Should you ask guests for a deposit?

We get the same question almost every week: should we start asking for a deposit? It usually follows a bad Saturday, with three tables of four that never showed up. The maths is quick and the emotion is fair. But a deposit is not a switch, it is a decision about how your relationship with a guest begins.

What a deposit actually does

Deposits reduce no-shows. That is not an opinion; venues using them see peak-night no-shows drop from five to eight percent down to roughly one. What you pay for it is friction. A share of your guests abandons the booking at the payment screen, especially spontaneous bookers and people who do not know you yet.

Those two effects are not equal everywhere. If your kitchen buys for a fixed menu on the day, an empty table is expensive and drop-off is cheap. If you run a bistro on walk-in energy, a deposit probably costs you more revenue than the no-shows do.

Start with what is free

Before charging anything, there is a list of measures that cost nothing and do surprisingly much. In practice, most venues remove the bulk of their no-show problem here.

• A confirmation that looks like your venue, with date, time and a button to change it.
• A same-day reminder, by email or WhatsApp, with one-click cancelling.
• Make cancelling easier than not showing up. Every hurdle to cancel becomes a no-show.
• A no-show score per guest, so unknown large parties are treated differently from regulars.
• Call parties of six and up. Old-fashioned, and still better than any system.

When a deposit does make sense

Sometimes a deposit is a service to your guest. For a chef's table, a New Year's menu or a private event, paying ahead is normal and expected. The same is true for groups of eight and up, where one cancellation rearranges your whole evening.

• Set menus and events: full or substantial prepayment.
• Groups of eight or more: an amount per person, deducted from the bill.
• Peak dates (Valentine's, Christmas, Mother's Day): switch it on for those days only.
• Guests with previous no-shows: a card guarantee, with no charge upfront.

A guarantee is not a deposit

The distinction most venues miss: you can hold a card without charging it. The guest pays nothing but knows a charge follows a no-show. Psychologically it does almost the same work, while the booking hurdle stays low. For most à la carte venues this is the better starting point.

Never charge for a problem a good reminder email would also solve.

How we would set it up

Fix the basics, measure for four weeks, then add money. Never switch deposits on venue-wide; do it per day and per party size, so you only pay in convenience when an empty table genuinely hurts. And show the amount before the form, not after: a surprise on the final step costs more bookings than the amount itself.

In TAVYNO you set this per day with No-show Shield: no deposit on Tuesday, a guarantee on Friday, an amount per person on New Year's Eve. One venue, three rules, and nothing your guest notices except clarity.