Key Payment Settings:
Deposit Fee:
- Admin can set a global deposit value to confirm bookings.
- The deposit can be a fixed amount or a percentage of the booking total.
- If a deposit is set, the user must pay it before the booking is confirmed.
- If the deposit is non-zero, it must cover any service and administrative fees.
Admin Service Fee:
- Admin can set a service fee that is paid by the guest.
- The service fee is deducted from the owner’s earnings, but paid by the guest as part of the deposit.
- The service fee can also be set as a fixed amount or percentage.
Expenses:
- Admin can decide whether to include city and cleaning fees in the deposit calculation.
- If the deposit is set to 100%, including the city and cleaning fees is mandatory.
Possible Booking scenarios:
Manual Booking Approval: The owner must approve the booking request. More on the booking process
- Guest sends a booking request.
- The owner approves or rejects the request.
- If the owner approves, they issue an invoice.
- The renter must pay the deposit (if set by admin) to confirm the booking. The payment goes to the admin account.
Instant Booking: No owner approval is required. How to set up Instant Booking
- Guest sends a booking request.
- The renter must pay the deposit (if set by admin) to confirm the booking.
- Payment goes to the admin account.
Managing Bookings with Deposit Fees
This guide explains how property owners can manage bookings when a deposit fee is charged in WpRentals.
It also covers how guests make payments and how admins set up deposit fees.
Setting Up the Deposit Fee (Admin)
The admin must first enable the deposit fee in the theme settings:
- Navigate to WpRentals Options.
- Go to Add Listing Page & Payment Settings -> Booking Payment Settings
- Set the Deposit Fee amount. You can set as a % OR a fixed fee amount.
- (Optional) Set a Service Fee for bookings.
Note: Payments to owners are not supported directly by WpRentals. The deposit fee goes to the admin’s account, NOT to the owner account directly.
Deposit asked is different than 0
- If the Deposit is set to a value greater than 0, the guest must pay that deposit before the booking can be confirmed.
- Deposit required value is set in Add Listing Page & Payment Settings -> Booking Payment Settings
Admin wishes to collect only his Service Fee with Deposit Fee
- If the admin wishes to only collect a percentage deposit as the service fee and leave the remaining payment between the guest and owner outside of the theme, this is possible.
- He needs to set Deposit Fee and Admin Service Fee as equal values:
- In the User Dashboard, the confirmed booking will show the deposit paid and the remaining balance.
- Paying the remaining balance through the theme to the admin account is optional and can be removed with CSS if desired.
Deposit is 100% – full payment required
- You can choose to include additional expenses (e.g., city fee and cleaning fee) when calculating the deposit.
- However, if 100% deposit is required, these fees must be included.
Booking Scenario: Manual Booking Approval
Placing a Booking (Renter)
A guest follows these steps to place a booking:
- Select Check-in and Check-out dates.
- Choose the Number of Guests.
- Login or Register
- Click Book Now.
- The booking request appears in the Guest Dashboard under My Reservations with a Pending status.
Managing Booking Requests (Owner)
Viewing Bookings:
- Owner receives a new email notification that a new booking request was sent from one of his properties.
- Log in as an Owner.
- Open the User Dashboard > Bookings.
- All new bookings will show as Pending.
Approving or Rejecting a Booking:
To reject: Click Reject Booking Request. The guest will receive a notification.
To approve: Click Issue Invoice. The owner can now:
- View booking details.
- Add extra expenses or discounts.
- Send the invoice to the guest.
Booking Scenario: Instant Booking Enabled
Owner Checks “Allow instant booking? If checked, you will not have the option to reject a booking request.” to activate Instant Booking from My Listings -> Edit Listings -> Description
Placing a Booking (Renter)
A guest follows these steps to place a booking:
- Select Check-in and Check-out dates.
- Choose the Number of Guests.
- Login or Register
- Click Book Now.
- Pay the deposit required for booking to be confirmed
Renter Payment Process from Dashboard
Once the invoice is issued, the renter needs to complete the deposit payment:
- Renter receives an email that a new invoice was generated and he needs to Pay It
- Log in with Renter account
- Go to My Reservations.
- Click Invoice Created – Check and Pay.
- Review payment details.
- Pay the deposit fee using Stripe or other enabled payment gateways.
Once paid, the booking status updates to Confirmed.
Note: A confirmed booking cannot be canceled by the guest.
Managing Confirmed Bookings (Owner)
- Once a guest pays the deposit, and deposit is different than 100%, the booking appears as Confirmed, Not Fully Paid.
- The owner can:
- Cancel the booking
- Send reminder emails for the full payment (automatic email is sent 3 days before the booking starts).
Completing the Full Payment (Guest)
This step is optional. The button to pay Full Payment always shows.
To fully pay for the booking:
- Log in as a Renter.
- Go to My Reservations.
- Click Pay Invoice in Full and see Balanced Owed
- Complete the payment to Admin via the merchants that are enabled.
The booking status updates to Confirmed and Paid.
Final Booking Status (Owner & Renter)
Guest Dashboard: The status updates to Confirmed and Paid. Renter can:
- See Invoice Details
- Check Trip Details
- Add a review after the trip
- Contact owner
Owner Dashboard: The same status appears, and the owner can:
- View booking details.
- Cancel the booking if necessary.
- Contact the Renter