Why Back-in-Stock Alerts Fired After a Plan Downgrade

If you downgraded your STOQ plan and noticed that back-in-stock alerts fired unexpectedly, this is caused by a change in how inventory is checked. Market-based (per-market) inventory checking is a paid feature — when you downgrade, STOQ falls back to checking overall product inventory across all locations. Products that were out of stock in one market but available in others are now seen as "in stock," which can trigger alerts to customers who signed up for those products.

How Market-Based Inventory Checking Works

Market-based inventory checking lets STOQ track stock levels separately for each of your Shopify markets.

When this feature is active on a paid plan:

• STOQ checks inventory only at the locations assigned to each market.
• A product can be "out of stock" in one market (e.g., Europe) but "in stock" in another (e.g., North America).
• Customers only receive back-in-stock alerts when the product restocks at a location that serves their specific market.

What Changes on Downgrade

When you downgrade to a free or lower-tier plan, STOQ resets your settings to their defaults. This includes:

• Market-based inventory checking is turned off.
• Location filters are cleared.
• Inventory is now checked across all locations combined.

This means a product that had zero stock at European locations (triggering signups from European customers) but positive stock at North American locations is now treated as "in stock" — because the total across all locations is above zero.

Why Back-in-Stock Alerts Fire After Downgrade

Here is the sequence that causes unexpected alerts:

1. Before downgrade: A product is out of stock in Market A but in stock in Market B. Customers in Market A sign up for back-in-stock alerts.
2. You downgrade your plan.
3. STOQ resets to checking overall inventory (all locations combined).
4. The next inventory update webhook fires (even a small quantity change at any location).
5. STOQ sees the product now has stock above the minimum alert threshold (because it's counting all locations together).
6. Alerts fire to customers who were waiting for that product — even though nothing changed for their specific market.

What You Can Do

Depending on your needs, here are your options to resolve this situation.

Option 1: Re-Upgrade to Restore Per-Market Checking

The most complete fix is to upgrade back to a paid plan that includes market-based inventory.

1. Open the STOQ app from your Shopify admin.
2. Click Plans in the navigation menu.
3. Choose a paid plan (Standard or above).
4. After upgrading, go to Back in stock alerts > Settings.
5. Re-enable Multiple markets under your inventory setup.
6. Re-configure your market-to-location mappings.

Option 2: Stay on the Free Plan

If you choose to remain on the free plan, be aware of the following:

• Alerts will continue to use overall inventory (all locations combined).
• Customers in any market will receive alerts when the product reaches the minimum stock threshold at any location.
• You cannot filter alerts by specific markets or locations.

To minimize confusion:

1. Review your current signups under Back in stock alerts in STOQ.
2. Consider temporarily disabling alerts for products that are only in stock in certain markets.
3. Communicate with customers if they received an alert but the product is not available in their region.

Option 3: Use Location Filtering (Paid Plans)

If you operate from a single market but have multiple warehouse locations, location filtering (available on paid plans) can help. This lets you specify which locations count toward your stock checks without requiring full market-based setup.

1. After upgrading, go to Back in stock alerts > Settings.
2. Click on "Single market" > turn on Location based alerts.
3. Click on "See settings" and Select only the locations relevant to your customers.

Known Limitations

• Market-based inventory is a paid feature only — Free and Start plans cannot use per-market stock tracking.
• Settings reset on downgrade — When you downgrade, market settings, location filters, and other paid features are reset to defaults. They are not automatically restored on re-upgrade.
• Alerts cannot be recalled — Once a back-in-stock alert is sent, it cannot be unsent or retracted.
• Webhook-driven — Alerts fire based on Shopify inventory webhooks, which trigger on any inventory level change at any location.
• No selective market re-enable — You cannot re-enable market checking for alerts alone without upgrading your entire plan.

Troubleshooting

FAQs

Q: Why did my customers get alerts for products that aren't available in their country?

A: Market-based inventory checking is a paid feature. After downgrading, STOQ checks overall inventory across all locations. If the product has stock anywhere, alerts fire — regardless of which market the customer is in.

Q: Will my market settings come back if I upgrade again?

A: Your market-location mappings may still be saved in the system, but market-based checking will not automatically re-enable. After upgrading, go to your inventory settings and re-enable multiple markets manually.

Q: Can I prevent alerts from firing during a downgrade?

A: You can temporarily disable back-in-stock alerts before downgrading. Go to <strong>Back in stock alerts</strong> > <strong>Settings</strong> and turn off <strong>Enable alerts</strong>. Re-enable after downgrading if you want alerts to continue using overall inventory.

Q: Is there a way to send alerts only to customers in specific markets on the free plan?

A: No. Per-market alert filtering requires a paid plan with market-based inventory checking enabled. On the free plan, alerts are sent to all customers who signed up, regardless of their market.

Q: How quickly do alerts fire after a downgrade?

A: Alerts don't fire immediately on downgrade. They fire the next time Shopify sends an inventory level update webhook for a product that now appears "in stock" under the new (overall) inventory logic. This could happen within minutes or hours depending on inventory activity in your store.

Q: Can I get a refund for customers who received incorrect alerts?

A: STOQ cannot recall sent alerts. If customers purchased based on an alert but the product isn't available in their region, you'll need to handle this through your store's standard cancellation or refund process.

Updated on: 03/06/2026