How to set up preorders on Shopify (complete 2026 guide)

You've got a product that isn't ready to sell: inventory is on a ship somewhere, the launch is three weeks out, or it's made to order. Preorders let you sell it anyway.

To set up preorders on Shopify, you install a preorder app like STOQ, enable its app embed in your theme, create a preorder offer with your payment terms and shipping timeline, and enable "Continue selling when out of stock" on the products. The Add to Cart button becomes a Preorder button, and customers check out normally. Shopify has no complete built-in preorder feature, so this is the standard no-code path, and it takes about 10 minutes.

This guide covers the full setup, plus everything merchants run into after: deposits and pay-later, shipping dates, mixed carts, fulfillment holds, and how to turn preorders off when you're done. (If you'd rather try the manual route first, here's how to set up preorders on Shopify without an app and where it breaks down.)

Can you do preorders on Shopify?

Yes — but not fully natively. Out of the box, Shopify can let customers buy when inventory is zero (the "Continue selling when out of stock" setting), but it won't label the purchase as a preorder, show an expected ship date, take deposits, hold fulfillment, or message customers about their preorder. Customers just see a normal Add to Cart on a product you can't ship yet. That's a recipe for confused orders and refund requests.

That's why preorders on Shopify are almost always run through an app, which adds the missing layer: a clear Preorder button, payment options, timelines, and a way to manage the orders.

What a preorder setup needs to get right

Before the steps, the checklist of what "done" looks like, because most preorder problems come from skipping one of these:

1. A labeled button — customers must know it's a preorder before they click
2. A visible ship date or timeline — on the product page, in the cart, at checkout, and in the confirmation email
3. Payment terms — full payment, deposit, or pay later, stated upfront
4. A fulfillment hold — so preorder items don't accidentally ship early
5. A plan for mixed carts — what happens when a customer buys a preorder and an in-stock item together

The setup below covers all five.

How to set up preorders on Shopify: step-by-step

We'll use STOQ it runs preorders and back-in-stock alerts from one app.

Prefer a video walkthrough? Here's our step-by-step tutorial on how to set up preorders on Shopify

Step 1: Install the app and enable the app embed

Install STOQ from the Shopify App Store and open it from your admin. The first onboarding step enables STOQ's app embed, which is what puts the Preorder button on your storefront:

1. In STOQ, go to Home and click the onboarding step to Enable app embed (this opens your theme editor)
2. In the theme editor, find App embeds in the left sidebar, toggle STOQ on, and click Save

Step 2: Create a preorder offer

An offer defines the rules for one set of preorder products: button text, payment terms, shipping timeline, limits. You can run multiple offers with different rules for different product groups.

1. In STOQ, click Preorders in the left menu
2. Click Offers → Add new offer
3. Choose which products the offer applies to: Specific products (most control), a Collection (auto-includes new matching items), or All products

Step 3: Enable "Continue selling when out of stock"

For standard out-of-stock preorders, the products need Shopify's Continue selling when out of stock setting on — otherwise Shopify marks them unavailable and nobody can order. STOQ warns you about any products in your offer missing this setting and can enable it for them in one click. To do it manually in Shopify: Products → [product] → Inventory → check "Continue selling when out of stock" → Save.

Step 4: Set your payment terms

In the offer's payment section, choose how customers pay:

• Full payment — the whole price at checkout, nothing owed later
• Deposit / partial payment — a percentage or fixed amount now, the balance collected later (automatically on a date or on fulfillment, or manually). Check out our full guide on preorder deposits.
• Full & partial — offer both and let the customer choose at checkout
• Preorder discount — an early-bird percentage or fixed discount as an incentive

If you take deposits, decide how to collect the remaining payment for preorders - automatic vs manual.

Step 5: Add your shipping date and disclaimer

Set the expected shipping or fulfillment date in the offer, and add a short disclaimer under the button (e.g., "Ships by August 15"). STOQ carries this information through the whole purchase flow — product page, cart, checkout, thank-you page, and the order in your admin — so the timeline is never a surprise.

