Deposits, balances and where the money goes

You choose how much a camper pays at the moment of booking and when the rest is collected. Every payment is a charge on your own Stripe account, so the money is yours from the second it clears.

Four ways to take the money

One setting, changed whenever you like. It applies to new bookings from the moment you change it.

Setting	What the guest pays now	What happens next	Suits
Deposit, balance collected automatically	Your deposit	The rest comes off the same card on the day you choose before arrival. The guest is told the date and the amount when they book.	Most sites. Nobody has to chase anybody.
Deposit, balance on arrival	Your deposit	They pay the rest when they get there, however you normally take it.	Sites that like to see the van before the money.
Pay in full	The whole stay	Nothing. It is settled.	Short stays, glamping, anywhere a no-show costs you the night.
Card guarantee	Nothing	The card is held securely and can be charged later under your terms, for example a late cancellation fee.	CLs and clubs where members expect to pay on the day.

How the deposit is worked out

Three ways, and you pick one: a percentage of the stay, a fixed amount, or the first night. A percentage keeps a long stay and a short stay in proportion. The first night is the easiest thing to explain to a guest on the telephone.

You also set how many days before arrival the balance is taken. If a booking arrives inside that window there is no point splitting it, so the whole amount is taken at once and the guest is told that clearly before they pay.

When a balance payment fails

Cards expire and banks decline things. When a balance fails, the booking is not cancelled behind your back. We email the guest a link to pay, try the card again the next day and the day after, and show you the reason the bank gave on the booking itself.

This is worth checking wherever else you take bookings. Pitchup's automatic balance collection gets one attempt: their own supplier FAQ says they do not hold the card details and "we are unable to re-attempt the payment", and that a declined card will not be retried by Stripe either. They put the failure rate at around 2% of balance payments.

On 250 bookings a season that is about five stays where the money did not arrive and nobody tried again. What happens after a failure is your decision under your own cancellation policy, because it is your booking. What should not be your job is noticing.

A worked booking

4 nights, hardstanding with electric£180
Firewood, 2 nets£12
Dog, 4 nights£8
Total£200

Deposit at 25%, taken now: £50
Balance of £150 taken 14 days before arrival.

Stripe's fee on the £50 deposit is £0.90. It goes to Stripe. We add nothing to it.

Your Stripe account, and why that matters

When a camper pays, the charge is made on your Stripe account. There is no application fee on it and no step where the money sits with PitchDesk. Stripe pays out to your bank on their normal schedule, the same as it would if you had built the booking form yourself.

You are the merchant of record. Your name is on the card statement. Your terms are the ones the camper agreed to. Refunds come out of your balance and you can issue them from the booking or from your own Stripe dashboard.

If a guest disputes a payment, the chargeback is yours to answer. That sounds like a drawback until you consider the alternative, which is a company in the middle deciding for you and taking the money back out of your next payout.

And if PitchDesk stopped trading tomorrow, every payment you have ever taken is still in an account with your name on it. Nothing of yours is inside our business.

What Stripe charges you

Card	Fee
UK cards	1.4% + 20p
European Economic Area cards	2.5% + 20p
Cards from anywhere else	3.25% + 20p

Paid by you, to Stripe, from your own account. PitchDesk adds nothing to it.

Connecting takes about ten minutes

If you already use Stripe, you sign in and pick the account. If you do not, you open one with your business details, your bank account and some identification. You can set everything else up before you do it and connect Stripe on the day you go live.

Questions

Do you take anything from the payment?

No. There is no application fee on the charge and no percentage anywhere. Our income is the £7.99 a month you pay us directly.

Can I refund a guest?

Yes, in full or in part, from the booking. The money leaves your Stripe balance and reaches the guest in a few working days. Stripe does not return its processing fee on a refund, which is worth knowing before you write your cancellation policy.

What is card guarantee exactly?

The card details are saved securely at Stripe against the booking and nothing is charged. You can take a payment later under the terms the guest agreed to. It is the online version of taking a card number over the telephone, with none of the writing it on a pad.

Can I take a booking without a card at all?

Yes. Add it yourself from your dashboard and record how they paid. Bank transfer, cash, cheque or a card machine in the office all still work, and the booking sits in the same calendar.

Do you store card numbers?

No. Card details go from the guest to Stripe and never touch our servers. We keep a reference to the payment. The card itself stays with Stripe.

What currency?

Pounds sterling, on a UK Stripe account. A card issued anywhere in the world can pay, and Stripe charges the international rate for it.

Money into your account, from the first booking

Thirty days free with no card. Connect Stripe when you are ready to go live and keep everything a guest pays.

£7.99 a month

£95.88 a year. Any number of pitches. No commission on anything you take.

Start free for 30 days See what it costs

No card to start. Cancel from your own settings page.