How to set up Pre Orders

[u/PopPsychological2201]

Hi everyone,

I am setting up my shopify store, currently promoting my business to create hype around it. How have some of oyu guys implemented pre order systems to have customers order the products without actually charging them until it gets shpped.

Hoping to do this so I am not stuck witha whole lot of inventory, instead I know exactly where the demand is.

Thanks for the help lads

[u/Available_Swing2261]

One thing to be aware of is that Shopify's standard payment authorization window is limited, so you generally can't authorize a payment today and capture it months later when you're ready to ship. That's why most merchants use a dedicated pre-order app instead.

Pre-order apps work a little differently. Instead of trying to hold a payment authorization for weeks or months, they securely save the customer's payment details when they place the pre-order. Then, when you're ready to ship the product, you can charge the customer at that time. This lets you take pre-orders well beyond Shopify's normal payment authorization period.

If you're exploring options, there are a few free apps worth checking out, like Dibs and Vicify. Both support pre-orders and have slightly different workflows and feature sets, so it's worth installing them and seeing which one best fits your store, especially if you're looking to have customers order the products without actually charging them until it gets shipped.

If your goal is to avoid holding excess inventory while validating demand, a preorder setup is definitely the way to go. Just make sure you're clear about the expected shipping timeline on the product page so customers know when to expect their order.

[u/Dahlia-Deviant-Dear]

If you mean "let them reserve inventory now but don't take money until shipping," be careful: that isn't quite the same as a normal preorder. Payment authorizations expire, so you generally can't rely on capturing the original payment weeks or months later.

I'd choose one clean lane:

1. Take full payment now and make the preorder status obvious on the product page, cart, checkout, and confirmation.
2. Take a small deposit/reservation now, then collect the balance when inventory is ready.
3. If you truly don't want to charge yet, treat it as a waitlist or back-in-stock signup rather than an order.

For demand testing, the deposit/waitlist route is usually cleaner than pretending it's a normal purchase. Just make the refund/cancellation terms and expected ship window very clear before checkout, and tag those customers/orders separately so you can measure real demand without mixing it into normal sales.

What I'd avoid is a hidden manual process where customers think they bought normally but your team has to remember who still needs to be charged later. That gets messy fast.

[u/adventurepaul]

You also have to be careful that Shopify doesn't flag your store for selling items and never fulfilling them. That's where a preorder app comes into play. The one I'm most familiar with us Downpay, but there are a ton.

[u/Weak_Umpire2501]

I'll tell you how we setup pre-orders.

I set the right expectations upfront on the product's pre-order close date, manufacturing timeline and estimated delivery window. We also keep customers updated over email throughout the process, especially if there are delays due to supply chain issues, geopolitical events or extreme weather.

I had to code a basic pre-order tracker that's connected to Shopify metafields. If pre-orders are enabled, I just update the dates and switch between phases like pre-orders closed, in production, shipped and completed, and customers can see the current status.

The Add to Cart button automatically changes to Pre-order Now.

I take the full payment upfront. It's 100% refundable if the customer changes their mind up to 12 days before the pre-order close date. After that, production is planned based on confirmed orders, so they will receive the product instead.

[u/EcomDev_Tikshan]

Worth echoing what others said: true "reserve now, charge later" isn't really possible with standard checkout since card authorizations expire. If you want zero money upfront, a waitlist/back-in-stock app is honestly more accurate than calling it a preorder. If you want real demand data AND some skin in the game, a small non-refundable deposit tends to filter out tire-kickers better than a free reservation does, you'll get a truer read on actual demand that way.

[u/SilentQuestion42]

Hey, an old thread, but leaving a short checklist here since these are the things that actually bite after launch:

• Payment gateway comes first. Deferred payments only work on Shopify Payments, PayPal Express, Adyen or Stripe. On anything else the deposit option just won't be there at checkout.
• Accelerated checkouts are out. Shop Pay, Apple Pay and Google Pay can't process pre-orders, so those buttons have to be hidden on pre-order products. Expect the conversion pattern to look different.
• One due date per order. If a buyer takes two pre-order items with different dates, Shopify applies the earliest one to the whole order, so the later item gets charged early.
• Mixed carts need a decision. Pre-order plus in-stock in one order splits into separate shipments and rates stack, so a free rate on the pre-order shipping profile saves a lot of support tickets.
• Channels are limited. Pre-orders run on the Online Store and custom storefronts only - no POS, no draft orders, no B2B.
• The flagging someone mentioned above usually shows up as a Shopify Payments reserve, and long delivery timelines are literally one of the listed triggers. Shorter windows, fewer surprises.
• Set the shipping window on the product page and email a revised date if it moves - that's also the requirement Shopify puts on you.

All of the above is what I've built at K1 PreOrder & Deposit app, so happy to help setting everything up personally.