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# Manage pre-order orders in bulk: collect payment, release holds and send shipping delay emails

The orders table in Timesact's Pre-order sales report lets you act on many pre-order orders at once. Select orders, then use **Collect payment** to charge the remaining balance on split-payment orders, **Release holds** to make held pre-orders ready to fulfill, or **Send shipping delay email** to tell customers about a new shipping date. Open it from Timesact → **Analytics** → **Pre-order** → **Sales**.

**Plan:** All plans  ·  **Where:** Timesact → Analytics → Pre-order → Sales → orders table

## Before you start
- The orders table lists orders that contain at least one pre-order item, with their **Order number**, **Created** date, **Total**, **Payment status**, **Fulfillment status** and **Tags**.
- **Collect payment** is for orders placed with a split payment, where part of the price is still owed. The balance is charged to the payment method the customer saved at checkout.
- **Release holds** is for pre-orders that are On hold in Shopify because of your pre-order settings.
- **Send shipping delay email** uses the built-in **Shipping delay email**. Publish it first: in Timesact, open **Notifications**, click **Shipping delay email** under Pre-order, edit the message and click **Publish**. Its status then shows **Live**.

## Find and select orders in the orders table
1. In Timesact, open **Analytics** from the app menu.
2. Under **Pre-order**, click **Sales**. The **Pre-order sales** page opens.
3. Scroll past the sales and revenue charts to the orders table.
4. Narrow the list if you need to. Use the tabs (**All**, **Unfulfilled**, **Scheduled**, **Hold**, **Paid**, **Partially Paid**), the **Payment status** and **Fulfillment status** filters, or **Search orders** to find an order number or product title.
5. Tick the orders you want, or tick the header checkbox to select every order on the page. The bulk action bar appears with **Collect payment**, **Release holds** and **Send shipping delay email**.

![Timesact Pre-order sales orders table with three orders selected and the Collect payment, Release holds and Send shipping delay email buttons](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/-/c/9/b/3/c9b393c2e2547800/n01-manage-pre-order-orders-in_155k3qg.png)


The orders table shows 50 orders per page. Orders you select stay selected when you move to the next page, so you can build one selection across several pages. There is no limit on how many orders one bulk action can take. To start over, click **Clear selection**.

## Collect payment on split-payment orders
**Collect payment** requests the full remaining balance on each selected order now, instead of waiting for the date set in your split payment.

1. Select the orders in the orders table. The **Partially Paid** tab is a quick way to see orders that still have a balance.
2. Click **Collect payment**.
3. The **Collect payment** window shows how many orders you selected and asks: "Request the full remaining balance now?" Click **Collect payment** to go ahead.
4. When Timesact finishes, the window changes to **Collection requested** and shows three counts. Click **Close**.

![](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/-/c/9/b/3/c9b393c2e2547800/n02-manage-pre-order-orders-in_1iix6hz.png)


### What the Collect payment counts mean
- **Requested:** Timesact asked Shopify to charge the remaining balance to the customer's saved payment method. Shopify processes the charge and the order's payment status updates in Shopify.
- **Skipped:** there was nothing for Timesact to collect. The order is already paid in full or refunded, has no balance left, is cancelled or archived in Shopify, or its balance was already requested by Timesact.
- **Failed:** the charge could not be requested. The order has no saved payment method, Shopify rejected the request, or the connection to Shopify failed.

To see the details for a single order, open it in your Shopify admin under **Orders**.

### What happens after Collect payment
- Timesact does not email the customer about the charge. To let the customer know the balance is coming, send them a short note before you collect.
- Each order is charged once. After **Collect payment**, Timesact doesn't charge the balance again on the scheduled date or at fulfillment.
- For orders set to charge the rest when you fulfill the order, **Collect payment** charges the balance right away, before fulfillment. Nothing is charged again when you fulfill.
- If Shopify declines the card after the request, you see that on the order in Shopify.

## Release holds on pre-orders
**Release holds** removes the fulfillment holds Timesact placed on the selected orders, so they become ready to fulfill. Holds you or another app placed stay as they are.

1. Select the orders in the orders table. The **Hold** tab lists orders that are On hold.
2. Click **Release holds**.
3. The **Release holds** window shows how many orders you selected and asks: "Release the holds Timesact placed on them? Holds you or another app placed stay as they are." Click **Release holds**.
4. When Timesact finishes, the window changes to **Hold release complete** and shows three counts. Click **Close**.

![Timesact Release holds window asking to release the holds Timesact placed on the selected orders](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/-/c/9/b/3/c9b393c2e2547800/release-holds-confirm_1qw9i9e.png)

### Which holds Release holds removes
**Release holds** removes two kinds of hold:
- The hold Shopify places on a pre-order sold with a Shopify purchase option when the shipping date is a time or a date range.
- The hold Timesact places when your Customer Experience uses **Don't use a Shopify purchase option** with the fulfillment status set to On hold. This covers both **Hold pre-order products** and **Hold the entire order**.

