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# Choose how pre-orders check out: Shopify purchase option or none, and holding orders

The **Purchase option** setting decides how Timesact creates a pre-order in Shopify. **Use Shopify purchase option** gives you split payments, deposits and pre-order discounts. **Don't use a Shopify purchase option** takes full payment at checkout and works with gift cards, Buy X Get Y, Shopify bundles, B2B checkout and local payment methods, and it lets you choose whether pre-orders arrive Unfulfilled or On hold. You set it per Customer Experience, in Timesact → Experiences → your Customer Experience → Admin → Functionality settings → Pre-order.

**Plan:** All plans  ·  **Where:** Timesact → Experiences → your Customer Experience → Admin → Functionality settings → Pre-order → Purchase option

## Before you start
- A Customer Experience is the reusable template that holds your pre-order settings. You attach products and variants to it from **Products**.
- The Customer Experience has the **Pre-order** functionality added. The same settings apply to Backorder and Made to Order.
- **Purchase option** is the first section on the **Pre-order** tab. Every product attached to the Customer Experience uses the choice you make there.
- New Customer Experiences start on **Use Shopify purchase option**, marked **Recommended**.

## Use Shopify purchase option or not: what each choice gives you
**Use Shopify purchase option** attaches a Shopify pre-order purchase option to the item at checkout. The app describes it as: "Supports split payments, scheduled charges and discounts. Gift cards and Buy X Get Y are not supported." With this choice you get:
- **Billing:** **Full amount**, or **Split payment** with a first charge at checkout (a percentage, a fixed amount, or 0) and the rest charged later.
- **Pricing:** **No discount**, **Fixed amount off** or **Percentage off** for pre-order shoppers.
- **When to reduce stock:** **When the order is placed** or **When the order is fulfilled**.
- **Fulfillment status** set by Shopify from your **Shipping** choice (see below).

Shopify runs pre-order purchase options on Shopify Payments and PayPal Express. See Shopify's guide to [pre-orders](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/purchase-options/pre-orders).

**Don't use a Shopify purchase option** adds the pre-order item to the cart as an ordinary product, with your cart label as a line item property. The app describes it as: "Works with gift cards and Buy X Get Y. Split payments and pre-order discounts need a purchase option, so they are switched off and anything you already set is reset." With this choice:
- Shoppers pay the full price at checkout.
- Shoppers can use gift cards, Buy X Get Y discounts, Shopify bundles, B2B checkout and local payment methods on orders with pre-order items.
- Stock is reduced when the order is placed.
- You choose the **Fulfillment status** yourself: **Unfulfilled** or **On hold**.

Both choices keep the rest of Pre-order the same: the Pre-order button, message, badge, **When Pre-order shows**, **Shipping**, the pre-order limit, notifications and the `Pre-order` and `Partial Pre-order` order tags.

## How to choose the purchase option
1. In Timesact, open **Experiences** and open the Customer Experience you use for pre-orders.
2. Under **Admin**, click **Functionality settings**, then the **Pre-order** tab.
3. In **Purchase option**, select **Use Shopify purchase option** or **Don't use a Shopify purchase option**.
4. Set the sections below it. They change with your choice, as described in the next section.
5. Click **Save**.

![Purchase option card in a Timesact pre-order Customer Experience with Use Shopify purchase option selected and Don't use a Shopify purchase option below it](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/-/c/9/b/3/c9b393c2e2547800/n05-purchase-option-and-holdin_j6zd9r.png)


## What changes on the Pre-order tab when you switch
Choosing **Don't use a Shopify purchase option** changes the **Pre-order** tab right away:
- **Billing** is hidden and set back to **Full amount**.
- **Pricing** is hidden and set back to **No discount**.
- **When to reduce stock** is hidden and set back to **When the order is placed**.
- **Fulfillment status** shows two choices, **Unfulfilled** and **On hold**, instead of a status set by Shopify.
- On the **Storefront** side, **Cart page** → **Cart label** asks for a **Property name** and **Property value**. Timesact adds them to the cart line as a Shopify line item property, so the label shows in the cart, at checkout and on the order.

