Free Booking (Book without Payment)

Use Free booking when you want customers to book a time slot without paying online. The app will still create appointments and keep your calendar organized, no checkout step.

💡 When to use Free booking

Free booking works well for:

• Consultations / trials – first visit is free, you charge later if needed

• In-person services paid on site – pay in cash or card at your location

• School visits / tours / demo sessions – booking only, no fee

• Services handled by invoice – you bill customers manually afterwards

If you need customers to pay online, use Paid services (Pay to book) instead.

Demo: https://demo-app-v2-tipo-appointment-booking.myshopify.com/products/couples-spa-package (password: 1234)

---

⚙️ How to set up a Free service

Step 1: Open Services

• Open the app > click Services

• Click New service button

Steps 2: Choose a service type

Full-day booking

Best for services that take a whole day (event rental, photoshoot day).

• Customers book an entire day

• Paid via Shopify checkout

Regular booking

Best if you collect payment offline.

• Customers book a time slot

• No Shopify checkout required

Multi-day booking (without checkout)

• Customers book multiple days

• No checkout

Step 3: Create the service product in Shopify

The app creates/uses a Shopify Product for your service. In the Add product screen:

• Title: e.g., Yoga class

• Status: Active

• Price:

  • Set the price to $0, or

  • Keep a regular price (if you still want to show a value), the app will ignore it for checkout when using free booking.

Click Save.

Step 4: Configure service settings

👥 Capacity

Set how many people can book the same time slot.

• Example: 1 for 1-on-1 appointments

• Example: 5 for group sessions

⏱️ Duration

Choose how long each booking takes:

• Quick buttons (30, 60, 90, 120 min…)

• Or Custom

• If your service supports it, you can choose:

  • Less than a day

  • Multiple days

Example: Haircut = 60 min

Step 5: Choose payment type

Choose No payment required

Step 6: Set Availability

In the Availability section, click Manage

• Assign team members to this service (required). If you have not had a team member, create a new one.

• Their schedules determine what time slots are available

Learn more

Step 7: Customize more settings (Optional)

• In Location field, enter the location of the service

• Color: helps identify bookings in the calendar

• Questions & Add-ons: collect info (name, preferences) or sell add-ons

• Advanced settings: booking rules, lead time, buffer time, etc. (if available)

Step 8: Save your changes

---

🛠️ Set up free form

Next, set up custom fields to collect customer data for the free appointment:

1. Open the app > click Settings > scroll down to Customer account

2. Enable the field(s) you want to show

3. Set up field label and set as required if needed

4. Click Save

---

🌐 How it works on your storefront

1. Customer opens the service product page.

2. Clicks the Book now / Schedule button.

3. Chooses date, time, and fills in their details.

4. Clicks Confirm booking.

Because the service is “No payment required”:

• There is no payment method step.

• Shopify checkout is skipped.

• The appointment is created immediately and appears in your app & calendar.

---

📋 How it looks in admin

After a customer books:

• You’ll see the appointment under Appointments in Tipo.

• The order/payment section in Shopify is not created for this booking (unless you manually create one).

• You can still:

  • Reschedule

  • Cancel

  • Add notes

---

▶️ A Tutorial video

---

✅ Quick comparison: Free vs Paid services

Type	Booking flow	Best for
Book without payment	Customer books → appointment created → no checkout	Free
Pay to book – Pay now	Customer books → goes to checkout → pays immediately	Paid appointments
Pay to book – Pay later	Customer books → appointment created → invoice sent	Invoice / offline payment workflows

---

❓FAQ

Q: Can I change a free service to paid later?

Yes. Just edit the service, change Choose payment type to Pay to book, and save

Q: Will customers still get confirmation emails?

Yes. Confirmation and reminder emails (if enabled) work the same for free and paid bookings.

Q: Do I need a price set in Shopify for free bookings?

Not required. You can set the price to $0 or leave your normal price, the important part is the “Book without payment” option inside Tipo.

---

🙋 Still need support?

If you still need help, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]. We’ll be happy to assist you further.