How much deposit to take on a custom build

How much deposit to take on a custom tray and canopy build: what sets the number, how to stage payments around the ute, and what goes on the quote.

The customer has signed off: an alloy tray, a touring canopy with gull-wing doors, a fridge slide and a 75 L tank, all in satin black, for $19,460 inc. GST. Their new Ranger is due in eight weeks, if the dealer's right. Before it lands, you'll order the aluminium, book the powder coat and pay for the slide. Deciding how much deposit to take is deciding how much of that you're willing to carry.

I couldn't find a single legal percentage for vehicle work. The right number depends on what you'll spend before the ute arrives, how long the job waits, and whether you could sell the parts if the customer walked away. A lot of the advice on how much deposit a tradie should take is written for small jobs. This is for builds where the materials alone run into thousands, and the rule I'd work to is that you're never further out of pocket on a build than the customer has paid you.

Why a deposit matters more on a ute build

A plumber's deposit covers a few fittings. A deposit for custom fabrication covers aluminium cut for one customer's chassis, a canopy built around their door layout and powder coat in the colour they picked. If they pull out, most of that won't suit the next job.

The money also goes out early. Suppliers and powder coaters often want paying weeks before the ute rolls in, and a new-vehicle delivery can stretch that gap by months. Without a deposit, you're funding the build while the customer waits on their dealer.

A deposit also holds a slot in your build schedule that you'd otherwise give to someone else.

How much deposit should a tradie take? Start from your costs

A deposit for custom work should start from your costs, not from a percentage someone mentioned on a forum. Work out what you'll have spent by the day the ute arrives, counting only the money that leaves your account before you can touch the vehicle:

• materials ordered for this build: sheet, extrusion, hardware
• outsourced work: laser cutting, folding, powder coat
• bought-in parts: drawers, slides, tanks, locks, lights
• design or drawing time, if you do it before the build starts

If you've costed the job the way Markup vs margin sets out, these lines are already on your sheet.

Then look at how exposed you are:

Take the build above. Say $6,500 of the $19,460 goes out before the ute arrives, for the aluminium, the powder coat, the slide and the tank. That's about a third of the price. A 10% deposit is $1,946, which leaves you $4,554 out of pocket if the customer pulls out after you've ordered.

That doesn't mean asking for a third the day they sign. It means having the money before you spend it, and staging is how you get there without scaring off a careful customer.

Stage the payments when the ute is months away

Most builds suit one of these:

Your customers are hearing the other side. WA Consumer Protection recommends consumers pay deposits of about 10% and, for larger jobs, pay in instalments as goods are delivered and stages of the work are finished. That's advice to consumers, not a cap on what you can ask. A staged schedule fits it anyway. The first payment is small, and each later one lines up with materials or work the customer can point to.

WA does cap deposits by law for one kind of work: builders can't ask for more than 6.5% on building contracts valued between $7,500 and $500,000. That's building work, not vehicles. I couldn't find a statutory cap on deposits for vehicle accessories or fit-outs, but the rules differ between states and types of work, so check with your state's fair trading office before you set your terms. This is general information, not legal advice.

Timing gets harder when the customer is waiting on a new ute and the delivery date keeps moving. WA's Commissioner for Consumer Protection wrote in May 2026 that Consumer Protection has seen an increase in complaints about tradies who take deposits and then don't start or finish the work. Under the Australian Consumer Law, a business mustn't accept payment if it knows, or should know, it can't supply in a timely manner.

So keep the booking deposit small while the delivery date is vague. Take the materials payment once the ute has a firm date, and put the start on the quote as "within X weeks of the ute arriving".

Put the deposit terms on the quote

The quote template in How to improve your quoting process has a line for the deposit and when the balance is due. Make that line do more work. Write down:

• the deposit in dollars, and the stage or date for each later payment
• what the deposit pays for, such as "materials and powder coat for your build"
• what you keep if the customer cancels (costs already incurred, with receipts) and what you refund
• what happens if the ute's delivery slips: you hold the deposit, the build slot moves, and how long the price holds
• what happens if you have to cancel

WA's Commissioner has written about two of those. A tradie who cancels after taking a deposit, with nothing supplied, has to return it in full, and if a tradie needs to increase the quote after accepting a deposit, the customer can back out and get the full deposit back. If aluminium goes up while the customer waits for their ute, you either wear it or risk losing the job and the deposit with it. Settle how long the price holds before you take the money.

Then there's the word non-refundable. A non-refundable deposit can't cover you failing to do the job, and it doesn't switch off consumer guarantees. Queensland's Office of Fair Trading says "no refunds" signs are illegal. For a customer who changes their mind, Consumer Affairs Victoria's guidance for tourism businesses says a business can usually keep the deposit, depending on the contract terms, but that deposits over 10% may be treated as prepayments, refundable minus actual or reasonable costs. That's written for bookings, not builds. Either way, a deposit you can tie to real costs is easier to stand behind than a big round number.

Taking the deposit by card or bank transfer

Since 1 October 2026, eftpos, Mastercard and Visa don't let businesses add a card surcharge, and American Express, UnionPay and PayPal have dropped surcharging too, according to the Reserve Bank's FAQ. On a $6,500 materials payment, the card fee is now yours, so build it into your prices. You can still offer a discount for a particular payment method, such as bank transfer.

Card has one more catch. WA Consumer Protection reminds consumers that paying by credit card gives them a chargeback if the goods or services aren't delivered. If a customer disputes a deposit, the quote they accepted, with your deposit terms on it, is what you'll be pointing to.

Bank transfer avoids card fees. Print your account details on the quote and the invoice, and send a receipt for every payment that shows the job, the amount paid and what's still owing.

Whatever structure you pick, put those five answers on every quote, and get a lawyer to read your standard terms once.

Want to talk through how your quotes come together? Talk to Ben.