Billing and Partial Payments

Billing decides how and when the customer is charged for a pre-order. Both options place a real order, the difference is when the money is collected. It is one of the reusable pre-order building blocks, for the overview see How Pre-Orders Work. You set it under Feature settings, Billing. The optional pre-order discount also lives here.

Which payment methods work with pre-orders

Pre-orders use Shopify's deferred purchase option, so the methods that can carry a pre-order are the ones Shopify supports for it, in practice Shopify Payments and PayPal Express. Shopify Payments works for every setup, including automatic collection of a partial-payment balance. PayPal Express can take a full payment upfront but cannot auto-collect a later balance. Other gateways and some local payment methods may not offer the pre-order option at all; if yours is not supported, contact support before switching processors and we will check it with you.

Full amount

The customer is charged the full price at checkout, exactly like a normal order. The only difference from a standard purchase is that fulfillment is deferred until you ship.

• Shopper sees: a normal-looking checkout, pays in full now.
• In Shopify: a normal paid order that is not fulfillable until you fulfill it.

Partial payment

The customer pays part now and the rest later. You choose the upfront amount, and this is where the common scenarios come from.

• 0 upfront (reserve now, pay later) — the shopper reserves the item and is charged nothing at checkout. Shopify securely stores their payment method, and the full amount is collected later. Use it for "reserve now, pay when it ships."
• Percentage upfront — the shopper pays a percentage deposit now, for example 20 percent, and the remaining 80 percent later.
• Fixed amount upfront — the shopper pays a set amount now, for example 10.00, and the remainder later.

How the balance is collected

This is the same in every partial-payment scenario:

1. At checkout, Shopify takes the upfront amount (which may be 0) and securely stores (vaults) the customer's payment method. This is a card kept on file, not a temporary authorization hold, so it does not expire, but it is also not a guarantee: the later charge can still fail if the card is declined or expired by then.
2. The order carries payment terms showing the outstanding balance and when it is due, either on a specific date or a set number of days after checkout, depending on how you configured it.
3. When the balance is due, Shopify charges the stored payment method automatically, where your payment provider supports it. In practice, automatic collection of a later balance requires Shopify Payments. Some providers cannot auto-charge a stored method (for example PayPal can take a full payment upfront but not auto-collect a later balance), in which case you send an invoice or charge the balance from the order when it is due.

What the shopper sees along the way

• On the product page: the pre-order button, plus the payment option, for example a "Pay Later" or deposit line describing that they pay part now and the rest later.
• In the cart: the item marked as a pre-order.
• At checkout: they are charged only the upfront amount (full, a deposit, or nothing).
• After ordering: their confirmation reflects what was charged and that a balance remains, and they are charged the remainder later without needing to do anything.

What you see in Shopify

• The order shows payment terms with the outstanding balance and its due date.
• You can let Shopify auto-charge the balance when due, send the customer an invoice, mark the order as paid if you collected another way, or charge the balance manually from the order.
• To collect a balance yourself, use Collect payment on the order (or send an invoice). Note that Shopify's bulk "Capture payment" action does not collect a deferred pre-order balance, it only captures payments that were already authorized, so use the per-order Collect payment or let automatic collection run.

Pricing: optional pre-order discount

You can reward early orders with a discount applied to the pre-order price at checkout.

• No discount: full price.
• Amount: a fixed amount off, for example 5.00 off.
• Percentage: a percentage off, for example 10 percent.

Scenario: you offer 10 percent to early birds. A 50.00 item is charged as 45.00, or a deposit calculated from 45.00 if you also use partial payment.

The purchase-agreement message at checkout

Because a partial or deferred pre-order defers payment, Shopify treats it as a purchase option and automatically shows a short purchase-agreement note at checkout, wording that describes the deferred terms of the order. This comes from Shopify, not from Timesact, and it appears on any product sold on these terms.

Shopify only lets you edit or remove that wording on the Shopify Plus plan. On other plans it cannot be switched off while the pre-order uses Shopify's deferred purchase option. If you are on another plan, plan for the note to appear and set expectations with your own pre-order messaging, your product-page message and cart label are the best place to tell shoppers clearly what they are agreeing to.

If a scheduled balance charge fails

When the balance on a partial-payment pre-order is due, Shopify attempts the charge on the stored card automatically, wherever your payment provider supports it. If that charge is declined, for example the card has expired or has insufficient funds, it is not retried automatically, and the customer is not sent an automatic notice about the failed charge. Nothing else happens on its own, so it is worth checking your pre-orders around their due dates.

To pick it back up, in your Shopify admin go to Orders and open the pre-order. The Payment pending section shows the outstanding balance. From there you can:

• Click Collect payment and charge the card again (this uses Shopify Payments).
• Click Collect payment, then Send invoice, to email the customer a secure checkout link so they can pay the balance themselves, handy when the card on file keeps failing.
• Reach out to the customer directly to arrange payment before you try again.

A quick heads-up to the customer before re-charging is good practice, especially if some time has passed since they ordered.

Known limitations

• Automatic balance collection depends on your payment provider supporting deferred capture, in practice Shopify Payments. Where it is not supported, you collect the balance by invoice or from the order.
• Shopify's bulk "Capture payment" does not charge a deferred pre-order balance. Collect it per order or let automatic collection handle it.
• Pre-orders with partial payment are not supported for B2B or wholesale orders, this is a Shopify limitation. See How Pre-Orders Work for the B2B / wholesale workaround.

Related

• When the customer is told it ships: Shipping dates
• When inventory is reserved and how fulfillment is deferred: Inventory and Fulfillment
• Overview of all the building blocks: How Pre-Orders Work

Updated on: 07/10/2026