How to Collect Payments Automatically for Preorders

Learn how to set up automatic payment collection for preorders in STOQ, so remaining balances are charged without manual intervention.

Overview

When you use partial payments for preorders, customers pay a deposit at checkout and the remaining balance is collected later. STOQ can automatically collect this remaining payment for you—either on a scheduled date or when you fulfill the order. This saves time, reduces manual work, and ensures you don't forget to collect payments.

Understanding Automatic Payment Collection

Automatic payment collection works with partial-payment preorders, where customers don't pay the full amount upfront.

How It Works

1. Customer places a preorder and pays a deposit (e.g., 10%, 50%, or even 0%)
2. Their payment method is saved for the remaining balance
3. STOQ automatically charges the remaining amount based on your settings
4. You receive notification of successful or failed payments

Requirements

To use automatic payment collection:

• Your store must use Shopify Payments (required for deferred payment collection)
• You must be on a paid STOQ plan (automatic collection is a paid feature)
• The preorder offer must use Partial payment (not Full payment)

Setting Up Automatic Payment Collection

Follow these steps to enable automatic payment collection for your preorder offers.

Accessing Payment Settings

1. From your Shopify admin, open the STOQ app.
2. Click Preorders in the left navigation menu.
3. Click Offers to view your preorder offers.
4. Click on an existing offer to edit it, or create a new offer.
5. In the offer Customization section, click the Payment tab.

Selecting Partial Payment

1. In the Payment section, select Partial payment as the payment type.
2. Configure the deposit amount (percentage or fixed amount).
3. This enables the remaining payment collection options.

Enabling Automatic Collection

1. Scroll to the Collect remaining payment section.
2. Select Collect automatically.
3. This reveals the automatic collection trigger options.

Choosing When to Collect Automatically

STOQ offers two triggers for automatic payment collection. Choose the one that best fits your fulfillment workflow.

Option 1: On the Scheduled Date

Select this option to collect payment on a specific date you define.

1. Under automatic collection, select On the scheduled date.
2. Configure the payment due date (see next section).
3. STOQ will automatically charge customers on that date.

This option is best when:

• You know approximately when products will be available
• You want to collect payment before fulfillment
• You need predictable cash flow timing

Option 2: When the Order Ships

Select this option to collect payment at the moment you fulfill the order.

1. Under automatic collection, select When the order ships.
2. STOQ will automatically charge customers as soon as you mark the order as fulfilled.
3. Payment is collected immediately upon fulfillment.

This option is best when:

• You want to charge customers only when you're ready to ship
• Product availability dates are uncertain
• You prefer to tie payment to actual fulfillment

Configuring the Payment Due Date

Regardless of which automatic collection trigger you choose, Shopify requires a payment due date. Customers see this date at checkout.

Setting a Specific Date

1. Click the calendar icon button.
2. Click Change next to the Payment date field.
3. Select the date when payment should be due.
4. This date appears to customers at checkout.

Use a specific date when:

• You have a known product launch or restock date
• All preorders for this offer ship on the same date
• You want customers to see an exact date

Setting Days After Checkout

1. Click the clock icon button.
2. Enter the number of days after checkout when payment is due.
3. For example, enter 30 for payment due 30 days after purchase.

Use days after checkout when:

• Ship dates vary based on when customers order
• You want a consistent payment timeline for all orders
• Product availability is rolling rather than fixed

Card Authorization Considerations

Credit card authorizations typically expire after 7-30 days. If your payment due date is more than 7 days after checkout, you may see more failed payments due to expired authorizations.

What Happens When Payment is Collected

Here's what occurs when STOQ automatically collects a payment.

Successful Collection

1. STOQ charges the customer's saved payment method.
2. The order payment status updates to "Paid" in Shopify.
3. You can proceed with fulfillment (if not already fulfilled).
4. The customer receives a payment confirmation from Shopify.

Failed Collection

1. You receive an email notification about the failed payment.
2. The customer receives an email asking them to update their payment method.
3. The order remains with an unpaid balance in your Reports.
4. You can retry collection manually or reschedule.

Handling Failed Automatic Payments

Even with automatic collection, some payments will fail. Here's how to handle them.

Common Reasons for Failure

• Card expired or was replaced since checkout
• Insufficient funds in customer's account
• Card authorization expired (common for long preorder periods)
• Bank declined the transaction
• Customer's card was reported lost or stolen

Viewing Failed Payments

1. Go to Preorders > Reports in STOQ.
2. Filter by payment status to find unpaid orders.
3. Review the order details to see payment history.

