How to send a pay link and get paid from across town

Your customer is not always standing in front of you. The job is done and they have left. Or they want to pay a deposit before you start. A pay link covers both. It is a web address that opens a payment page for one amount, and your customer pays by card in their own browser.

How to make one in Pavo

1. Open Pavo, in the app or at getpavo.app on any phone or computer.
2. Type the amount.
3. Choose to charge by link.
4. Add a short note, such as “AC tune-up”, so your customer knows what it is for.
5. Copy the link and send it the way you already talk to that customer: a text, an email, a message.

What your customer sees

The link opens a page on getpavo.app with your name, the amount and your note. They enter their card and pay. They do not need an app or an account. You see the payment in Pavo as soon as it goes through.

What it costs

A payment by link costs 3.3% + 30¢ on the Free plan, with card processing included. On a $125.00 job the fee is $4.43 and you get $120.57. Pavo shows both numbers before you send the link.

A link costs a little more than a tap (2.9% + 15¢) because a card typed into a web page costs more to process than a card held to a phone.

How long a link lasts

Seven days. After that, make a new one. If you add your customer’s email, Pavo reminds them after 1, 3 and 5 days while the link is unpaid. You can turn reminders off.

Three habits that get links paid faster

• Send it while it is fresh. A link sent the same day gets paid sooner than one sent next week.
• Say what it is for. A note turns a strange link into a bill they recognize.
• Tell them it is coming. “I’ll text you a link to pay” is enough.

Customers are right to be careful with payment links. If one asks, point them to how to check that a pay link is real.

Link or tap: which to use

• Customer in front of you with a contactless card: tap. It is quicker and costs less.
• Customer already gone, or paying before you arrive: link.
• Customer nearby but the card will not tap: show the link as a QR code.

If a link is not paid

Most unpaid links are forgotten, not refused. Give it a day, then send one short message: “Here’s that link again for the tune-up.” If the link has passed its seven days, make a new one for the same amount. If the customer says the page did not work, ask them to open it in their phone’s normal browser.

What you see on your side

Pavo lists each link with its amount and note, and marks it paid when the money comes in. The payment then joins your other sales and is paid out to your bank the same way. You can refund it from the app, all of it or part of it, like any other sale. Pavo does not return its fee when you refund a sale.