Bail is ridiculously expensive, period. Most people won’t easily have enough money to post bail on their own. Even getting extra money back from the IRS during tax season won’t be enough money to bail out of jail. However, that extra tax return money might be enough to afford a bail bond from Sacramento Bail Bond Store; a bail bond is an alternative method to bailing out of jail, and they only cost 10-15% of the full bail amount.
The cost of bail bonds will be paid on a payment plan, meaning the defendant will be released from jail before the entire 10-15% is paid off. But the main catch that levels this against paying the full bail price directly with the court is that the 10-15% paid to the bail bond company is not refundable at the end of the case, whereas 100% of the bail that is paid directly to court (without the bail bond company as the middle man), is. Both options of bailing out of jail are legal and legitimate – it’s merely a situation matter as to which method you choose to go with.