Articles on: Preorders

Which Shopify Discounts Work with Preorders

Merchants often want to combine Shopify discounts with preorder products. The good news is that most standard Shopify discount types work with preorders out of the box when you use STOQ's recommended setup (Shopify's native purchase option). This guide explains exactly which discount types are compatible, which are not, and what workaround exists for unsupported types.

Discount Compatibility at a Glance

Here is a quick reference showing which Shopify discounts work with preorders when using the native purchase option (selling plan) — STOQ's recommended and default method.

Discount Type	Works with Preorders?	Notes
Percentage discount code (e.g. 10% off)	Yes	Works out of the box with native selling plans
Fixed amount discount code (e.g. $5 off)	Yes	Works out of the box with native selling plans
Order-level discount code	Yes	Applies to the entire order including preorder items
Automatic discount (percentage or fixed)	Yes	Works when the discount class is compatible with selling plans
STOQ offer-level discount	Yes	Built into the preorder offer itself (configured in STOQ)
Buy X Get Y (BXGY)	No	Not compatible with Shopify selling plans
Gift cards	No	Shopify limitation — cannot be used on purchase-option products

Discounts That Work With Preorders

These discount types work with preorder products using STOQ's default setup (native Shopify purchase option enabled).

Regular Discount Codes

Standard Shopify discount codes — both percentage-based and fixed-amount — work with preorder products. You can create these in Shopify Admin under Discounts and they will apply at checkout to preorder items.

This includes:

Percentage off (e.g. "SAVE10" for 10% off)
Fixed amount off (e.g. "$5OFF" for $5 off the product)
Order-level discounts (e.g. "$20 off orders over $100" — applies to the whole order including preorder items)

No extra configuration is needed in STOQ. As long as the discount code is active in Shopify and the preorder product qualifies, the discount will apply at checkout.

Automatic Discounts

Shopify automatic discounts (the ones that apply at checkout without a code) also work with preorder products, provided the discount class is compatible with selling plans.

Automatic percentage off — works when set to apply to products with selling plans
Automatic fixed amount off — works the same way

Tip: When creating an automatic discount in Shopify Admin, make sure it is not restricted to exclude products with purchase options. If the discount targets "all products" or a specific collection that includes your preorder products, it will apply automatically.

STOQ Offer-Level Discounts

STOQ also has its own built-in discount system that is separate from Shopify discount codes. You can configure a discount directly inside a preorder offer to incentivize customers to preorder.

To set up an offer-level discount:

Open the STOQ app.
Click Preorders.
Select your offer.
Go to the Payment section.
Choose a discount type: Percentage, Fixed amount, or Price (set price).
Enter the discount value.
Click Save.

This discount is shown on the product page as a badge (e.g. "Save 10% when you preorder") and is applied automatically — customers do not need a code.

Note: STOQ offer-level discounts only work when Use Shopify's purchase option is enabled (the default). They are not available with the line-item-property method.

Discounts That Do Not Work With Preorders

The following discount types are not compatible with preorder products due to Shopify platform limitations.

Buy X Get Y (BXGY)

Buy X Get Y discounts are not supported when using Shopify's native purchase option (selling plan). This is a Shopify limitation — the BXGY discount class is not compatible with selling plan products.

If a customer adds a preorder product to their cart and a Buy X Get Y discount would normally apply, it will not be applied at checkout.

Gift Cards

Gift cards cannot be used to purchase preorder products. Shopify does not allow gift card payments on orders that contain purchase option (selling plan) items. This restriction applies regardless of the method you use in STOQ — it is a Shopify platform limitation.

Additionally, some accelerated checkout methods may not work with preorder products, including:

Shop Pay
Apple Pay
Google Pay
Some local payment methods

How to Prevent Shopify Discounts from Applying to Preorder Products

There is no setting in Shopify or STOQ that automatically blocks Shopify discounts from applying to preorder products. If a discount code or automatic discount is active and covers your preorder products, it will apply at checkout — there is no way to stop this from within STOQ.

The only way to prevent a Shopify discount from applying to a preorder product is to exclude that product or the preorder collection when creating the discount in Shopify Admin.

Option 1: Exclude Specific Products

Go to Shopify Admin → Discounts.
Create or edit your discount.
Under Applies to, choose Specific products or Specific collections.
Make sure you do not include your preorder products in the selection.

