How do I let families book and pay for birthday parties online?

Online party booking lets families pick a package, a free date and time, pay online and get a confirmation. You see the booking right away and the time is no longer offered to anyone else.

Before you begin

• Connect Stripe so parties can be paid online. If it is not connected, the Parties page tells you so.
• Your party packages and upgrades (names and what they include) are listed on your parties page. This screen sets their prices.
• Only owners can change the settings.

Steps

1. Open Parties. The colored box at the top tells you whether families can book online right now.
2. Scroll to Online booking and tick Let families book and pay online.
3. In Start Times, One Day per Line write one line per day. A day (Mon, Tue... Sun), then start and end times in 24-hour time separated by commas, like Sat 12:00-14:00, 15:00-17:00.
4. Set Parties at the Same Time (how many parties can share a start time, such as rooms) and Days' Notice (the earliest a family can book, counted from today).
5. Under Prices fill in each package's Price ($), Guests included and Days' notice. A package can need more notice than the default.
6. Set Each Extra Guest ($), Most Guests at One Party and the Price of each upgrade.
7. Choose Pay Online: The full price, or A deposit, the rest at the gym and enter the Deposit ($) (at least $1).
8. Choose the Sales Tax Type (only used when sales tax is on) and optionally write Booking Terms (optional), shown under the pay button. For example, "Deposits are refundable up to 7 days before the party."
9. Press Save.

What you'll see

• The box at the top turns to "Families can book and pay online".
• To switch booking on you need at least one start time and a price for a package, or the save is refused.
• Families pick a party, a date and a time (closed days and notice periods are not offered), enter the number of guests and pay. A confirmation goes to the family and a notice goes to your contact email, along with a phone alert without names.
• New parties show under Upcoming parties.

Troubleshooting

The box says online booking is on but cannot open. Add at least one start time and a price for a package. If Stripe is not connected, connect it first.

A start time was refused. Check that each line looks like Sat 12:00-14:00, and that the end time is after the start.

A family cannot find a time they want. Closed days, the notice period and times that are already taken are not offered. Families can use "Send us a request" on the parties page for other times.