How much deposit to take for nails, lashes and brows (with a sample policy)

Short answer: set the deposit so it covers what a missed appointment actually costs you: the product you prepared, plus a fair share of the time you can no longer sell. For most nail, lash and brow treatments that lands somewhere between a quarter and a third of the price, rounded to a whole number. Long or expensive treatments sit at the top of that range, quick ones at the bottom or with no deposit at all.

What a deposit is for

It helps to be clear about the job a deposit does, because that decides the amount.

A deposit is not a penalty and it is not extra income. It does two things:

1. It turns a booking into a commitment. People who have paid something show up, or at least tell you when they can't.
2. It covers your loss when they don't. If a client cancels too late for you to fill the slot, the deposit pays for what that gap cost you.

If the amount you keep is far bigger than the loss, you are in shaky territory under UK consumer law (more on that below), and clients feel it. If it is so small it doesn't register, it won't change behaviour. The sweet spot is in between.

Working it out per treatment

Take one treatment and answer three questions.

1. What does a no-show cost you in product and prep? For lashes, that might be a tray you have already laid out. For nails, the tips you sized or a custom colour you mixed. For brows, often very little.

2. How much of the time can you realistically resell? A 30-minute brow wax cancelled the evening before is easy to fill. A two-hour full set on a Saturday morning usually isn't.

3. How long is the treatment and what does it cost? The longer and pricier it is, the more a gap hurts.

Then pick a deposit that roughly covers question 1 plus part of question 2. Here is how that plays out with example prices. Your own prices will differ, so treat these as a method, not a rate card.

A few patterns worth noticing:

• New clients carry more risk than regulars, simply because you don't know them yet. Some techs take a deposit from every new client and leave regulars alone.
• Saturdays and evenings are the slots you lose most when they go empty. You can keep the same deposit and simply be stricter about the cancellation window for those.
• Patch tests for lash and brow tints are a separate, short appointment. Most techs keep them free, because the point is to get the client in.

Percentage or fixed amount?

Both work. A fixed amount per treatment is clearer: "£20 deposit, taken off your total". A percentage scales automatically when you change prices, but you end up with odd figures. If you prefer a percentage, round the result so the client sees £15 instead of £14.70.

What does not work well is one deposit for everything. A flat £20 on a £20 brow wax means the client pays the full price upfront, which is a different conversation entirely.

Keeping it fair under UK consumer law

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 requires terms with consumers to be fair and transparent. The CMA's guidance on unfair contract terms (CMA37) specifically mentions deposits and cancellation charges: keeping more than your likely loss can make a term unfair, and a term the client could not reasonably have noticed may not hold.

You don't need a lawyer for a simple salon deposit, but you do need these habits:

• Show the deposit on the treatment and in the booking summary, before the client pays.
• Say in one sentence when the client loses it, and when they don't.
• Refund it in full when you cancel.
• Keep the amount in proportion. A deposit that is most of the price, on a slot you could easily refill, is the kind of term that gets challenged.

These are good habits rather than legal advice; for anything beyond a standard deposit, check with a solicitor.

A sample deposit policy you can adapt

Change the amounts and hours to suit your salon, and keep the wording short. Clients read the first two lines and skim the rest.

Deposits and cancellations

To book, we take a deposit of £10 to £20 depending on the treatment. You'll see the exact amount before you pay, and it comes off your final bill.

Need to cancel or move your appointment? You can do it free of charge up to 24 hours before (48 hours for lash full sets), using the link in your confirmation email. Your deposit moves with your new booking.

Cancelling later than that, or not coming at all? We keep the deposit, because we usually can't fill the time at such short notice.

Running late? Let us know. If we can still do the full treatment we will; otherwise we may need to shorten it or rebook you.

If we have to cancel, you get your deposit back in full and we'll help you find a new time.

Put this policy in three places: on your booking page, in the confirmation email, and in a story highlight on Instagram if that is where clients find you. When it is the same everywhere, nobody can say they didn't see it.

Telling existing clients

If you are introducing deposits for the first time, regulars may notice. A short message is enough:

"From next month, bookings for full sets and new clients include a small deposit, which comes off your bill. It helps us keep slots for people who turn up. Nothing changes for infills."

Most clients understand. The ones who object loudly are often the ones the deposit is meant for.

Setting deposits per treatment in Avana

In Avana, the deposit lives on the treatment itself, so the client sees it the moment they choose a service.

• A fixed deposit per treatment, or full payment at booking if you prefer that for certain services.
• Two treatments in one booking? You decide whether the client pays a deposit for each, or only the higher of the two. A client booking BIAB and lashes together then pays one sensible amount.
• Card, Apple Pay and Google Pay, paid straight to your own account through Stripe. There is no commission on bookings from your own page.
• Your cancellation window decides when the online cancel button closes. After that, the client sees your own message and a call button instead.
• Deposits count towards packages. If a client has bought a course of treatments, a deposit they paid is taken off the package.

You can switch all of this on during the free trial and test it with a booking of your own. The features overview shows the settings, and pricing lists what each plan includes.

For the wider picture, including reminders and what to do when someone still doesn't turn up, see how to reduce no-shows at your salon.