Two ways clients can book
Clients reach your calendar in one of two ways, and you can offer either or both.
An active service lets a client pick an open time and book it instantly. No approval needed. This suits standard, repeatable work like simple tattoos or piercings.
Requests let a client describe custom work and ask for it. You either decline it or send a proposal with a time, price and deposit. It becomes an appointment when the client accepts. This suits custom pieces where you need to see references or discuss size and placement first.
Your page needs at least one of these before it can go live. For requests, that means requests turned on and at least one artist taking requests.
Setting a deposit
When you add a service, there is a Deposit field. It stays off until Stripe is connected. If you set a default deposit on Booking Rules, new services start at that amount, and you can change it per service. If your Booking Rules make deposits required, that amount is the lowest a service can ask. Otherwise a deposit is optional, except on a service priced as deposit only. Some shops take no deposit at all, some take one on every service, and some only on higher priced work.
What the client sees
If a service needs a deposit and Stripe is connected, the client is asked to pay it by card at the moment they book, before the appointment is confirmed. Nothing is charged until they enter card details and confirm. A booking left unpaid is released after 60 minutes. By default the client pays the booking fee on top of the price, so it is added to that charge. If no deposit is required, the booking confirms immediately with no payment step.
Two clients can never book the exact same slot. tatbook checks the slot again the moment a booking is submitted, so only one person can get it, even if two people try at once.
Booking rules beyond the deposit
Each artist's schedule page sets how much notice clients need, how far ahead they can book, and days off. Booking Rules, a tab on the General settings page, holds the shop wide rules: your cancellation window, whether clients can cancel themselves inside that window, the deposit policy, the booking fee, a minimum age, and whether you take requests.
Cancellations and deposits
Every shop sets a cancellation window, measured in hours before the appointment. If a client cancels outside that window, their deposit is refunded automatically. A booking fee they paid is not refunded. If they cancel inside the window, the deposit is forfeited since you likely could not fill that slot in time. If you cancel an appointment yourself, a card deposit is always refunded in full to the client, regardless of timing, and the booking fee comes out of your share. Deposits you recorded by hand, like cash, are not refunded automatically. Hand the money back yourself, then record it with the Refund button.
Clients manage their own appointments from a private link sent by text or email once the booking is confirmed. From there they can see whether they are still allowed to cancel or reschedule based on how close the appointment is.
Still stuck? Email support at support@tatbook.app.