How to Run Pre-Orders on Shopify

Three ways to sell before the stock exists

A pre-order on Shopify can be as simple as a checkbox or as structured as a deposit with the balance charged at shipping. The routes, side by side:

The first and third need no app. They also give the customer no special treatment: the button still says "Add to cart", the confirmation email does not mention a ship date unless you edit it, and the order sits in your unfulfilled list with everything else. The variants guide covers the out-of-stock setting in detail.

What Shopify's pre-order purchase option does

Shopify treats pre-orders as one of its purchase options, alongside subscriptions and try-before-you-buy. You install a pre-order app from the Shopify App Store, finish its setup, then manage pre-orders in the admin (pre-orders overview). With it you can collect the full price, a partial payment or nothing when the order is placed. If you collect anything, Shopify stores the customer's payment method so the remaining amount can be charged later. You never see full card numbers.

The conditions, from Shopify's pre-order setup page, are worth reading before you plan a launch:

• You need Shopify Payments or PayPal Express.
• Pre-orders cannot be bought with the Shop Pay, Apple Pay or Google Pay accelerated checkouts, or with local payment methods such as Klarna.
• Pre-order products are supported on the Online Store and Custom Storefront channels only, so they will not sell through other channels.
• Customers cannot combine different purchase options on the same product in one checkout.
• Customized checkouts, Buy X Get Y discounts and Shop Promise do not work with pre-orders.
• In a cart that mixes pre-order and regular items, the earliest due date applies to all products, and a "due on fulfillment" payment term takes priority.
• If you uninstall a pre-order app, its data is deleted within 48 hours (stored payment details aside), so do not swap apps in the middle of a campaign.

What pre-order apps add, and how to compare them

Apps in this category differ in features rather than in whether they "work". Compare them against the drop you are actually planning:

• Variant-level control. Sizes rarely sell out evenly, and the middle sizes can go first. Look for the ability to switch only the sold-out sizes to pre-order while others ship now.
• Quantity caps. A limit per variant stops a pre-order from outrunning the blanks your printer can get.
• Payment models. Full charge, deposit, or no charge until shipping, and whether the app uses Shopify's native purchase options or its own method.
• Messaging. A custom button label, ship-date text on the product page and in the cart, and wording in the order confirmation.
• Automatic switching. Returning the product to normal sale when stock arrives, or closing the pre-order on a date.
• Order handling. Tags, fulfillment holds or split fulfillment for mixed carts, and how the app talks to your fulfillment app or 3PL.
• Uninstall behavior. What happens to open pre-orders and stored payment terms if you remove it.

Install candidates on a development or test store, run a pre-order through checkout with your real theme, and check the order in the admin and the email the customer receives.

When to take the money

Full payment at checkout is the simplest model and the natural fit for tees, hoodies and caps. You collect the cash that pays for blanks and printing, and there is nothing left to chase later. The customer carries the wait, so the ship date must be honest.

Deposit now, balance later suits expensive pieces such as a cut and sew jacket, or very long lead times. Expect some balance charges to fail when cards expire or are replaced, and have a plan for those orders.

Authorize now, capture later sounds attractive but rarely fits apparel. On Shopify Payments a card authorization lasts seven days (authorization and capture), and a printed run usually takes longer than that from order to shipping. Capturing late also adds a charge.

Whatever you choose, the pre-orders vs in-stock drops guide covers the cash-flow side, including what to do with the size data a pre-order gives you.

Promising a ship date you can keep

Count backward from the delivery promise, not forward from the order. A pre-order closes, you total each size, blanks are ordered and checked, the run is printed, finished and packed, and only then do labels go out. Each step has its own lead time, and blank availability can be the slowest of them. Add margin for a reprint of a bad piece and for carrier delays in peak season.

In the US, the FTC's mail order rule applies to pre-orders. In short, you need a reasonable basis for the shipping time you state, you must ship within 30 days if you state no time, and if you cannot ship on time you must tell customers promptly and let them cancel for a refund. This is not legal advice; read the guide and get advice for your situation.

Where to state the date:

1. On the product page, near the button: "Pre-order. Ships the week of 9 November."
2. In the cart line item, if your app supports it.
3. In the order confirmation email, edited under Settings > Notifications.
4. In update emails at milestones: pre-order closed, in production, shipped. Email and SMS for drops has a sequence to adapt.

Avoid "ships in 2–3 weeks" with no start point. A calendar week is clearer and easier to defend.

Mixed carts and holding orders

Customers will buy a pre-order hoodie and an in-stock cap in the same order. Decide your rule before launch:

• Ship together. One label, one box, a longer wait for the cap. Good when postage is a large share of the order value.
• Ship what you have now. Two labels and two packing jobs, but the customer gets something sooner. Good for drops with long lead times.
• Keep them apart. Some brands run pre-orders as separate drops with no in-stock items on sale, which removes the question.

Shopify lets you mark items as on hold, choose which items to hold and pick a reason. Inventory can still be reserved while fulfillment is blocked until you release the hold, and an order can carry up to 10 manual holds (marking orders as on hold). If a printer or fulfillment app ships your orders, a hold also stops the request reaching them before the goods exist.

When the pre-order closes

1. Close the pre-order on the date you announced, and turn off continue-selling on any variant you used it for.
2. Export the orders and total units by product, color and size. Add a small overage for misprints and exchanges, then send the counts to your printer. How to plan a size run explains how to use pre-order data for future runs.
3. Record the incoming stock so the counts in Shopify match what is on the way (inventory states).
4. When the run arrives, count it in, mark damaged pieces unavailable, release holds and fulfill oldest orders first.
5. Send the shipped emails, then decide whether leftovers go on sale as in-stock items. Launching a clothing drop covers restock decisions after the drop.

Useful for: clothing brands, bands, creators.