You're charged a fee when a customer books using a Daily Deal or a Vera Fill My Books deal. Vagaro takes the fee from the deposit your customer pays when they book online. You collect the remaining balance at checkout.
There's no monthly subscription, and you're not charged for bookings or purchases that don't use a deal. Daily Deal fees apply even if you never turn on Fill My Books.
|
Deal |
New Customer |
Existing Customer |
|---|---|---|
|
Daily Deal you create |
20% |
5% |
|
Fill My Books: Get New Customers |
20% |
Not offered |
|
Fill My Books: Fill Last-Minute Calendar Openings |
20% |
5% |
Note
In the United Kingdom, a 20% new customer fee applies to all new customer bookings. Because of this, businesses won't also be charged Daily Deal or Vera Fill My Books Fees on those bookings. See New Customer Fees for Businesses in the United Kingdom to learn more.
Your fee for a Daily Deal or Fill My Books booking depends on whether the customer has visited your business before:
-
New customer: Has never visited your business. The fee is 20%.
-
Existing customer: Has visited your business at least once. The fee is 5%.
Vera's Get New Customers deals are shown only to new customers, so those bookings always have the 20% fee.
Here's how Vagaro tells them apart:
-
Vagaro checks your customer list: If the customer is already on your list and has visited before, they're an existing customer.
-
Returning customers with a different account: If a returning customer books with a different email or account, Vagaro asks whether they've visited your business before. If they answer yes, you aren't charged the 20% new customer fee.
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Form and Connect contacts: A customer who fills out a form or messages you on Connect by Vagaro is added to your customer list but still counts as new until their first visit. The 20% fee applies to their first booking.
Bookings that don't use a deal never have a fee, whether the customer is new or existing.
Daily Deals and Fill My Books are available to every business, including businesses that don't use Vagaro Credit Card Processing. When a customer uses a deal to book or buy online, Vagaro collects the fee as a deposit. Here's how it works:
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The customer pays a deposit equal to the fee: 20% for a new customer or 5% for an existing customer.
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Vagaro keeps the deposit as its fee.
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You collect the remaining balance at checkout.
If you already require a deposit, Vagaro works with your deposit instead of adding a second one:
|
Your Deposit Setting |
What Happens |
|---|---|
|
No deposit, or a deposit lower than the fee |
Vagaro collects a deposit equal to the fee (20% or 5%) and keeps it. |
|
A deposit higher than the fee (for example, 50%) |
Your deposit applies. The customer pays the amount you set, and Vagaro takes its fee from that deposit. |
Customers can't use gift cards or points to pay the deposit.
Vagaro calculates the fee from the price the customer pays after discounts. Once a customer uses a deal, the fee applies to their whole cart, including items not part of the deal and team members not included in the deal.
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Included: Services, classes, memberships, and packages in the cart.
-
Not included: Products, taxes, tips, and gift cards. Gift cards are included only if you added them to the deal.
For example, a new customer uses your deal for a massage, then adds a facial and a package. The 20% fee is calculated from all three items.
Whether the fee is refunded depends on when the appointment is canceled:
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At least 24 hours before the appointment: Vagaro refunds the fee to the customer.
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If your cancellation policy requires more notice: Your policy's window applies instead. For example, if your policy requires 36 hours' notice, the customer must cancel at least 36 hours ahead to get the fee back.
-
Late cancellations and no-shows: The fee isn't refunded.
If you refund a customer after you check them out, you're responsible for refunding the 20% or 5% fee to them.
Daily Deals and Vera Fill My Books deals get the same marketing:
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Sponsored on the Marketplace: Your business appears in the list of sponsored businesses on the Vagaro Marketplace home page for people in your area.
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Higher in search results: Your business ranks higher when people in your area search for services and classes that match what you offer.
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Emails to nearby Vagaro users: Your deals are emailed to Vagaro users within 25 miles of your business who haven't visited you before.
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Push notifications and emails to your customers: If you create a deal or campaign for existing customers, they'll get push notifications and emails about it.
The difference is who creates the deals. You create your own Daily Deals. With Fill My Books, Vera creates Daily Deals for you using the discount you set.
Emails for Daily Deals and Fill My Books are included at no extra cost and don't count toward your Email Marketing plan.
Use the Vera Dashboard to see the benefits your Daily Deals and Fill My Books deals bring your business, including the customers and bookings they bring in. These are customers who found you through a deal, so you can compare what you pay in fees with the new business you get.
You only pay a fee when a customer books using a deal. If a customer books without a Daily Deal or a Fill My Books deal, there's no fee.
-
To offer an online discount without a fee, create a promo code: Customers enter the code when they book online, and you aren't charged a deal fee. Promo codes aren't promoted on the Marketplace or by email, so customers need to get the code from you.
