What Are Payment Options?

Payment options govern how a space is priced, how payments are structured, ownership or stay durations, reschedule/cancellation policies, and penalties for missed payment deadlines.

Every space on SupaSpace requires at least one payment option. A single space can have multiple payment options attached to it, with the exception of spaces listed for bidding, which can only have one payment option (representing the starting or base price).

A payment option can control things such as:

• The price of a space.

• The currency used for payment.

• How payments are structured.

• Whether payment is made immediately or later.

• Whether guests can pay in installments.

• How long the acquisition lasts.

• Whether ownership is transferred.

• Cancellation policies.

• Rescheduling policies.

• Partial payment.

• Down payments.

• Payment deadlines.

• Penalties for overdue payments.

• Who pays the SupaSpace service fee.

• Discounts and discount codes.

A payment option essentially tells SupaSpace how a particular acquisition should be priced and paid for.

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How Many Payment Options Can a Space Have?

Every space needs at least one payment option before it can be listed.

A space can have multiple payment options.

This allows you to offer guests different ways to acquire the same space.

For example, you could offer:

• Full payment upfront.

• Pay later.

• A down payment followed by another payment.

• Installment payments.

However, there is one exception.

For a space for bidding, you can attach only one payment option.

That payment option represents the base or starting price for the bidding process.

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Payment Options and Contracts

Payment options are copied when a contract is initiated.

This means that the payment option used by a contract becomes part of that contract's payment rules.

Important: Editing a payment option does not change payment rules for contracts that were already initiated.
Changes apply to future contracts that use the updated payment option.

This ensures that changing your current pricing or payment policies does not unexpectedly change the terms of an existing contract.

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Creating a Payment Option

To create a payment option:

1. Open the Payment Options page.

2. Select Create Payment Option.

3. Configure the payment details.

4. Configure the pricing rules.

5. Configure the duration settings.

6. Configure the policies, deadlines, and penalties.

7. Save the payment option.

8. Attach the payment option to one or more spaces.

The payment option configuration is divided into several sections:

• Basic Details.

• Installment Configuration.

• Price Settings.

• Duration Rules.

• Guest Rules.

• Advance Rules.

• Deadlines and Penalties.

Not every section applies in exactly the same way to every payment type.

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Basic Details

Basic Details identify the payment option and define its general payment structure.

Field	Description
Name	The name of the payment option.
Description	A brief explanation of what the payment option is for.
Type	Defines how payments are structured.
Service Fee Payer	Determines who pays the SupaSpace service fee.
Installment Type	Defines how installment payments operate when the payment type is installment.

The most important setting here is the Payment Type, because it determines the overall way the guest pays.

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Payment Types

Payment Types define how payment is made.

SupaSpace supports four main payment types:

• Outright

• Later but outright

• Now and later

• Installment

Let's look at each one.

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Outright

With Outright payment, the guest must make the full payment immediately.

For booking, the guest pays immediately to initiate the contract.

For other acquisition types, once the host approves the guest's request, a temporary contract placeholder is created. The guest can then open the temporary contract and make the required payment.

Once payment is made, the actual contract can be initiated.

One payment certificate is created.

Best for: Bookings and situations where the guest must pay the full amount before access.

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Later but Outright

Later but outright works similarly to Outright, except the contract can be initiated before the guest makes the payment.

The guest is allowed to pay later, but when they pay, they must pay the full amount.

This can be useful for situations such as:

• Pay at arrival.

• Pay after an experience.

• Full payment at a later time.

If the guest decides to pay immediately, they still pay the entire amount.

One payment certificate is created.

Best for: Acquisitions where you want the guest to pay in full but allow payment to happen later.

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Now and Later

Now and later requires the guest to make an initial payment and pay the remaining amount later.

The guest may still choose to pay the entire amount immediately.

You can use the Down Payment setting to specify the minimum amount that must be paid initially.

If no minimum down payment is specified, the guest can pay an amount according to the applicable payment rules.

For acquisition types other than booking, a temporary contract is created until the first payment is made.

Only two payment certificates are created for this payment type.

Best for: Acquisitions where you want an initial payment followed by one remaining payment.

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Installment

The installment payment type allows you to distribute payments across time.

