How to enable or disable preorder offers


When you enable a preorder offer, STOQ makes the linked products available for preorder on your storefront. Customers see the preorder button and can place orders. When you disable an offer, STOQ removes the preorder button and customers can no longer preorder those products.


  • Enabled — the offer is live and customers can preorder.
  • Disabled — the offer is inactive and the preorder button is hidden.


STOQ may also prompt you to update the Shopify Continue selling when out of stock inventory setting for products in the offer. This setting controls whether Shopify allows purchases when a product has zero inventory.



Before You Begin


Make sure the following are in place before enabling or disabling a preorder offer.


  • You have the STOQ app installed and can access the Preorders section.
  • You have at least one preorder offer created.
  • You understand that enabling an offer makes it immediately available to customers (unless you use scheduling).
  • You understand that disabling an offer stops customers from placing new preorders, but does not cancel existing preorder orders.


Tip: If you want to control exactly when an offer goes live without manually toggling it, use the scheduling options in the individual offer editor instead.



How to Enable or Disable Offers from the Main Offers Page


The main offers page lets you enable or disable one or more offers at the same time using bulk actions.


Step 1: Open the Offers Page


  1. In your Shopify admin, open the STOQ app.
  2. Go to Preorders.
  3. Select the Offers tab.


preorder-offers-page


Step 2: Select the Offers You Want to Change


  1. Use the checkboxes on the left side of the offers table to select one or more offers.
  2. You can also use the Select all option at the top of the table to select every offer on the current page.


Step 3: Choose Enable or Disable


  1. After selecting offers, a bulk action bar appears at the top of the table.
  2. Click Enable offers to activate the selected offers, or click Disable offers to deactivate them.


bulk-action-bar


Step 4: Handle the Inventory Policy Prompt (If Shown)


If any of the selected offers use STOQ inventory management and have products assigned, STOQ displays a confirmation modal asking how to handle the Continue selling when out of stock setting.


When enabling offers, the modal presents three options:


  • Turn on 'Continue selling when out of stock' — recommended when enabling, so customers can purchase even when inventory is zero (default).
  • Turn off 'Continue selling when out of stock' — prevents purchases when inventory hits zero.
  • Don't change 'Continue selling' setting — leaves the current Shopify inventory setting as-is.


When disabling offers, the modal presents the same three options, but defaults to Turn off 'Continue selling when out of stock'. This is recommended because once preorders are disabled, you typically do not want customers purchasing out-of-stock products.


  1. Select your preferred inventory policy option.
  2. Click Enable offers or Disable offers to confirm.


inventory-policy-modal


Step 5: Confirm the Result


After the action completes, a success banner appears at the top of the offers list confirming how many offers were updated.


Tip: If you chose to update the inventory policy, the banner notes that STOQ is updating the 'Continue selling when out of stock' setting for products in those offers. This may take a moment for stores with many products.



How to Enable or Disable an Individual Offer


You can also change the status of a single offer from its editor page. This method gives you more control, including scheduling options.


Step 1: Open the Offer Editor


  1. In your Shopify admin, open the STOQ app.
  2. Go to Preorders > Offers tab.
  3. Click the name of the offer you want to update.


Step 2: Open the Status Section


  1. In the offer editor sidebar, click Status.
  2. The Offer status section displays radio buttons for the current availability mode.


offer-status-section


Step 3: Choose an Availability Mode


Select one of the following options:


  • Available now — the offer is enabled immediately. Customers can preorder right away with no end date.
  • Available from start date — the offer is currently disabled and will automatically enable on your chosen date (paid plans only).
  • Available now & until end date — the offer is enabled now and will automatically disable on your chosen date (paid plans only).
  • Available between start and end date — the offer is only active during the selected date range (paid plans only).
  • Not available — the offer is disabled. Customers cannot preorder.


To simply enable an offer, select Available now. To disable it, select Not available.


Tip: The scheduling options (start date, end date, date range) require a paid STOQ plan. If you are on the free plan, you can still use Available now and Not available.


Step 4: Save Your Changes


  1. Click Save changes in the save bar at the top of the editor.
  2. If you are disabling an offer that uses STOQ inventory management and has products assigned, a confirmation modal appears.


Step 5: Handle the Disable Confirmation Modal (If Shown)


When switching from enabled to disabled, STOQ may ask whether to update the Continue selling when out of stock setting for products in the offer.


  • Yes, disable 'Continue selling when out of stock' for all products in this offer — recommended when disabling, so out-of-stock products cannot be purchased (default).
  • No, I'll do it myself — leaves the Shopify inventory setting unchanged.