**Shipping**, **When Pre-order shows** and **Continue selling** stay as they are.

Switching back to **Use Shopify purchase option** shows **Billing**, **Pricing** and **When to reduce stock** again, on **Full amount**, **No discount** and **When the order is placed**. Set your split payment or discount again, then click **Save**.

![Timesact Pre-order settings without a Shopify purchase option, showing the Fulfillment status choices Unfulfilled and On hold](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/-/c/9/b/3/c9b393c2e2547800/n06-purchase-option-and-holdin_6alais.png)


## Fulfillment status with a Shopify purchase option
With **Use Shopify purchase option**, Shopify sets the fulfillment status of pre-orders from your **Shipping** choice. The **Fulfillment status** card shows the status your settings produce, and it updates when you change **Shipping**.

| Shipping | Fulfillment status in Shopify | What it means |
| ---- | ---- | ---- |
| **As soon as possible** | **Unfulfilled** | The order is ready to fulfill whenever you are. |
| **Exact date** | **Scheduled** | Shopify schedules fulfillment and opens the order on the shipping date. |
| **A set time from checkout** | **On hold** | Shopify holds the order with no end date. You release it when you're ready to ship. |
| **A time range from checkout** | **On hold** | Shopify holds the order with no end date. You release it when you're ready to ship. |

The On hold status here is Shopify's own hold for pre-orders without a scheduled date, shown in Shopify as **Unknown delivery date**. Shopify does not release it on its own. Release it in Shopify, or with **Release holds** in Pre-order sales (see "Release holds on pre-orders" below).

## Fulfillment status without a Shopify purchase option
With **Don't use a Shopify purchase option**, you choose what happens to orders with pre-order products in **Fulfillment status**:
- **Unfulfilled:** "Orders arrive Unfulfilled, ready for you to fulfill whenever you choose." This is the default.
- **On hold:** "Timesact puts the order on hold once Shopify has assigned it a location, so it can't ship until you release it."

When you choose **On hold**, pick **What to place on hold**:
- **Hold pre-order products:** only the pre-order products wait. In-stock products in the same order can be fulfilled now. This is the default.
- **Hold the entire order:** every unfulfilled product in the order waits, so you can ship it all at once.

### How to hold pre-orders without a purchase option
1. On the **Pre-order** tab, in **Purchase option**, select **Don't use a Shopify purchase option**.
2. In **Fulfillment status**, select **On hold**.
3. In **What to place on hold**, select **Hold pre-order products** or **Hold the entire order**.
4. Click **Save**.

![Fulfillment status set to On hold with the What to place on hold choices Hold pre-order products and Hold the entire order](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/-/c/9/b/3/c9b393c2e2547800/n07-purchase-option-and-holdin_1ax8ujo.png)


## What happens next
- **Timing of the hold:** Timesact places the hold when Shopify finishes assigning the order to a location, normally seconds after checkout. If the order isn't ready yet, Timesact tries again.
- **How the hold looks in Shopify:** the order shows **On hold**, with the reason Other and the note "Held by Timesact for preorder fulfillment."
- **Which orders it applies to:** the fulfillment status you choose is saved on each order when it is placed. Changing it later applies to new orders. Orders already placed keep their status.
- **Order tags:** every order with a pre-order item gets the `Pre-order` tag, and a mixed order also gets `Partial Pre-order`, with or without a purchase option.
- **Payment:** without a purchase option the order is paid in full at checkout, so there is no balance to collect later.

## Release holds on pre-orders
Holds on pre-orders stay until you release them. When the stock is in hand and you're ready to ship, release them in one of two ways.