Retrying Failed Payments

1. Open the order with the failed payment.
2. Click Collect payment to retry manually.
3. If the same card fails again, the customer needs to update their payment method.

Rescheduling Payments

1. Open the order with the failed payment.
2. Click Reschedule payment to set a new collection date.
3. STOQ will attempt automatic collection again on the new date.

Customizing Failed Payment Emails

When automatic payment fails, customers receive an email. You can customize this email in STOQ.

Editing the Failed Payment Email

1. Go to Preorders > Notifications in STOQ.
2. Find the Payment failed email template.
3. Customize the subject line and message content.
4. Include clear instructions for updating payment methods.
5. Click Save to apply your changes.

Best Practices for Failed Payment Emails

• Use a clear, non-alarming subject line
• Explain what happened and what the customer needs to do
• Provide a direct link to update payment information
• Include your contact information for questions
• Set a reasonable deadline for payment update

Monitoring Automatic Collections

Keep track of your automatic payment collections to ensure smooth operations.

Using the Analytics Dashboard

1. Go to Preorders > Overview in STOQ.
2. View the Unpaid orders metric in the summary cards.
3. This shows orders with outstanding balances.

Checking Individual Orders

1. Go to Preorders > Reports in STOQ.
2. Click on any order to view its payment history.
3. The timeline shows when automatic collection was attempted.
4. Review success or failure status for each attempt.

Automatic vs. Manual Collection

Understanding when to use each approach helps you choose the right strategy.

Automatic Collection

Pros:

• Hands-off operation—payments collected without manual intervention
• Consistent timing for all orders
• Reduces risk of forgetting to collect
• Better customer experience with predictable charges

Cons:

• Less control over exact timing
• May result in more failed payments if authorization expires
• Requires paid STOQ plan

Manual Collection

Pros:

• Full control over when to charge customers
• Can wait for inventory confirmation before collecting
• Works on all STOQ plans
• Can collect in bulk from Reports

Cons:

• Requires remembering to collect payments
• More time-consuming for many orders
• Risk of delayed or missed collections

Best Practices

Follow these recommendations for successful automatic payment collection.

Set Appropriate Timelines

• Keep payment due dates within 7 days of checkout when possible
• If longer periods are needed, be prepared for some failed payments
• Align payment collection with your expected fulfillment timeline

Communicate with Customers

• Clearly state payment terms on product pages
• Include payment timeline in order confirmation emails
• Send reminder emails before automatic collection (if using scheduled date)

Monitor Regularly

• Check your unpaid orders daily or weekly
• Follow up quickly on failed payments
• Track your collection success rate over time

Have a Backup Plan

• Know how to manually collect if automatic fails
• Set up the failed payment email template before enabling automatic collection
• Consider your policy for customers who can't pay

Known Limitations

The automatic payment collection feature has some constraints to be aware of.

• Requires Shopify Payments—other payment gateways don't support deferred collection
• Only available on paid STOQ plans
• Card authorizations typically expire after 7-30 days, which may cause failures for longer preorder periods
• "When order ships" trigger requires you to fulfill the order in Shopify (not just mark as shipped in a third-party system)
• If automatic collection fails, you must manually retry or reschedule
• Customers cannot update their payment method proactively—they must wait for a failed payment notification

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues with automatic payment collection, use this guide to identify and resolve common problems.

FAQs

Q: Can I use automatic collection with 0% upfront payment?

A: Yes. Automatic collection works with any deposit percentage, including 0%. The full amount will be collected automatically based on your trigger settings.

Q: What happens if I fulfill an order before the scheduled payment date?

A: If you selected "On the scheduled date," payment is still collected on that date, not when you fulfill. If you want payment collected at fulfillment, select "When the order ships" instead.

Q: Can I switch from automatic to manual collection after orders are placed?

A: Changing the setting only affects new orders. Existing orders keep their original collection settings. You can manually collect on existing orders at any time from Reports.

Q: How do I know if automatic collection succeeded?

A: Check the order in Preorders > Reports. The payment status will show as "Paid" if collection succeeded. You can also view the timeline for collection events.

Q: Can customers pay early before the automatic collection date?

A: Customers cannot proactively pay early through STOQ. However, you can manually collect payment earlier from Reports if you want to charge before the scheduled date.

Q: What if I need to cancel an order before automatic collection?

A: Cancel the order in Shopify before the collection date. Cancelled orders won't have automatic payment collection attempted.

Updated on: 11/02/2026