Cash is fine. Until a client forgets to bring it. Or a no-show eats your morning. Or you spend Sunday night chasing tips and tracking who paid for what.
If you run a salon, studio, or solo beauty business, the way you take payments shapes your week more than you think. The right setup protects your time, smooths your cash flow, and quietly builds revenue you weren't capturing before (hello, gift cards).
This guide walks through every way to get paid with Goldie, when each method makes sense, and the small settings that make the biggest difference.
A few practical wins, beyond "it's modern":
Goldie supports a full set of payment methods so you can match the right one to the moment. Here's the quick map:
Send a link by text or email. The client pays from their phone, no card needed in front of you. Best for deposits, remote consultations, or anyone who books by DM.
Your phone is the card reader. The client taps their card or digital wallet to the back of your iPhone or Android device, no extra hardware required. Available on iOS in the US, CA, FR, IT, NL, and AU, and on Android in a wider list of countries including the UK, Germany, Spain, and Singapore. Full availability and how-to.
Best for in-person checkout when you want zero gear and zero hassle. Apple's overview of Tap to Pay on iPhone explains why this method is popular with mobile pros.
For US-based businesses on iOS, the Goldie Card Reader connects via Bluetooth and accepts chip, swipe, and contactless. Worth it if you process high volume, take larger transactions, or want a more familiar checkout for older clientele. Comparison: card readers vs Tap to Pay.
Clients can securely save a card during their first deposit. Once saved, you can charge the remaining balance directly, no chasing. The card is only accessible to you 24 hours before and after the appointment, and only for the remaining balance, which keeps it safe for everyone.
Still a thing. Log it in Goldie so your reports stay accurate.
Sell digital gift cards through your online booking page or in person. Goldie comes with default values of $50, $100, $150, $250, and $500, and you can configure up to 10 preset values. Clients can also enter a custom amount if you allow it. Set up gift cards.
Refunds for services paid with a gift card go back to the gift card balance, which keeps the money inside your business.
For charges over $50, clients can split payment into installments through providers like Klarna or Afterpay. You receive the full amount upfront (minus a fee), and the BNPL provider collects from the client over time. How Goldie BNPL works.
This is huge for higher-ticket services: extensions, full color corrections, lash sets, brow tattooing, premium massage packages.
Not a client payment method, but worth mentioning. If you need capital to buy equipment, fund a renovation, or hire help, Goldie Financing offers funding based on your transaction history.
Setup is genuinely quick, because Goldie partners with Stripe to handle the heavy lifting on security and compliance.
Heads up: Goldie Payments is part of the Pro and Pro Plus plans. Starter users have access at a higher transaction rate.
Goldie now offers two ways to protect against no-shows. Pick the one that matches how your clientele books.
Option 1: Collect deposits (recommended) Clients pay a deposit when they book online. The default is 50% of the service price, but you can switch to a fixed dollar amount or a different percentage. Deposits are non-refundable for cancellations and no-shows by default, and they roll forward when clients reschedule within your cancellation window.
Option 2: Capture card details Instead of charging at booking, you save the client's card on file and charge a cancellation fee only if they no-show or cancel late. Less friction at booking, more flexibility for you.
You can also set your cancellation window (default: 24 hours), and write your full payment and booking policy under Menu > Settings > Payments > Policy and terms. Clients see this on your booking page before they confirm. Configure no-show protection.
For more strategies that go beyond payments, read how to reduce salon no-shows.
Tipping is built into checkout. Clients see preset amounts and can also choose a custom tip. Quick rules of thumb:
All tips show up in your reports, broken out by staff member, so payroll and performance reviews are simple.
A few things worth knowing before you need them:
Quick limit to keep in mind: in the US, UK, and Canada, the max charge per appointment is $1,000. If you regularly run larger tickets, contact Goldie support to request a higher limit.
Reports inside Goldie cover daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly views, broken out by:
This is where weekly reviews stop feeling like guesswork. More on the reports feature.
Goldie uses Stripe's processing rates. The big ones:
Full details: Goldie transaction fees.
You can also choose to pass the processing fee onto clients at checkout, which many salons do quietly without losing bookings.
A few quick wins from salons that have done this well:
When you're ready to raise prices on the back of all this, here's how to announce a salon price increase without losing clients.
If you're not on Goldie yet, you can start a free trial and have payments live the same day. If you are on Goldie but haven't turned on the full payment toolkit, this is the week to do it. Your future Sunday-night self will thank you.
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