  1. Choose your preferred option.
  2. Click Disable to confirm.


disable-confirmation-modal


Tip: If you plan to re-enable the offer soon, choose No, I'll do it myself to avoid toggling the inventory setting back and forth.



Advanced Tips


These tips help you manage offer status more effectively across your store.


  • Use scheduling instead of manual toggling. If you run limited-time preorder campaigns, set a start and end date so STOQ enables and disables the offer automatically.
  • Bulk actions are faster for large catalogs. If you have many offers, use the main offers page to enable or disable them in batches rather than editing each one individually.
  • Filter by status to find disabled offers. On the main offers page, use the Status filter to show only enabled or disabled offers. This helps you quickly locate offers that need attention.
  • Disabling clears scheduled dates. When you disable an offer from the individual editor, any active schedule settings (start date, end date) are automatically cleared.
  • Inventory policy updates run in the background. After enabling or disabling offers with an inventory policy change, STOQ processes the update asynchronously. The change may take a few seconds for stores with many variants.



Known Limitations


Keep these limitations in mind when enabling or disabling preorder offers.


  • Disabling an offer does not cancel existing preorder orders. Customers who already placed a preorder keep their order.
  • The inventory policy prompt only appears when the offer uses STOQ inventory management and has products assigned. Offers without products or using Shopify-native inventory do not trigger the prompt.
  • Scheduling options (start date, end date, date range) are only available on paid STOQ plans. Free plans can only use Available now and Not available.
  • Bulk enable and disable from the main offers page does not support scheduling. To set a schedule, you must edit each offer individually.
  • When disabling an offer with an active schedule, the schedule settings are cleared. If you re-enable the offer later, you need to set up the schedule again.



Troubleshooting


Use this table to resolve common issues when enabling or disabling preorder offers.


Symptom

Possible Cause

Solution

Preorder button still visible after disabling

The STOQ app embed may be cached on your storefront

Wait a few minutes for the cache to clear, or clear your theme cache manually

Offer shows as enabled but preorder button does not appear

The STOQ app embed is not enabled in your Shopify theme

Check that the STOQ app embed is turned on in Online Store > Themes > Customize > App embeds

Inventory policy modal does not appear

The offer has no products assigned, or it does not use STOQ inventory management

Add products to the offer first, or check that the offer uses STOQ as the inventory provider

Bulk action buttons are grayed out

No offers are selected in the table

Select at least one offer using the checkboxes before clicking a bulk action

Cannot see scheduling options

You are on the free STOQ plan

Upgrade to a paid plan to access scheduling features

Offer was disabled but customers can still purchase out-of-stock products

'Continue selling when out of stock' is still turned on in Shopify

Go to the product in Shopify admin and turn off 'Continue selling when out of stock', or re-disable the offer and choose the option to update the inventory policy



FAQs


Q: What happens when I disable a preorder offer?

A: When you disable a preorder offer, STOQ removes the preorder button from the product pages linked to that offer. Customers can no longer place new preorders. Existing preorder orders are not affected. You may also be prompted to turn off 'Continue selling when out of stock' for the products in the offer.


Q: What happens when I enable a preorder offer?

A: When you enable a preorder offer, STOQ displays the preorder button on the product pages linked to that offer. Customers can immediately place preorders. You may be prompted to turn on 'Continue selling when out of stock' so that customers can purchase even when inventory is zero.


Q: Can I enable or disable multiple offers at once?

A: Yes. On the main Preorders > Offers page, select multiple offers using the checkboxes, then click Enable offers or Disable offers in the bulk action bar. If any selected offers use STOQ inventory management, you are prompted to choose an inventory policy option.


Q: What is the 'Continue selling when out of stock' setting?

A: This is a Shopify inventory setting on each product variant. When turned on, Shopify allows customers to purchase the product even when inventory is zero — which is necessary for preorders. When turned off, Shopify blocks purchases when inventory hits zero. STOQ prompts you to update this setting when enabling or disabling offers so that the inventory behavior matches the offer status.


Q: Does disabling an offer cancel existing preorder orders?

A: No. Disabling an offer only prevents new preorders. Existing orders remain in your Shopify admin and follow your normal fulfillment workflow. You need to manually cancel any orders if required.


Q: What is the difference between disabling an offer and deleting it?

A: Disabling an offer keeps it in your offers list so you can re-enable it later. Deleting an offer permanently removes it and its settings. If you plan to run the offer again in the future, disable it instead of deleting it.


Q: Can I schedule an offer to enable or disable automatically?

A: Yes. In the individual offer editor, click Status and choose one of the scheduling options: Available from start date, Available now & until end date, or Available between start and end date. STOQ automatically toggles the offer status on the dates you set. Scheduling requires a paid STOQ plan.



Updated on: 19/04/2026

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