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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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
• Pre-Order
• Billing and Split payments
• Shipping dates
• Inventory and Fulfillment
• Remove from On Hold
• Shopify Order Tags

Updated on: 11/14/2026