Samba charges a commission on the bookings it collects for you. You choose whether that commission comes out of your price, or is added to the traveler's total as a Service fee.
The two modes
You set this under Settings → Billing logic, in the Samba commission section. Owners, Admins and Managers can change it.
Mode | Traveler pays | You receive |
You cover the commission (default) | The trip price. No fee line anywhere | The trip price, minus Samba's commission |
Pass to customer at checkout | The trip price plus a Service fee line | The trip price |
Only Samba's commission can be passed to travelers. Stripe's payment processing fees always stay with you, in both modes.
How the Service fee is calculated
Samba's commission is your commission rate — 2% — applied to the booking amount after discounts: prices plus add-ons, minus any discount, tax included. It is rounded down to the cent.
If you collect tax, the Service fee is that commission plus your tax on it. You charge the tax on the fee and pay it to your tax office, then pay Samba the commission. If you don't collect tax, the fee is the commission.
Samba does not charge commission on its own fee. Commission is calculated on the total without the Service fee.
A booking worth zero after discounts gets no Service fee.
During your first $10,000
Travelers pay the Service fee from your very first booking. That includes the period when you are still inside your first $10,000 commission-free. Samba charges you nothing on those bookings, so you keep the fee.
Your checkout price stays the same before and after you pass $10,000. Travelers never see a price change.
Example
A traveler books a €1,000 trip with a €100 discount code.
You cover the commission | Pass to customer | |
Amount after discount | €900 | €900 |
Service fee (2% of €900) | — | €18 |
Traveler's total | €900 | €918 |
Samba's commission (2% of €900) | €18 | €18 |
If you collect 20% VAT, the Service fee is €18 + €3.60 VAT = €21.60 and the traveler's total is €921.60. You pay the €3.60 to your tax office and €18 to Samba.
Where travelers and your team see the fee
In the order summary at checkout, as a Service fee line.
On the booking in Samba, with its percentage.
As a Service fee line on the booking's invoice.
The fee applies the same way to bookings made at checkout, to booking requests, and to bookings your team creates in Samba. When the booking has a payment plan, the fee is part of the total and is spread across the deposit and installments.
Changing the mode later
Switching the mode only affects new bookings.
An existing booking keeps the mode and fee it was quoted with.
A booking request keeps the mode it was submitted under, even if you switch before accepting it.
When you edit a confirmed booking, its new total is priced in the booking's own mode. A booking made with a Service fee gets the fee recalculated on its new amount; a booking made without one never gains one.