-
To stop fees on deals you're running now, deactivate your Daily Deals or turn off Fill My Books.
Comments
46 comments
How does Vagaro track the original booking source for my clients (e.g., my personal website, social media, or the Vagaro Marketplace)? I currently have the Vagaro booking widget integrated onto both my website and my social media profiles. How can I see the booking source breakdown in my reports? Fee Structure Clarification: If a client finds me via a Google Ad, clicks through to my website, and books using the embedded Vagaro widget, does that qualify for Vagaro's 20% New Client Referral fee, or is it fee-free since it happened on my own site?
The only bad thing about this, I see, is if someone new books and does a “No Show”, I get charged 20% from Vagaro with no refund, especially when I had a new person book recently and did a no show, then their card couldn't be charged for the no show fee showing insufficient funds. Essentially, people I don't know can really hurt me with this by using a card, then blocking it and not showing it. I lose money. Should be that if no fee can be charged for a no-show, Vagaro will give back the 20% they took. If the fee can be taken, I would say ok to Vagaro keeping that 20%.
Hi Serena, the fee is applied whenever a daily deal is used. If you apply this deal to ALL services, then all new customer bookings will be subject to a 20% fee and will be considered as “Vera” in the source report. In this case, it doesn't matter where the customer came from because all new customers have access to this deal.
However, if you want to promote a specific service, you can customize this setting to just a few services. That way, the fee is only charged when a customer books that service.
Thanks,
Jamie
Hi Elizabeth,
We always recommend charging a deposit instead of a no-show fee. That way, the funds are guaranteed. With Fill My Books, if you charge a 50% deposit for your bookings, Vagaro would take 20%, and you would keep 30% of the booking up front.
If a customer no-shows, you don't need to charge a no-show fee, and you don't risk your customer charging back the no-show fee as well.
Thanks,
Jamie
Is there a way to just set a deposit for new clients, not existing ones? I have a few existing ones that I trust to contact me at the last minute with their work schedules, but I don't want to go through the hassle of refunds or transferring money when their bosses tell them they need to work the next day, even though they already booked with me. If that feature existed, I would be more willing to just accept a new client deposit instead of taking a deposit from everyone, since deposits tend to chase away business for those who need more flexible scheduling.
Hi Elizabeth,
Yes, this is possible on Vagaro. From the Online Shopping Cart, you can require a deposit for new customers only. That way, existing customers won't be required to pay a deposit. Then, with Fill My Books, you can turn on Get New Customers only so that the deal applies to new customers. With these two settings, there's no booking fee for existing customers, and no deposit is required.
What happens if an existing clients books a daily deal thats for new clients only. Would be charged the 20%? Clients now have these apps that generate new emails with the intent of getting a discount even though we will not honor for existing clientele.
Hi Miguel, they would be treated as new customers, and you would be charged 20%. However, as long as you cancel the appointment 24 hours before the booking time, you will be refunded.
Thanks,
Jamie
I'm considering enabling Vera Fill My Books, but I'm confused about how the 20% referral fee actually works.
Based on Jamie's earlier post:
That seems to suggest I could be charged the 20% fee even if I generated the client through my own website, Google Business Profile, Facebook, YouTube, QR code, referrals, etc., and they simply used my Vagaro booking page to schedule.
Could someone clarify the following?
Is there a way to require a deposit ONLY from new clients taking advantage of the deal? We do not want to require deposits from ALL new clients. We use the capture credit card feature for all clients in our salon currently. Can both options be used at the same time?
Hi Jacob,
Yes, you're understanding the functionality correctly. If a customer uses the deal, the system treats it as a Vera booking because the discount may have convinced them to book with you, even if they came from your marketing or from Google. The 20% fee will be charged.
On the other hand, if you don't offer a discount on all services, a customer can find your business through Vera and book a non-discounted service, and you won't be charged a fee. Fill My Books also has the same benefits as Get Featured, so you're still advertised throughout the marketplace as well.
In summary, a fee is only charged when a Vera discounted service or class is purchased.
If you're unsure, I recommend configuring your Vera settings to apply to a specific number of services and employees. Then you can use Vagaro reporting to see the results and see how many customers the feature brings in.
Here's an answer to all your questions:
The fee is only charged when a customer uses a Vera discount. As I said before, a customer can find your business through Vera, but you're only charged a fee when they use the discount.
This would be considered a Vera booking if they use the Fill My Books Deal.
If I only enable Vera for one introductory service and that client upgrades to a membership during checkout or immediately after their first visit, is the 20% fee charged only on the introductory service or on the entire purchase?
The 20% fee would be calculated on the service, membership, and any other items on the card, excluding products or gift cards.
