Deposits for Custom Signs: Full Payment, 50% or Something Else?

Short answer: take a deposit on any custom sign big enough to hurt if the customer walks away, and ask for full payment up front on small, quick jobs. A 50% deposit with the balance before delivery is the most common middle ground.

A custom sign has no resale value. Once it says someone else's name, you cannot sell it to anyone else. That is the whole case for deposits.

When to ask for full payment

• Small orders, where chasing a balance costs more time than it is worth
• Fast turnaround jobs that ship within days
• New online customers you have never dealt with

When a deposit makes sense

• Larger signs, where asking for the whole amount up front can lose the sale
• Long lead times, where the customer wants to see progress before paying the rest
• Repeat customers you trust

How much?

• 50% is the usual figure. It covers materials and part of the labor, and feels fair to most customers.
• Higher, like 60 or 70%, for very custom work, expensive materials, or anything you buy specially for the job.
• Lower only for customers with a track record.

When to take the balance

• Before shipping or installation is the safest. The sign does not leave until it is paid for.
• On delivery works for local installs, where you are there in person.
• Avoid "after installation, sometime". That is how balances end up in a collections folder.

Make it clear on the invoice

Confusion about deposits causes more trouble than the deposit itself. The invoice should show:

• every line item, including delivery
• the total
• the minimum payment due now, and what is left after it
• when the balance is due
• the estimated delivery date

And make it easy to pay. A card or PayPal button on the invoice gets paid faster than bank details in an email.

Decide order by order

There is no need for one rule for every job. In Sign Designer you choose full payment or a deposit on each invoice, set the final price and the estimated delivery date, and the customer pays by card or PayPal into your own Stripe or PayPal account. When the payment is in, the order marks itself as paid and confirmed. See the invoice step.