Instead of requiring the guest to pay the entire amount at once or in only two payments, the contract amount can be divided into multiple payments.

Payment certificates may be generated progressively depending on the selected installment type.

Best for: Long-term acquisitions, expensive properties, or situations where the guest needs a structured payment schedule.

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Installment Types

When the payment type is installment, you must configure an installment type.

The installment type determines how payment certificates are created.

SupaSpace supports several installment approaches.

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Fixed

With Fixed installments, the total contract amount is distributed evenly across the contract duration.

This creates a predictable payment schedule.

Payment certificates are created with their scheduled payment start dates.

Best for: Regular and predictable payment schedules.

For example, a long-term rental could divide the total amount into regular payments throughout the contract duration.

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Flexible

With Flexible installments, the host manually creates payment certificates whenever they want to request another payment.

If the payment option requires a down payment, the initial down payment certificate is created first.

The host can then create additional payment certificates when appropriate.

Best for: Situations where the host wants control over when payment requests are created.

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Milestone

Milestone works similarly to Flexible installments.

The difference is mainly the concept behind the payment schedule.

It is designed for acquisitions or contracts where payments are associated with milestones.

For example, a project-based acquisition could have payments associated with different stages of completion.

The host can create payment certificates as the milestones are reached.

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Guest Custom

With Guest Custom, the guest controls when they want to make payments.

It works similarly to Flexible installments, but only the guest can create a payment certificate when they want to pay.

The host cannot create payment certificates for this payment option.

Important: Use Guest Custom only when you are comfortable allowing the guest to control when payment requests are created.

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Price Settings

Price Settings determine how much the space costs and how the price is calculated.

Field	Description
Price	The base amount for the space.
Currency	The currency used for payment.
Price Kind	Determines whether the price is exact or estimated.
Price Depend	Determines what factors affect the price.
Discount	The percentage discount applied to the price.
Discount Codes	Codes guests can use to receive a discount.
Down Payment	The minimum amount required as the initial payment.
Down Payment Coverage	The number of days the down payment should cover before another payment is requested.

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Price

The Price is the base amount for the space.

This is the starting amount from which the payment rules are calculated.

Currency

The Currency determines the currency used when the guest pays.

Important: The currency of the payment option must match the currency of the space. A payment option using a different currency cannot be attached to the space.

Price Kind

Price Kind determines whether the price is:

• Exact — the price is the actual amount you are charging.

• Estimated — the amount is an estimate and may increase or decrease.

Price Depend

Price Depend determines which factors are used to calculate the price.

The price can depend on:

• Nothing.

• Duration.

• Number of guests.

• Both duration and number of guests.

This allows you to create pricing that changes depending on how long the space is acquired or how many guests are acquiring it.

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Discounts

You can configure a percentage discount for a payment option.

You can also create Discount Codes.

If no discount codes are provided, the configured discount is automatically applied to the applicable space pricing.

If discount codes are provided, the guest must enter or use an applicable discount code to receive the discount.

This gives you the choice between:

• Automatically applying a discount.

• Making the discount available only to guests who have a valid code.

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Down Payment

The Down Payment specifies the minimum amount the guest must pay initially.

This is particularly useful with payment types such as now and later and certain installment configurations.

A down payment allows the guest to start the acquisition with an initial payment while leaving the remaining amount to be paid later.

Down Payment Coverage

Down Payment Coverage determines how many days the initial down payment should cover before another payment is requested.

For installment payment types using the fixed installment type, this value is also used to help schedule subsequent payment certificates.

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Duration Rules

Duration Rules determine how long the acquisition lasts and how the dates and guest count are handled.

Field	Description
Duration Style	Determines how the acquisition duration works.
Duration Unit	The unit used to count the duration.
Minimum Duration	The shortest allowed duration.
Maximum Duration	The longest allowed duration.
Start Date	The host-defined or selected check-in/start date.
End Date	The host-defined or selected check-out/end date.
Minimum Guests	The smallest number of guests allowed.
Maximum Guests	The largest number of guests allowed.

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Duration Style

Duration Style determines how the guest's acquisition period is handled.

There are three main styles:

• Flexible

• Fixed

• Owned

Flexible

With Flexible, the guest selects their preferred check-in and check-out dates.

This is useful for bookings, rentals, and leases where guests can choose their dates within the limits you define.

