A booking fee helps cover your payment costs. Once you set it up, Hopoti adds it to every price riders pay, online or offline, and shows the full price before they book.
This feature is available on certain plans
Booking fees are available on all current plans: Starter, Growth, Pro and Ultimate.
New features like this aren't part of earlier plans (from before September 2026). Message our team to get access.
Before you start
You need Administrator permissions to change Settings.
The booking fee is part of your price and is the same whatever payment method the rider uses, so it isn't a card surcharge. A different fee per payment method counts as a surcharge: not allowed on consumer cards in the EU and EEA, and restricted in parts of the US. You're responsible for lawful pricing where you operate.
A booking fee isn't a booking deposit (the upfront part of a season or camp price): see Sell a season with instalments or a booking deposit.
Set up the booking fee
Go to Settings > Payments and open Booking fee under Payment settings.
Tick Add a booking fee to the rider's total.
Under Fee name shown to riders, type the name riders see, in their language. Leave it empty to use "Booking fee".
Enter All payment methods - percentage (%), All payment methods - fixed amount, or both. With both, the rider pays the percentage plus the fixed amount.
Under VAT rate charged on the fee, keep Same as the items being paid for or choose one of your VAT rates.
Check What a rider pays on an example price and select Save.
The fee applies to new payments from the moment you save. There's no confirmation message: reload the page to check your values.
What the booking fee applies to
The booking fee is added to everything riders pay for: single lessons, seasons and their instalments, Stablecards, Passes, services, gift cards, invoices you create, Membership invoices and bookings with offline payments.
When a rider pays several invoices or cards in one payment, the booking fee is charged once on the total, so a fixed amount is added once per payment.
What riders see
Riders see every price with the fee included, and the fee's amount and name under it. The receipt and confirmation email show the fee as its own line with its own VAT. The whole amount is paid to you, and the fee can be refunded with the rest of a payment.
Open invoices, such as season instalments, show "Booking fee is added at checkout" and get the fee in force when they're paid. An offline booking's invoice keeps the fee and name from when the rider booked.
To explain the fee to riders, share Why is there a booking fee on my price?
VAT and ACH bank payments
Open the one that fits your situation:
If your prices use a reduced VAT rate
If your prices use a reduced VAT rate
Some countries treat a booking fee as part of what's sold, others as a separate service at the standard rate. If the standard rate applies to you, choose it under VAT rate charged on the fee, even when your lessons take a reduced rate. In Finland, use the general rate unless your accountant or the Finnish Tax Administration (Vero) has confirmed otherwise. Elsewhere, check with your accountant.
If you take ACH bank payments in the US
If you take ACH bank payments in the US
You set two rates instead of one: Card and wallet payments and Bank (ACH) payments, each with a percentage and a fixed amount. These fields show only once our team has set up ACH for your stable. An empty rate charges nothing for that method. A lower bank rate steers riders to the cheaper method; check your local rules first. See Accept bank payments (ACH) from US riders.
If the booking fee doesn't look right
Check these in order:
There's no Booking fee section in Settings > Payments: your business is on an earlier plan. Message our team to get access.
Riders don't see the fee: check that Add a booking fee to the rider's total is ticked and saved. Reload the page to check.
An older invoice shows another fee name or amount: it's an offline booking, which keeps the fee from when the rider booked.
Still stuck? Message our team in the chat with your fee settings and a booking where the price looks wrong.