Pre-orders with deposits on Shopify: how they work
Full payment, deposits or pay later: how Shopify selling plans power pre-orders, and which model fits your launch.
Pre-orders let you sell a product before it is in your warehouse. Done well, they fund production, measure demand and reward your most loyal customers. Done badly, they create confusion about payment and delivery dates.
Three ways to take a pre-order
| Model | Customer pays | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Full payment | Everything at checkout | Short waits, confident dates |
| Deposit | A percentage or fixed amount now, the rest later | Higher prices, longer waits |
| Pay later | $0 now, card saved and charged on shipment | Building demand with zero friction |
How Shopify handles it
Modern Shopify pre-orders run on selling plans (also called purchase options). The plan tells Shopify how much to charge today and when to collect the rest. Payment always goes through your normal checkout, so the money lands with you.
Shopify can collect the remaining balance on a set date or a number of days after the order. If you want to charge when the order ships, your app needs to listen for fulfilment and trigger the charge itself. WaitCherry does exactly that.
Make expectations clear
- Show the estimated ship date next to the button, not hidden in the description.
- Show a payment summary: “20% today, the rest when it ships.”
- Email customers if the date changes. One clear update beats a dozen support tickets.
Set a limit
Cap pre-orders at the quantity you can actually deliver. When the cap is reached, switch the button back to a waitlist form so you keep collecting demand without overselling.
WaitCherry supports full payment, deposits and pay later, with auto-tagging and balance collection on shipment. See pre-orders.