Fixed

With Fixed, the host determines both the start and end dates.

The guest does not choose their own dates.

This is useful when the acquisition is tied to a specific period.

Owned

Owned is used when ownership of the space or property is transferred to the guest.

It is intended for acquisition types such as sale or bidding.

In this case, the concept is not a temporary stay but a transfer of ownership.

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Duration Unit

The Duration Unit determines how the duration is counted.

For example, the duration may be calculated using units such as days or other supported time units.

Minimum and Maximum Duration

These fields define the range of durations a guest can select.

Minimum Duration is the shortest allowed acquisition period.

Maximum Duration is the longest allowed acquisition period.

Start and End Dates

The Start Date and End Date allow the host to define or select the applicable start and end dates when the duration style requires fixed dates.

Guest Limits

You can also define:

• Minimum Guests — the smallest number of guests allowed.

• Maximum Guests — the largest number of guests allowed.

These settings help ensure that guests do not select a number of occupants outside the limits you have defined.

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Guest Rules and Policies

Payment options also allow you to define rules that control what guests can do during the acquisition process.

These include:

• Cancellation.

• Rescheduling.

• Partial payment.

• Pay later.

• Check-in with partial payment.

• Negotiation.

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Cancellation Policy

Cancellation determines whether and how a guest can cancel a contract.

There are three main options:

free

The guest can cancel without a cancellation penalty.

conditional

The guest can cancel and receive a refund, but a percentage of the applicable amount is deducted.

not allowed

The guest cannot cancel the contract through the cancellation process.

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Reschedule Policy

Rescheduling determines whether a guest can change the dates of their acquisition.

The available options include:

free

The guest can reschedule without an additional cost.

conditional

The guest can reschedule, but a percentage of the contract cost is charged as a fee.

fixed

The guest can reschedule, but a specific fixed fee is charged.

not allowed

The guest cannot reschedule the contract.

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Partial Payment

The Partial Payment setting determines whether guests are allowed to make payments in parts.

Some payment types automatically allow partial payments.

When partial payment is allowed, you can also configure a cost as a percentage of the contract amount that applies when the guest chooses to make partial payments.

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Pay Later

The Pay Later setting controls whether guests can defer payment.

It works similarly to the partial payment concept but is intended specifically for allowing the guest to pay at a later time.

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Allow Check-In on Part Payment

This setting tells the guest whether you allow them to check in even if they have not finished paying.

It is important to understand that this setting is informational.

The system does not automatically prevent you from checking in a guest who has not completed payment.

As the host, you remain responsible for deciding whether to allow the guest to check in according to your agreement and applicable circumstances.

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Allow Negotiation

The Allow Negotiation setting tells guests that you are willing to negotiate the price.

If a price is reduced after a guest has already made payments, you can use refunds to return the difference to the guest.

This allows you to negotiate pricing without having to recreate the entire payment arrangement.

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Deadlines and Penalties

Payment deadlines and penalties help enforce payment timelines.

These settings determine what happens when a guest does not make a required payment on time.

Field	Description
Deadline	The allowed period for making the payment.
Grace Period	An additional period during which payment can be made without a penalty.
Overdue Action	Determines what happens after payment becomes overdue.
Penalty	The additional cost incurred when a penalty applies.
Penalty Unit	Determines whether the penalty is a percentage or a fixed amount.
Penalty Occurrence	Determines whether the penalty applies once or repeatedly.
Recurring Every	The interval between recurring penalties.
Max Times	The maximum number of times a recurring penalty can be applied.

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Overdue Actions

When a payment passes its deadline, you can define what happens.

There are three main actions:

wait

The payment certificate remains payable.

No cancellation or additional penalty action is automatically applied by the overdue action itself.

cancel

The payment certificate is cancelled and can no longer be paid.

penalize

An additional cost is applied to the payment.

The penalty settings determine how that additional cost is calculated.

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Penalties

A penalty is an additional amount charged when a payment becomes overdue and the selected overdue action is penalize.

The penalty can be configured as:

• A percentage.

• A fixed amount.

You can also determine whether the penalty is applied once or repeatedly.

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Recurring Penalties

Recurring penalties repeatedly add additional charges when a payment remains unpaid.