**In Shopify, one order at a time:**
1. In your Shopify admin, go to **Orders** and open the order.
2. In the **On hold** section, click **Release hold**.
3. If the order has more than one hold, select the ones to release, then click **Release**.

See Shopify's guide to [holding and releasing fulfillments](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/fulfillment/fulfilling-orders/holding-fulfillments).

**In Timesact, many orders at once:**
1. In Timesact, open **Analytics**, then under **Pre-order** click **Sales**.
2. In the orders table, open the **Hold** tab and tick the orders to release.
3. Click **Release holds**, then **Release holds** again in the window.
4. The window shows **Released**, **Skipped** and **Failed** counts. Click **Close**.

**Release holds** removes the holds that come from your pre-order settings: Shopify's hold on purchase-option pre-orders with a time or range from checkout, and Timesact's own hold from **On hold** without a purchase option, for pre-order products or the entire order. Holds you or another app placed stay as they are. Scheduled orders have no hold, so **Release holds** skips them.

Releasing a hold does not fulfill the order. Once no other hold is left, the order goes back to Unfulfilled and you fulfill it as usual. For the full bulk workflow, see \[Manage pre-order orders in bulk: collect payment, release holds and send shipping delay emails]\(NEW: manage-pre-order-orders-in-bulk).

## Questions merchants ask
**Can customers use gift cards on pre-orders?**
Yes, with **Don't use a Shopify purchase option** selected in the Customer Experience's Pre-order settings. Shoppers then pay the full price at checkout and can use gift cards and Buy X Get Y discounts. If the orders should wait until your stock arrives, set **Fulfillment status** to **On hold** in the same settings, as described in "How to hold pre-orders without a purchase option" above, and release the holds when you are ready to ship.

**How do I take pre-orders through B2B checkout?**
Select **Don't use a Shopify purchase option** in the Pre-order settings of the Customer Experience attached to those products. The pre-order item is then an ordinary cart line, paid in full at checkout.

**Can I offer a deposit and also accept gift cards on the same product?**
Choose one per product. Deposits and split payments need **Use Shopify purchase option**, and gift cards need **Don't use a Shopify purchase option**, so pick the purchase option that fits each product.

**Why are my pre-orders On hold when I never chose On hold?**
With **Use Shopify purchase option**, Shopify holds pre-orders whose shipping is **A set time from checkout** or **A time range from checkout**. Release them in Shopify or with **Release holds** in Pre-order sales. To get Scheduled orders that open on their own, use **Exact date**.

**Why wasn't an order put on hold?**
If a fulfillment service or 3PL app already accepted the order, Shopify doesn't allow a hold, so Timesact leaves the order as it is. Orders placed before you chose **On hold** also keep their earlier status.

**Does holding the entire order also hold the in-stock items?**
Yes. **Hold the entire order** holds every unfulfilled product in the order, so everything ships together. Choose **Hold pre-order products** to let in-stock items ship now.

## Related articles
- \[Manage pre-order orders in bulk: collect payment, release holds and send shipping delay emails]\(NEW: manage-pre-order-orders-in-bulk)
- \[Charge the remaining balance when you fulfill the order]\(NEW: charge-balance-on-fulfillment)
- [How Pre-Orders Work](https://help.timesact.com/en-us/article/how-pre-orders-work-1fo7ycq/)
- [Pre-Order](https://help.timesact.com/en-us/article/pre-order-1dnwppc/)
- [Billing and Split payments](https://help.timesact.com/en-us/article/billing-and-split-payments-1puxraa/)
- [Shipping dates](https://help.timesact.com/en-us/article/shipping-dates-1gzu9gv/)
- [Inventory and Fulfillment](https://help.timesact.com/en-us/article/inventory-and-fulfillment-1hdszc6/)
- [Remove from On Hold](https://help.timesact.com/en-us/article/remove-from-on-hold-13rrl1q/)
- [Shopify Order Tags](https://help.timesact.com/en-us/article/shopify-order-tags-r722ri/)