Option 2: Exclude the Preorder Collection

If you group all your preorder products in a dedicated collection (e.g. "Preorder Products"), you can exclude that entire collection from the discount.

Go to Shopify Admin → Discounts.
Create or edit your discount.
When setting product eligibility, exclude the preorder collection.

Tip: Creating a dedicated preorder collection makes it easier to manage discount exclusions. You can use Shopify's automated collection rules to keep this collection up to date.

Workaround: Switch to Line-Item-Property Method

If you need to support Buy X Get Y discounts on preorder products, STOQ offers a workaround by switching from the native purchase option to the line-item-property method.

How to Enable the Workaround

Open the STOQ app.
Click Preorders.
Select the offer you want to modify.
Go to Customize → Advanced.
Under Purchase Option section, enable Use without purchase option.
Enable Add custom cart attribute and add the relevant text you'd like your customers to see at cart and checkout.
Click Save changes on the top right.

What You Gain

Buy X Get Y discounts will work on preorder products.

What You Lose

Switching to the line-item-property method disables several features that depend on Shopify's native selling plan:

Partial payments — no deposit or deferred payment options
Offer-level discounts — the STOQ built-in discount badge and pricing
Offer-level fulfillment configurations — scheduled fulfillments and hold settings configured within the offer

Important: This is a per-offer setting. You can keep some offers on the native purchase option (with full feature support) and switch only specific offers to the line-item-property method (for BXGY compatibility).

Known Limitations

Buy X Get Y discounts are not compatible with Shopify selling plans (native purchase option).
Gift cards cannot be used for preorder purchases — this is a Shopify platform restriction that applies regardless of method.
Accelerated checkout methods (Shop Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay) may not work with preorder products.
STOQ offer-level discounts are only available when Use Shopify's purchase option is enabled.
Switching to line-item-property method to gain BXGY support means losing partial payments, offer-level discounts, and offer-level fulfillment configs.
Shopify discount codes must be configured to apply to products with selling plans — if a code is set to exclude purchase-option products, it will not apply to preorders.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely Cause	Fix
Discount code not applying at checkout	Code is restricted to exclude selling plan products	Edit the discount in Shopify Admin and remove the purchase-option exclusion
Buy X Get Y not working	Native purchase option (selling plan) is enabled	Switch to line-item-property method in the offer's Advanced settings, or accept this as a known limitation
Gift card rejected at checkout	Shopify does not allow gift cards on purchase-option orders	No workaround — this is a Shopify platform limitation
STOQ offer-level discount not showing	Purchase option is disabled on that offer	Re-enable Use Shopify's purchase option in the offer's Advanced settings
Automatic discount not applying	Discount class is not compatible with selling plans	Verify the automatic discount in Shopify Admin targets products with purchase options
Discount badge not displaying on product page	Offer-level discount not configured	Go to the offer → Payment section and set a discount type and value

FAQs

Q: Can I use regular percentage or fixed-amount discount codes on preorder products?

A: Yes. Standard Shopify discount codes (percentage off, fixed amount off, and order-level) work with preorder products out of the box when using the native purchase option. No extra configuration is needed in STOQ.

Q: Why don't Buy X Get Y discounts work with my preorder products?

A: Buy X Get Y is a specific discount class that Shopify does not support for products using a selling plan (purchase option). This is a Shopify platform limitation, not a STOQ restriction. You can switch to the line-item-property method as a workaround, but this disables partial payments and offer-level discounts.

Q: What is the difference between a Shopify discount code and a STOQ offer-level discount?

A: A Shopify discount code is created in Shopify Admin under Discounts — customers enter it at checkout. A STOQ offer-level discount is configured inside the preorder offer and applies automatically. The STOQ discount shows a badge on the product page (e.g. "Save 10%") without requiring a code.

Q: Do automatic discounts work with preorders?

A: Yes, as long as the automatic discount is configured to apply to products with selling plans. If you have set the discount to exclude purchase-option products, it will not apply.

Q: Can I use different methods for different offers?

A: Yes. The purchase option setting is per-offer. You can keep most offers on the native Shopify purchase option (with full feature support) and switch only specific offers to the line-item-property method when you need BXGY compatibility.

Q: Where can I learn more about gift card and BXGY limitations?

A: See our detailed guide: How to use gift cards and discounts with preorders (Buy X Get Y, try before you buy, etc.)

Updated on: 05/06/2026

Was this article helpful?

Thank you!