This depends. Like I said previously, if you have a deal on haircuts and also upgrade to a membership at the same time, then yes, the 20% fee would be applied to the $500 as a one-time fee. If the customer purchases the package separately from the discounted haircut, no fee will be charged unless you create a daily-deal discount for that package.
It's a one-time fee for new customers. All monthly payments thereafter won't be charged a fee if the customer continues to renew.
Can I easily identify inside Vagaro which bookings came from Vera/Marketplace versus my own marketing?
If you check the source report on Vagaro, all bookings that used a Vera deal will be tracked with the Vera source.
Thanks,
Jamie
Hi Kim, currently that isn't an option on Vagaro. Just an FYI, if you require a deposit at checkout, their credit card is also saved on file.
Thanks,
Jamie
I am a booth renter and I do not charge a deposit for new or returning appointments. So how would your fee be collected?
Hi Shantale, even if you don't require a deposit currently, if you turn on this feature, your customers will be required to pay a deposit at checkout. Vagaro collects the fee from that deposit.
Thanks, Jamie
Hello,
I had a client book a last minute appointment 30mins prior to the start time. How do I extend the last minute bookings to 12 hours. I have this set in our online appointment rules. How did she book so close to her service time? I ended up having to cancel her appointment. We would love to use this feature… this should have not overruled our policy for booking online.
Hi Connor, this feature overrides your Online Appointment Rules. There's an explanation at the bottom of this page: https://support.vagaro.com/hc/en-us/articles/18977275777947.
Thanks,
Jamie
So am I understanding correctly that the daily deals cannot be used anymore without vagaro taking a fee? And if someone cancels last minute we cannot charge the cancellation fee anymore?
Who is paying the deposit? The customer when they book?
Hi Aidah, the customer pays the deposit when they book. The fee is taken from that amount.
Thanks,
Jamie
Hi Amanda, yes, daily deals now require a fee. Because a deposit is required, you won't be able to charge a cancellation fee. I recommend that you charge a higher deposit instead to cover the cancellation fee.
Thanks, Jamie
Is it possible to opt out of the email campaign? I would like to use the features but would like to be excluded from email campaign from Vera. Also, when Vera is sending out email campaigns to customers in the area, is it an email featuring deals from multiple businesses using the feature or just my business?
Hi Rebecca,
Currently, there isn't a way to opt out of email campaigns, but I'll be sure to forward your feedback to our product team. The emails are sent to a random set of Vagaro users within a 25-mile radius. These emails contain local deals for businesses in their area and will include a multitude of different businesses, including yours.
Thanks,
Jamie
Hi Jamie- Appreciate the answers to questions here as we continue to learn about this new functionality. I've used it with success and have a few questions. 1. I had a Daily Deal for one specific service at a set price AND activated Vera for the same service that was a new patient 15% off offer and it looks like the patient double dipped discounts- will there be a way to avoid that? would best practice to only have one vera enabled campaign at the same time?
Hi Brandon,
I tested on my end, and I'm not seeing a double discount applied. There shouldn't be a way to stack Daily Deal discounts. Unless… I'm misunderstanding what happened. I recommend contacting support so they can look into your issue.
Thanks,
Jamie
For our existing clients, do we have control over who gets last minute calendar opening notifications? For regular clients who typically pre-book (with no discount), getting these emails/notifications may incentivized not pre-booking.
Also, as far as existing clients, how does Vagaro know who to send these notifications to? Are there parameters built in regarding when an existing client was last in or when their next appointment is scheduled? Will they be sending last minute calendar opening deals to clients that were just in a week ago, or clients that are already on the books for a future appointment. Clients that are already on the books for a future appointment would be incentivized to cancel an existing appointment (no discount) to take advantage of the deal.
Is the daily deal automatically deducted at checkout? As in if we set the deal for 15% off for existing customers, does the system apply that discount to the total at checkout?
Hi Dacia, yes if a customer uses a daily deal online, it'll be automatically deducted from the total owed online and in-house.
Thanks,
Jamie
Is there a way to restrict Vera to only use the daily deals I've already created? I brought it up just now and it changed itself to say something about “beauty treatments”. That wording is getting pretty close to going beyond my scope of practice. And technically, in Tennessee, we are supposed to keep copies of any advertisement we make. I don't want it saying whatever it wants to to my potential clients, so is there any way to restrict it?
Hi James,
I forwarded your feedback to the product team. Currently, there isn't an option to do that, but Vera should create campaigns based on your services. I'll look into why this wording was used.
Thanks,
Jamie
Well the first one I saw was saying something about "final service massage discount" or something like that. Is there no way to even see what it's been showing potential clients? I'm just seeing sales statistics and not message records. It was a super weird name for a discount and it's different now anyways. How often is it going to. Change it? Daily? Per client? If it's going to be this unpredictable and uncontrollable then I legally can't use it where I am, even if it has gotten me new clients already.
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