Balance 
Pre-order deposits on Shopify
A pre-order with a deposit is a commitment with skin in the game, on both sides. The balance should land when the stock does, not before.
At a glance
How a pre-order deposit is usually set up.
- Typical deposit
- 10% to 25%
- Balance charged
- Exact date, or when you mark the stock in
- Stock
- Reserved by Shopify at sale
- Held until paid
- Yes, released when the balance clears
- If the date slips
- Reschedule, customers get a fresh reminder
- Shopify plan
- Any Shopify plan
Pre-orders usually take a smaller deposit than made-to-order, because the stock is not bespoke and can be resold if the customer walks. Enough to deter no-shows, not so much it puts people off committing months ahead.
Two ways to set the balance date
The one decision that matters, and it depends on how sure you are of the date.
An exact date
If you know the arrival date, use an exact date on the plan. The storefront line reads 'balance on 14 March', the customer gets a reminder three days before, and everyone in the run is charged on the same day.
- Cleaner for customers: a date they can plan around
- One reconciliation job for the whole run
- If the date slips, move it from the orders and the reminders restart
When the order is ready
If you do not know the date, use the ready rule with an outer limit. Nothing is charged until you mark the orders ready when the delivery is checked in. Safer for you when suppliers slip.
- No charge ever lands before the stock exists
- Mark ready only the orders you can fulfil if the shipment is short
- The outer limit, up to 365 days, is what Shopify shows as the latest possible date
Fixed dates are cleaner for customers; ready-triggered charges are safer for you. Charging the balance before the stock arrives is the one thing customers will not forgive, so when in doubt err on the side of later.
From pre-order to dispatch
A £1,100 pre-order frame at 20%, container due in March.
- 1
Pre-order placed
£220 taken
The customer picks the deposit option on the product page. Shopify reserves the unit, saves the card and records £880 as the balance on the order. The order is put on hold.
- 2
Months at sea
Nothing charged
The order sits with its outstanding amount visible. If the container date moves, reschedule the balance from the orders and each customer gets a fresh reminder.
- 3
Three days before the balance
Reminder sent
The amount, the date, and a note that the saved card will be charged.
- 4
Container checked in
£880 charged
On the exact date, or when you mark the orders ready, the balances are charged within minutes and the receipts go out.
- 5
Card declines
Payment link sent
A Shopify payment link that accepts any card, and retries after 1, 3 and 7 days. The unit stays reserved and on hold.
- 6
Dispatch
Paid in full
The hold releases itself and the orders paid overnight appear in the morning digest as ready to ship.
Setting it up
- In Shopify, check Settings, Payments: capture must be automatic at checkout or manual, not per fulfilment.
- Create a plan in Balance Due: a 10% to 25% percentage deposit, balance rule exact date if you know the arrival date, or when the order is ready if you do not.
- Attach the plan to the pre-order products. Balance Due creates them as pre-order selling plans, so Shopify reserves the units at sale.
- Write the storefront line so it names the date or the trigger: 'Pay 20% now, balance on 14 March' or 'balance when your frame arrives'.
- Say on the product that it is a pre-order, the expected date, and what happens if the date moves.
- Place a test order with Shopify's Bogus Gateway on a development store and watch the schedule email, the hold and the balance charge.
Keep pre-order products separate from stock products. A product carries one plan at a time, and a stock product should not carry a pre-order plan.
Deposit size for pre-orders
Pre-orders usually take a smaller deposit than made-to-order, 10% to 25%, because the stock is not bespoke and can be resold if the customer walks. Enough to deter no-shows, not so much it puts people off committing months ahead. A limited run that will sell out can sit at the top of that range; a regular restock sits at the bottom.
| Pre-order type | Usual deposit | Balance rule |
|---|---|---|
| Regular restock, date known | 10% to 15% | Exact date |
| Limited drop, date known | 20% to 25% | Exact date, everyone charged together |
| Import with a moving container date | 15% to 25% | When the order is ready |
| Custom build on pre-ordered parts | 30% to 50% | When the order is ready, longer outer limit |
Inventory and the hold
Balance Due plans are created as pre-order selling plans, so Shopify reserves the units at sale and the order arrives with a fulfilment hold. When the delivery lands: check it in, mark the orders ready (or let the fixed date do it), and ship the ones in the morning digest marked paid in full.
If only part of the shipment arrives, mark ready only the orders you can fulfil. The rest sit untouched with nothing charged, which is the main reason ready-triggered plans beat fixed dates for anything coming from abroad.
A half-full container is the normal case, not the exception. The balance should follow the stock, not the calendar.
What to tell customers
Four things on the product page, repeated in your policy text.
That it is a pre-order
And the expected date. A customer who knows they are waiting is a patient customer.
The deposit and the balance
The deposit amount, and that the balance is taken from the same card on the date or when the stock arrives.
What happens if the date moves
They will be told, and the balance moves with it. Nothing is charged early.
Your cancellation position
Whether the deposit is refundable before the balance is taken, and from what point it is not.
Balance Due repeats your policy text under every payment message and on the customer's payment page, so the terms are in front of them when it matters.
Related
Deposits for bike shops
Pre-order frames and drops.
Automatic balance collection
Mark ready, collect now, reschedule.
Reminders and receipts
What customers get before the charge.
How to take deposits on Shopify
The setup, the settings that trip people up, and the policy wording.
Deposits without Shopify Plus
What Basic, Shopify and Advanced stores can do, and what they cannot.
Partial payments on Shopify
Deposits, pay links and BNPL: which partial payment is which.
Questions
Can I take pre-orders with no deposit?
Balance Due is for deposits. A pre-order app that reserves stock and charges nothing until shipping is a different tool.
What if some units arrive and others do not?
Mark ready only the orders you can fulfil; the rest wait. Ready-triggered plans make this easy.
Does the customer see a pre-order badge?
Balance Due shows the deposit line on the product page. Badges and countdowns are a theme or pre-order app job.
What if the container date slips?
Reschedule the balance payment from the orders to the new date. Each customer gets a fresh reminder before it and nothing is charged in the meantime. Update the storefront line on the product as well.
Does Shopify stop me overselling?
The plan is created as a pre-order selling plan, so Shopify reserves the units at sale in the same way it reserves stock on any order.
Can I charge everyone on the same day?
Yes. An exact date on the plan charges every order on that plan on the same morning, which makes a limited drop one reconciliation job rather than fifty.
What if the pre-order is cancelled by the supplier?
Cancel the plan from each order and nothing further is collected. Refunding the deposits is your policy and is handled in Shopify as normal.
Can the customer pay the balance early?
Yes, from the pay now button on their payment page. The stock still ships when it arrives.
Ready to set one up?
A first deposit plan takes about ten minutes, and the Free plan covers a real order end to end.