For example, suppose a payment is overdue and you configure a recurring penalty.

The payment could progress like this:

Day	Amount
Before deadline	Original amount
Day 1	Original amount + penalty
Day 2	Previous amount + new penalty
Day 3	Continues with another penalty

The penalty continues according to the configured recurrence interval until the maximum number of occurrences is reached.

This allows you to create payment rules where the cost of an overdue payment increases over time.

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Understanding Payment Certificates

A payment certificate is essentially a payment request.

You can think of it as a payment voucher that contains the amount the guest is expected to pay.

Payment certificates are used to organize and track payments under a contract.

Different payment types and installment configurations can create certificates in different ways.

For example:

• Outright may create one certificate.

• Now and later creates two certificates.

• Fixed installments can create multiple scheduled certificates.

• Flexible installments allow the host to create certificates as needed.

• Guest Custom allows the guest to create certificates when they want to make a payment.

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Splitting Payment Certificates

Payment certificates can be split regardless of the payment type.

This is useful when multiple people need to contribute toward a payment.

For example, several guests sharing an acquisition may each want to pay part of the same payment certificate.

Note: Splitting a payment certificate does not change its deadline.
If the original certificate has a payment deadline, the split portions retain the applicable deadline.

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Temporal Contracts

Some payment configurations use a temporal contract.

A temporal contract is not a final contract.

It is a temporary contract placeholder that holds the details of the contract that is intended to be initiated.

The temporal contract remains until the required payment is made.

Once the payment requirement is satisfied, the actual contract can be initiated.

Note: Temporal contracts are not actual contracts. They are placeholders that temporarily hold the details of a contract that will be initiated after the required payment is made.

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Payment Options Also Apply to Extras

Payment option policies do not apply only to the main space price.

They also apply to extras associated with the contract.

This includes extras that are added after the contract has already been initiated.

This means that applicable payment rules and policies continue to be relevant when additional costs are introduced during an existing contract.

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Pre-Created Payment Certificates

Payment certificates that were created in advance can still be paid even if their scheduled start date has passed.

This allows guests to settle payment certificates that were already created without requiring a new certificate simply because the scheduled date has arrived or passed.

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Guests and Pets

Important: Users aged 13 and above are considered Guests unless the applicable Conditions specify otherwise.
Pets are not considered Guests unless the applicable Conditions specify otherwise.

This distinction is important when configuring guest limits and rules for your spaces.

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Cancellation vs. Termination

Cancellation and termination are not the same thing.

Cancellation applies before check-in.

Once the guest has checked in, the acquisition is no longer handled as a cancellation.

After check-in, ending the arrangement is handled as termination instead.

This distinction is important when configuring your payment and contract policies.

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Choosing the Right Payment Option

The right payment option depends on how you want guests to pay and how you want to manage the acquisition.

Use Outright when:

You want the guest to pay the entire amount before the contract proceeds.

Use Later but Outright when:

You want the guest to pay the entire amount but allow them to pay later.

Use Now and Later when:

You want an initial payment followed by one remaining payment.

Use Installment when:

You want to spread payments across multiple payment periods.

Then choose the installment type based on who should control the payment schedule:

• Fixed — predictable, scheduled payments.

• Flexible — host controls when payment certificates are created.

• Milestone — payment requests are created around project milestones.

• Guest Custom — guest controls when payment certificates are created.

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A Final Checklist

Before attaching a payment option to a space, make sure you have carefully reviewed:

• The payment type.

• The installment type, if applicable.

• The price.

• The currency.

• Price dependencies.

• Discounts.

• Discount codes.

• Down payment requirements.

• Duration rules.

• Guest limits.

• Cancellation policy.

• Rescheduling policy.

• Partial payment rules.

• Pay-later rules.

• Check-in rules.

• Negotiation rules.

• Payment deadlines.

• Grace periods.

• Overdue actions.

• Penalties.

• Penalty recurrence.

Tip: Payment Options can have a major effect on how guests pay and how your contracts are handled.
Take time to configure them carefully before attaching them to your spaces.

Once a payment option is attached to a space, guests will use the available option or options to determine how they can acquire and pay for that space.

Set the price. Define the rules. Choose how you get paid. Let SupaSpace handle the payment flow. 💳✨