Two rules for preorder ship dates. Pad your estimate: a date you beat feels great; a date you miss creates tickets and chargebacks. And if the date slips, email everyone before they email you. STOQ has a shipping-delay email for exactly this.

Step 6: Customize the button and badges

In the offer's display settings: button text ("Preorder", "Pre-order now", "Reserve yours"), colors to match your theme, an optional description line below the button, and a preorder badge on product cards so items are labeled in collections too.

If the button isn't appearing after setup, check the three usual causes: the app embed isn't enabled in your theme (Step 1), the product isn't included in an enabled offer, or (for out-of-stock preorders) "Continue selling when out of stock" is off. For page-builder layouts (PageFly, GemPages), place the widget block manually where the buy button sits in your custom layout.

Step 7: Enable the offer and test it

Toggle the offer to Enabled and save. Then run a real test before announcing anything:

1. Open a product from the offer in your storefront — confirm the Preorder button and disclaimer appear
2. Complete a test checkout (use a 100% discount code or Shopify's Bogus Gateway to avoid a real charge)
3. Check Preorders → Reports in STOQ to confirm the order landed, correctly tagged (default tag: STOQ-preorder)

That's the core setup done.

How to remove or disable preorders on Shopify

When stock arrives (or a campaign ends), turn preorders off cleanly:

1. Disable the offer in STOQ (toggle it off, or delete it if you won't reuse it) — buttons revert to standard Add to Cart / Sold Out instantly
2. Schedule the end instead, if you know the date in advance — offers can start and stop automatically
3. Update inventory in Shopify as stock lands, and decide whether "Continue selling when out of stock" should stay on
4. Release held fulfillments for existing preorder orders and collect any remaining payments
5. If a product should now capture a waitlist instead of preorders, switch it to a Notify Me button

If you set up preorders manually (without an app), removing them means reversing each edit: turn off "Continue selling when out of stock", and remove any "preorder" wording from titles, descriptions, and templates.

What to do after a preorder setup

Once preorders are live, the work shifts to running them well:

• Announce it: a preorder nobody knows about is just hidden inventory. Refer our launch playbook: Shopify preorder strategy for new product launches‍
• Track the campaign: revenue, orders, and product performance live in STOQ's preorder analytics‍
• Email the queue: confirmation on purchase, updates while they wait, and shipping notice on release‍
• Watch the app-vs-manual line: if you started without an app and order volume is real, the manual approach stops scaling around the first delayed shipment

FAQ

Does Shopify allow preorders?

Yes. Shopify supports selling out-of-stock products via the "Continue selling when out of stock" setting, but it has no complete built-in preorder system — no preorder labeling, deposits, ship dates, or fulfillment holds. Merchants add a preorder app for those.

How do preorders work on Shopify?

A preorder app replaces Add to Cart with a Preorder button on selected products. Customers pay (in full or a deposit) through the normal checkout, the order is tagged and optionally held from fulfillment, and you ship when inventory arrives.

Can I do preorders on Shopify without an app?

Yes, minimally: enable "Continue selling when out of stock" and note the preorder in the product title/description. You lose labeled buttons, deposits, ship-date display, holds, and preorder emails — workable for a handful of orders, painful beyond that.

How do I set up preorders for a product that's still in stock?

Use an in-stock preorder option: the Preorder button shows while inventory remains and your Shopify inventory acts as the order limit. Useful for launches with allocated stock or capped drops.

Can I take deposits or partial payments on Shopify preorders?

Yes — preorder apps support deposits (percentage or fixed) with the balance collected automatically on a date, on fulfillment, or manually. Requires a compatible Shopify plan/payment provider.

How do I remove the preorder option on Shopify?

Disable or delete the preorder offer in your app — buttons revert to normal instantly. Then update inventory, release any held fulfillments, and collect outstanding balances on existing preorders.

How much can I sell on preorder?

Cap it at what you can actually fulfill: set per-variant preorder limits (or use in-stock mode where inventory is the limit) so demand spikes don't become delivery failures.

Start taking preorders today

Every week a product sits unsellable — in production, in transit, pre-launch — is revenue you're choosing to collect later or never. Preorders move it to now.

Set up preorders with STOQ, free to start, no code.

Try STOQ's for free today