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Send a payment link or charge the remaining balance

  • Updated

When a guest still owes money on a booking, the rest of the price after a down payment, or extras added later, Stripe gives you two ways to collect it: send the guest a payment link they pay themselves, or charge the card they used at your checkout directly. Both work from the booking, without any new setup per guest.

Before you start

You need this before either option works:

  • Stripe connected to Smoobu. See .

Steps

To send a payment link:

  1. In Smoobu, open Communication and create a new message template, or open the one you want to use.
  2. Add the placeholder [stripePaymentLink] to the message text where the link should appear.
  3. Send the message to the guest, or let it go out as an automated message. When the message is sent, Smoobu replaces the placeholder with a payment link that covers everything still unpaid on that booking, including extras the guest added themselves.
  4. Follow the payment on the booking itself: open the booking and scroll to the Payment Details section. The link shows Requested until the guest pays and Paid once the money is in.

Each generated link is a one-time link for what was unpaid at the moment the message went out.

Check it worked

The Payment Details section of the booking lists the payment link with its status. After the guest pays, the status changes to Paid, and the payment appears in your Stripe account.

Charge the remaining balance directly

On bookings made through your Booking Engine or Smoobu website where the guest paid by card via Stripe, the card stays on file, and you can charge the rest without involving the guest. Open the booking, go to the Payment Methods section, and click Charge Card. Enter the amount in the format 00.00 (for example 150.00), add a description if you want one, and click Save. The card is charged right away.

The button exists only on those bookings. Bookings from channels like Booking.com or Airbnb, and bookings you entered manually, carry no card in Smoobu, so Charge Card doesn't appear on them at all. For those bookings, send a payment link instead.

Common problems

Don't put the placeholder into a new message: that generates a fresh link. To re-send the original, open the booking, scroll to Payment Details, copy the existing payment link from there, and paste it into your message.

The link the guest already has only covers what was unpaid when it was created. Send a new message with the [stripePaymentLink] placeholder: a new link is generated for everything that's unpaid now.

There's no Charge Card button on the booking

That booking has no card on file in Smoobu. The button only appears on bookings where the guest paid by card via Stripe at your own checkout. Collect the money with a payment link instead.

I want the balance collected automatically before arrival

Smoobu doesn't charge remaining balances on a schedule. What you can automate is the request: set up an automated message a few days before arrival that contains the [stripePaymentLink] placeholder, and the guest gets the link without you doing anything. Time it before departure instead if you also want the link to cover extra items guests add during their stay; the link always covers everything unpaid at the moment it's created. For fully automatic collection, the Marketplace partner ChargeAutomation covers scheduled collection; Swikly focuses on deposits and card imprints.

I want to collect the balance through PayPal instead

The [stripePaymentLink] placeholder is Stripe-only, but PayPal has its own placeholder for the remaining balance: put [restPayPalLink] into your message and the guest gets a pre-filled PayPal page for the amount still open (the total minus the prepayment). It requires your PayPal.me name connected in Smoobu; the setup is in .

Still stuck?

If these steps didn't fix it, contact the Smoobu team: open the Help menu to open a ticket or book a call slot, or use the chat bubble in the bottom-right corner. To get the fastest answer, please include:

  • Your Smoobu User ID (in the profile-icon menu, top right).
  • The property name or ID, if it's about one property.
  • The Booking ID, if it's about one booking (Bookings, then View more).
  • The channel name, if it's about channel sync (Booking.com, Airbnb, Vrbo, and so on).
  • A short step-by-step: what you did, what you expected, and what happened.
  • Screenshots or a short screen recording of the problem.
  • Your browser and operating system, if something looks wrong on screen.

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