How to enable preorders for Shopify Managed Markets
Shopify managed markets let you sell internationally by handling currency conversion, duties, and local pricing from a single store. STOQ preorders can work with managed markets, but only when you disable the Shopify purchase option on your preorder offer. This guide explains why, what happens if you do not, and how to set it up correctly.
How Managed Markets Affects Preorders
Shopify managed markets and Shopify purchase options (selling plans) do not work together seamlessly. When a preorder offer uses the default Use Shopify purchase option setting, the preorder button will still appear on your product pages across all markets. However, customers can only complete the purchase from your primary market. If a customer in a secondary market clicks the preorder button and tries to add the product to their cart, they will see the error "This product is already sold out" and the add-to-cart will fail.
This is a Shopify platform limitation — managed markets do not fully support selling plans. STOQ works around this by giving you the option to disable the purchase option entirely on your preorder offer.
How to Enable Preorders for Managed Markets
To make preorders work across all your managed markets, you need to switch your preorder offer to Use without purchase option. Here is how to do it.
Step 1: Open Your Preorder Offer
- In your Shopify admin, open STOQ and go to Preorders.
- Select the preorder offer you want to update, or create a new one.
Step 2: Open Advanced Settings
- In the preorder editor, click the Advanced section in the sidebar.
- Scroll to the Purchase option setting.
Step 3: Switch to "Use Without Purchase Option"
- Select the Use without purchase option radio button.
- A confirmation dialog will appear explaining that disabling the purchase option resets payment to full payment with no discount, and fulfillment to unfulfilled.
- Click Disable to confirm.
- Click Save to apply your changes.
Step 4: Test on Your Storefront
- Visit your product page from a secondary market (you can use a VPN or change your market selector).
- Confirm the Preorder button appears and the product can be added to cart successfully.
- Complete a test checkout to verify the full flow works.
What Changes When You Disable the Purchase Option
Switching to Use without purchase option affects how STOQ processes preorders. Here is what changes.
- Payments — Only full payment upfront is supported. Partial payments (deposits with balance collected later) and payment-specific discounts are not available.
- Fulfillment — Fulfillment resets to unfulfilled (ships as soon as possible). Scheduled and unknown fulfillment dates are not available.
- Compatibility gains — In addition to managed markets, disabling the purchase option also enables compatibility with gift cards, buy X get Y discounts, and separating preorder and in-stock items into different orders (split orders).
- Preorder button — The preorder button continues to appear and work as expected. Customers still see the preorder label and can add products to their cart.
- Order tagging — Orders are still flagged as preorders using line item properties, so you can identify and manage them in Shopify admin.
Known Limitations
- Primary market with purchase option — If you keep the Shopify purchase option enabled, the preorder button will appear on all markets but customers in secondary markets will see a "This product is already sold out" error when trying to add to cart. Only the primary market works. This is a Shopify platform limitation.
- No partial payments — Disabling the purchase option means you cannot collect a deposit upfront and the remaining balance later. Only full payment is supported.
- No scheduled fulfillment dates — You cannot set a specific fulfillment date or show an "unknown" delivery estimate. Fulfillment is set to unfulfilled.
- No payment-specific discounts — Preorder-specific pricing discounts tied to the selling plan are not available without the purchase option.
- Per-offer setting — The purchase option setting applies per preorder offer. If you have multiple offers, you need to disable it on each one that should support managed markets.
Troubleshooting
Symptom | Likely Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
Preorder button appears but customer sees "This product is already sold out" on a secondary market | The Shopify purchase option is still enabled on the offer | Open the offer, go to Advanced, and switch to Use without purchase option |
Partial payment option disappeared after enabling managed markets support | Disabling the purchase option resets payment to full payment only | This is expected — partial payments require the Shopify purchase option, which is not compatible with managed markets |
Fulfillment date reset to unfulfilled | Scheduled and unknown delivery dates require the purchase option | Set your fulfillment expectations through order notes or email notifications instead |
Preorder button does not appear at all on secondary market | The product may not be published to that market, or the offer may be disabled | Check that the product is available in the market and the preorder offer is enabled |
Customer sees regular Add to Cart instead of Preorder | The variant may not be assigned to the preorder offer for that market | Verify the variant is included in the offer under Preorders → select the offer → Products |
FAQs
Q: Can I use partial payments with managed markets?
A: No. Partial payments (deposits) require the Shopify purchase option, which is not compatible with managed markets. You must use full payment upfront when running preorders across managed markets.
Q: Do I need to disable the purchase option on every preorder offer?
A: Yes. The purchase option setting is per offer. If you have multiple preorder offers and want all of them to work with managed markets, you need to switch each one to Use without purchase option individually.
Q: Will my preorder button still show on all markets after disabling the purchase option?
A: Yes. The preorder button appears and works on all markets — primary and secondary — once you disable the purchase option. Customers can add to cart and check out from any market.
Q: What happens if I keep the purchase option enabled with managed markets?
A: The preorder button will still appear on your product pages across all markets. However, customers in secondary markets will not be able to add the product to their cart. Only customers in your primary market can complete the purchase.
Q: Can I use gift cards and buy X get Y discounts with this setup?
A: Yes. Disabling the purchase option enables compatibility with gift cards, buy X get Y discounts, and split orders — in addition to managed markets support.
Q: Does this affect my back in stock alerts?
A: No. The purchase option setting only applies to preorder offers. Back in stock alerts (Notify Me) work independently and are not affected by this setting.
Updated on: 21/05/2026
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