Should you take deposits, and how

For custom work, a deposit is normal and expected. It compensates the artist for drawing time, holds the chair, and filters the enquiries that were never going to arrive.

What a deposit actually protects

Drawings are hours of unpaid work. When a client disappears the day before a session, the shop loses both the drawing time and the slot, and there is no way to recover either. A deposit converts some of that risk into a shared commitment.

It also does something subtler: it changes the client’s own behaviour. People who have paid something show up.

What it should not be

It should not be so large that it feels like a penalty, and it should not be forfeited for reasons the client could not have known. Every shop’s rules differ, but they must be written down and shown before the payment, not explained afterwards.

The practical parts

• How much: usually a fixed amount per session or per artist, or a percentage of the estimate. Fixed amounts are easier to explain and easier to refund.
• Refundable or not: state it before payment. Many shops offer one reschedule with notice.
• Where it goes: credited against the final session, in writing.
• How it is paid: online, from a phone, without a phone call.

Why it belongs on the website

If the only path to a deposit runs through a DM or a phone call during shop hours, you are losing the enquiries that arrive at 11pm from someone who has finally decided. A booking path that takes a deposit from a phone is the difference between a click and a chair.

You do not need a store. Most shops need one or two fixed amounts tied to a session type or an artist, a way to move or refund it, and a confirmation message that repeats the terms.

What to say on the page

State the amount, what it covers, the reschedule window, when it stops being refundable, and that it comes off the final session. Say it once, plainly, above the button. That single paragraph removes most of the friction and most of the arguments.

The honest caveat

A deposit path will not fix a shop that does not respond to enquiries. It converts serious intent faster; it does not create it. But if your enquiries are serious and your booking path is a form that promises a reply in three days, this is the fix.