How can I manage rental payments in my online store?

Topic summary

Goal: Set up rental payments that cover duration-based fees, damage charges, and non-return fees.

Current guidance (Shopify Support):

  • Use third‑party booking/rental apps so customers choose dates and pay by duration (BookThatApp; Rentals & Reservations was suggested but later noted as no longer available).
  • Common workaround: collect a refundable deposit outside Shopify at pickup; if damaged/not returned, keep deposit or invoice via draft orders.
  • Alternative: create a deposit as a product (pre‑order style customization); advanced coding, not theme‑supported—hire a developer if needed.

Apps mentioned:

  • Canteen: adds a separate refundable deposit item (not a credit card hold/authorization).
  • Hypehound: partial payments with a second authorization and selective capture; seeking real‑world use cases.

Pain points and requests:

  • Merchants want true credit card authorization holds for security bonds. BookThatApp allows customers to remove bonds; manual refunds add accounting friction and delays. Using external gateways to support holds incurs an extra 2% fee from Shopify.

Open questions (unresolved):

  • Best solution for security deposits (especially without calendars).
  • Selectively charging deposits only for in‑store pickup.

Status: No definitive built‑in solution; thread remains open with third‑party and custom options.

Summarized with AI on December 14. AI used: gpt-5.

Hi LINAM5,

have you found a better way to charge security deposits?