When your facility needs online reservations
Online reservations are not mandatory on day one. Many strong operators run Tier 1 or 2 for months before taking money on the web. Move to Tier 3 when the pain of phone holds exceeds the work of Stripe onboarding.
Signals you are ready
- After-hours demand — voicemails and web forms pile up when the office is closed
- Deposit discipline — you want card-on-file or paid holds instead of “we will hold it until Tuesday”
- Multi-step move-in — renters expect to pick a unit, pay, and get confirmation without a callback
- Second location — phone coordination across yards does not scale
What Tier 3 adds
- Renters reserve and pay through your connected Stripe account
- Customer portal for reservation status and account history
- Hold rules — expiry, rate limits, optional verified-account gate
- Unlimited units and multiple locations
What to prepare before flip
- Stripe Connect — connect your facility’s Stripe account in Manage.
- Policies — reservation fees, refunds, and move-in deadlines in plain language on your site.
- Staff training — who confirms move-in, who releases expired holds, who handles disputes.
- Inventory hygiene — reserved units must show reserved online immediately.
When to wait
- You are still aligning yard status with a spreadsheet weekly
- Your team cannot respond to reservation questions within one business day
- Local regulations or franchise rules forbid online deposits (consult counsel)