final date: usually no refund, sometimes a transfer to another person or a later date.
- Moving to a later date: what happens to payments already made and the ones still scheduled.
Payment plans with more than four payments can raise lending questions. Read whether a 0% plan counts as a loan before you offer a long one.
What does a plan cost you in card fees?
On a $2,400 retreat paid as a deposit and five payments of $400, card fees at Stripe's standard 2.9% + 30¢ are $71.40 per attendee. Paid by bank transfer (ACH, 0.8% capped at $5), the same plan costs $19.20 (Stripe pricing).
Offering bank transfer beside card, and adding a card surcharge where your state allows it, are the two ways to keep more of each booking.
Should every booking go through a sales call?
Not at $2,000. A checkout on your website, with the plan options inside it, lets people book at night without waiting for you. Keep the call for groups, corporate bookings and anyone who asks.
The two should end in the same place: one record per attendee, with the plan, what's paid and what's left. If you run a CRM, that record is the deal.
Payment plans built from the deal in HubSpot or Pipedrive, with each location paid into its own account and books.
Paycove runs deposits and payment plans that end before your start date, from a checkout on your website or a deal in HubSpot or Pipedrive.
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