Deposit

What is a deposit?

A deposit (Dutch: aanbetaling) is part of the bill you pay in advance, usually to lock in the appointment. The ACM describes it simply as part of the bill you pay ahead of time. It is only required if you have agreed to it.

What the law says about it

There is one sentence that carries the whole familiar percentage, and it is about goods.

Article 7:26(2) of the Dutch Civil Code states that in a consumer sale the buyer can be required to pay in advance at most half the purchase price. A consumer sale is about the purchase of an object. A booking of someone’s time does not fall under it.

The ACM puts it bluntly: for services there is no maximum amount for deposits, and you agree on that amount yourself with the service provider.

Two things belong with that. A deposit is not required unless you have agreed to it, and if you are asked for one after the agreement has been concluded, you do not have to accept it.

Why it gets asked for in this line of work

For the simplest reason there is: a reserved block of the day that stays empty is a loss that cannot be made up.

With me the amount and the reason are in the terms and conditions. For international bookings the deposit is higher, because travel and lodging costs come before the appointment itself. What exactly applies you read in the terms and conditions, and it is there in black and white before you transfer anything.

What you can do with this

• Ask what the amount is based on and what happens to it if the appointment does not go ahead.
• Have it put on paper before you transfer, even when it is a small amount.
• Be wary of a request after the fact. According to the ACM, you do not have to accept a deposit that is only asked for after the agreement has been concluded.
• Know that fifty percent is not a norm here. That cap is for the purchase of goods, not for services.

Sources

• Wat zijn mijn rechten bij een aanbetaling? ACM ConsuWijzer, Autoriteit Consument & Markt. Supplies the description as part of the bill you pay ahead of time, the rule that a deposit is only required if it has been agreed in the contract or the terms and conditions, the finding that you do not have to accept a deposit asked for only after the agreement has been concluded, the 50 percent cap for products, the statement that for services there is no maximum amount for deposits, and the explanation of the risk in a bankruptcy.
• Burgerlijk Wetboek Boek 7, artikel 26. Wetten.overheid.nl. Supplies the legal basis under the familiar percentage, that in a consumer sale the buyer can be required to pay in advance at most half the purchase price, and with it the boundary that this provision is about consumer sales.

Related terms

• Sex work. The trade in which a deposit is more common than in most others.
• Discretion. What happens to your data when you make a payment.
• Safe call. The other arrangement you make in advance, and one that costs nothing.