Articles on: Timesact V2

When Pre-order shows

When Pre-order shows decides when the Pre-order button shows, worked out per variant from the variant's Shopify stock. It is one of the reusable pre-order building blocks, for the overview see How Pre-orders Work. You set it under Functionality settings.


How it works


Timesact works out a status for each variant from its Shopify stock and the mode you choose, and the storefront shows the matching button. There are three modes.


Mode 1 — Only when out of stock


Pre-order replaces Sold Out once the variant's Shopify stock reaches 0, and reverts to Add to Cart when stock goes above 0.


  • Scenario: a variant has 8 units. Shoppers see Add to Cart and buy normally. The 8th sells, stock hits 0, the button becomes Pre-order. You restock 20 units and it flips back to Add to Cart.
  • Use it as a safety net, so you never show Sold Out and never lose the sale when you run out.
  • If a product drops off its collection page after it sells out in this mode, turn on Continue selling so it stays available and visible, see Testing and Troubleshooting.


Mode 2 — Always, whatever the stock level


Pre-order shows immediately, in stock or not. Add to Cart or Sold Out is replaced right away.


  • Scenario: a launch product with 0 stock on hand. From the moment you assign it, every shopper sees Pre-order and can reserve it.
  • You can cap how many pre-orders to accept. Once the cap is reached, the button reverts to Add to Cart or Sold Out. See Pre-order Limit.
  • Use it for launches and campaigns where you always want the item presented as a pre-order for a window of time.


What this mode means for the orders you receive: because the pre-order is always on, every sale of that variant is a pre-order while the customer experience is live, including any units you still have in stock. Those orders arrive tagged Pre-order, they carry the terms you set (the shipping date the shopper was shown, and a deposit or deferred balance if you use split payment), and they appear in your pre-order reports. That is right for a launch, and wrong if you are still selling existing stock normally alongside the campaign, because those sales get committed to your pre-order timeline instead of shipping straight away. For that, use Mode 1 above.


Mode 3 — Only while Shopify stock lasts


Pre-order shows only while the variant has stock above 0, and becomes Sold Out when stock reaches 0.


  • Scenario: you have 50 units and want to pre-sell them as pre-orders rather than normal sales. While stock is above 0, shoppers see Pre-order. When the 50th sells, it becomes Sold Out and no more can be ordered.
  • Use it to sell a limited allocation on pre-order terms, then stop cleanly when it is gone.


Active vs On standby


Each variant shows a status in the admin that reflects the mode and its current stock:


  • Active: the variant's stock condition is met right now, so the Pre-order button is live.
  • On standby: the customer experience template is set up correctly but the stock condition is not met yet, so the storefront still shows the normal button. On standby is not an error, it is the functionality waiting for the right stock level.


Because status is per variant, a product can have some variants Active and others On standby at the same time. The button a shopper sees depends on the variant they select. The button a shopper sees depends on the variant they select. Want one shared cap for the whole product rather than per variant? See Pre-order Limit


Pre-selling a delivery that is on its way


Most pre-order campaigns sell a delivery that has not arrived yet, so it is worth knowing how the mode you picked reacts when that delivery is entered into Shopify, by you or automatically by your 3PL or inventory app. Timesact does not read purchase orders or advance shipping notices (ASNs), only the variant's Available quantity.


On "Only when out of stock", stock going above 0 ends the pre-order for that variant by design, it flips to On standby and the storefront goes back to Add to Cart. That is the right behaviour for a safety net on an item you normally sell in stock, and the wrong one for a launch, because entering your incoming units switches your campaign off. So if a live campaign stops taking orders and its variants read On standby, check the variant's Available quantity in Shopify first.


To pre-sell an incoming delivery, enter the units you are willing to commit to as Available stock in Shopify and choose "Only while Shopify stock lasts", so shoppers pre-order against those units and the button becomes Sold Out on its own when they are gone. To keep the pre-order open whatever your stock number does, choose "Always, whatever the stock level" and cap the campaign with a pre-order limit instead, see Pre-order Limit.


How the quantity a shopper adds affects pre-order


Pre-order is decided per variant from that variant's Shopify stock and the mode you picked, not from how many units a shopper puts in their cart. A single line is either a normal purchase or a pre-order for everyone, it is not split into an "in-stock part" and a "pre-order part."


So if a variant has 5 in stock and a shopper adds 15, the line follows the variant's current state. While the variant still reads as in stock, the whole quantity is a normal purchase and the extra units are not separately marked as pre-order. Once the variant's stock reaches 0, it switches to Pre-order (in the out-of-stock mode) and shoppers pre-order from then on.


To sell a fixed number of units on pre-order terms, set the variant's stock in Shopify admin → Products → the variant → Inventory to the amount you will allow, then in the Timesact app, under Functionality settings → When Pre-order shows, choose "Only while Shopify stock lasts." The variant is offered as a pre-order while that stock lasts and becomes Sold Out when it runs out. To cap how many pre-orders you accept regardless of stock, use the pre-order limit instead (see Pre-order Limit, counted per variant).


With inventory locations


If you scope the customer experience template to specific inventory locations, only those locations' stock is counted when deciding Active vs On standby.


Scenario: you scope to your US warehouse only. The variant flips to Active when the US warehouse hits 0, even if another warehouse still has units.



Updated on: 08/11/2026

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