Most service businesses sell through chat. A customer asks the price and which days you’re free, you send your account number for the deposit, wait for the slip, and write the appointment in a notebook. It works, but you answer the same questions every day, and now and then someone books and then goes quiet.

An online shop lets customers see your services and prices for themselves and pay, in full or as a deposit, straight away. You still arrange the time in chat, just as you do now. This guide uses nail salons, classes and photographers as examples, but the same ideas work for other services too.

Why service businesses should take deposits

  • Customers are more likely to show up once they’ve paid part of the price.
  • Your time is protected. A slot you hold for one customer is income you lose if they don’t come.
  • Upfront costs are covered, such as class materials or travel to an on-location shoot.

What matters is stating the terms clearly before anyone pays. More on that below.

Turn your services into packages people can buy

Customers decide more easily when a service has a clear name, price and list of what’s included. Turn your services into packages, and make each package one product in your shop:

  • Nail salon: “Nude gel nails” for 590 baht and “Tortoiseshell nail art” for 790 baht, with photos of real work and roughly how long each takes.
  • Classes: “3-hour ceramic mug class”, materials included, and when students can take their piece home.
  • Photographer: “1-hour portrait session”, how many edited photos are included, and how the files are delivered.

Nude pink gel nails, an example of a work photo for a nail package

With Tellsell, you send a photo of your work in LINE and say the package name, price and what’s included. The AI drafts the listing for you to check before you publish. If one package comes in several versions at the same price, such as nail colour tones, add them as options on that product.

Full payment or a deposit

Full payment suits lower-priced services. The customer pays the package price and there’s no balance to track.

A deposit suits higher-priced services or ones that block out a lot of your time. The simplest way is to list the deposit as its own item, for example:

Deposit, on-location photo session: 1,000 baht Package price 3,500 baht; balance of 2,500 baht paid on the day

The customer pays the deposit with a PromptPay QR code that has the amount filled in, and you collect the balance on the day, however you agreed. Put all three numbers clearly on the listing: the full price, the deposit, and the balance with when it’s due.

Arrange the time in chat

Tellsell doesn’t have a booking calendar. The time is agreed in chat, which is often more flexible anyway, because you schedule around your real day. It goes like this:

  1. The customer picks a package or deposit and pays by QR.
  2. At checkout they can write the days and times that suit them in the note to the shop.
  3. You get the order alert, check your banking app that the money arrived, and tap Paid.
  4. You contact the customer to confirm the time, by the phone number on the order, or they message you on your shop’s LINE, whose button is on your shop page and their order status page.

Say on the listing how soon after payment you’ll be in touch, so customers aren’t left wondering.

For classes with fixed times, use options for the sessions, such as “Sat 10:00” and “Sun 13:00”, and set each option’s stock to the number of seats. When a session fills up, it shows as sold out on its own. If someone orders but neither pays nor sends a slip, the order cancels automatically after 24 hours (you can change this) and the seat opens up again.

Write clear terms from the start

Clear terms prevent far more misunderstandings than explaining afterwards. Put these in the package description:

  • What is and isn’t included in the price
  • How long it takes, and what the customer should bring or prepare
  • Whether the deposit is refundable, and until when
  • Rescheduling, for example 24 hours’ notice, one change allowed
  • Arriving late, and what happens to the session time
  • Location, and travel costs if you go to the customer. Build those into the package price.

If you need to refund someone, cancelling a paid order in Tellsell marks it as refund due until you’ve sent the money back from your banking app and confirmed it. As for consumer protection rules on deposits and refunds, if you’re unsure, check with Thailand’s Office of the Consumer Protection Board or ask an accountant or legal adviser.

Set up your shop for services

  • Turn off delivery in the dashboard, leaving only pickup at the shop. Customers won’t be asked for an address or charged a delivery fee.
  • Fill in your shop info: opening hours, address with map, and the LINE account customers can message. You can do this from the Shop info button in LINE.
  • Use photos of your real work, and always ask customers first if their hands, face or personal details are in the picture.

Start with a few core packages

Most service businesses have a handful of services that sell best. Start there: list them as packages, write clear terms, and send customers your shop link instead of typing out prices every day. New shops start on the Free plan with no card, and it shows 3 products, enough for your core services. See what the Free plan includes.