### What the Release holds counts mean
- **Released:** at least one Timesact hold was removed from the order.
- **Skipped:** the order had no hold from Timesact. This includes orders that are Scheduled (pre-orders with an exact shipping date), which are not on hold, and orders where only you or another app placed a hold.
- **Failed:** Shopify did not accept the release, or Timesact could not load the order from Shopify.

### What happens after Release holds
Releasing a hold does not fulfill the order. The order's fulfillment status in Shopify goes back to Unfulfilled once no other hold is left on it, and you fulfill it as usual. Release holds when the stock is in hand and you are ready to ship.

## Send a shipping delay email
**Send shipping delay email** emails the customers on the selected orders to tell them their pre-order will ship later than first expected. It always sends the built-in Timesact **Shipping delay email**, also when your Customer Experience sends pre-order notifications through Klaviyo.

1. Select the orders in the orders table. Use **Search orders** with the product title to find every order for the delayed product.
2. Click **Send shipping delay email**.
3. In **Product title**, type the product name as you want customers to read it.
4. In **Shipping date**, type the new date as you want customers to read it, for example January 12, 2028.
5. Check the order count under the fields, then click **Send**.

![Timesact Send shipping delay email window with Product title and Shipping date fields filled in](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/-/c/9/b/3/c9b393c2e2547800/n04-manage-pre-order-orders-in_1hfs5lj.png)


### What happens after you send
- Each selected order gets one email at the customer's email address on the order. A message confirms: "Shipping delay emails sent."
- The email fills `{{productTitle}}` and `{{shippingDate}}` with exactly what you typed, and `{{orderName}}` with the order number. Write any other detail into the email itself under **Notifications** → **Shipping delay email**.
- Typing a new date here changes only the email. It does not change the shipping date in your Customer Experience or on the Shopify order. To change the date for future orders, edit the shipping date in the Customer Experience.
- Sent emails appear in Timesact → **Analytics** → **Pre-order** → **Notifications & email performance**.
- Publishing the Shipping delay email sends nothing by itself. Emails go out only when you use **Send shipping delay email**.

## Doing it one order at a time in Shopify
You can still handle a single order in your Shopify admin:
- **Collect the balance:** open the order under **Orders**, and in the **Payment pending** section click **Collect payment**. See Shopify's guide to [accepting payment for an order pending payment](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/fulfillment/managing-orders/payments/deferred-payments).
- **Release a hold:** open the order, and in the **On hold** section click **Release hold**. If there is more than one hold, select the ones to release and click **Release**. See Shopify's guide to [holding and releasing fulfillments](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/fulfillment/fulfilling-orders/holding-fulfillments).

## Questions merchants ask
**Does the customer get an email when I click Collect payment?**
No, Timesact does not email the customer when you use Collect payment. If you want the customer to know, send them a note before you collect.

**Why were some orders skipped when I collected payment?**
Collect payment skips orders that have nothing to collect: orders already paid in full or refunded, orders with no balance left, cancelled or archived orders, and orders whose balance Timesact already requested. Open the order in Shopify to see its payment status.

**Why did Collect payment fail on some orders?**
Collect payment fails when the order has no saved payment method from checkout, or when Shopify rejects the charge. For those orders, open the order in Shopify, click **Collect payment** and use **Send invoice** so the customer pays the balance through a checkout link.

**I clicked Release holds but some orders are still on hold. Why?**
Release holds removes only the holds Timesact placed. A hold that you or another app added stays, and you release it on the order in Shopify. Orders that are Scheduled have no hold and become fulfillable on their shipping date. To ship a Scheduled order sooner, open it in Shopify, click the three-dot menu on the pre-order line and choose **Fulfill early**.

**Can I send the shipping delay email through Klaviyo?**
The shipping delay email is always the built-in Timesact email, sent from **Send shipping delay email** in Pre-order sales. Your other pre-order notifications keep using the channel you chose in the Customer Experience.

**I see "Couldn't send the email. Please try again." What should I check?**
Check that the **Shipping delay email** shows **Live** under **Notifications**, and that every selected order has a customer email address in Shopify. If the message keeps appearing, contact our support team and we will look at it with you.

## Related articles
- \[Choose how pre-orders check out: Shopify purchase option or none, and holding orders]\(NEW: purchase-option-and-holding-orders)
- \[Charge the remaining balance when you fulfill the order]\(NEW: charge-balance-on-fulfillment)
- [Remove from On Hold](https://help.timesact.com/en-us/article/remove-from-on-hold-13rrl1q/)
- [Capture Split payment Early](https://help.timesact.com/en-us/article/capture-split-payment-early-gzsaul/)
- [Billing and Split payments](https://help.timesact.com/en-us/article/billing-and-split-payments-1puxraa/)
- [Notifications - Built in](https://help.timesact.com/en-us/article/notifications-built-in-100uera/)
- [Shipping dates](https://help.timesact.com/en-us/article/shipping-dates-1gzu9gv/)
- [Analytics](https://help.timesact.com/en-us/article/analytics-1bvlt4x/)