--- title: "Overview" description: "Sell before stock arrives, with flexible payment, fulfillment, and notifications." url: https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/ product: "Preorders" section: "Get started" last_updated: 2026-10-14 --- # Overview > Sell before stock arrives, with flexible payment, fulfillment, and notifications. STOQ **Preorders** lets you sell products before they're in stock by adding a **Preorder** button to out-of-stock (or in-stock) products. Customers buy today, pay in full or partially, and stay informed through automated notifications, so you capture demand instead of losing it to a "sold out" page. You manage everything from **Preorders** in the left menu of the STOQ app. If you're setting this up for the first time, start with [How to set up preorders](https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/set-up-preorders/). ## Before you begin Some preorder features are limited on the free plan. Automatic payment collection, bulk fulfillment actions, and Hold all fulfillments all require a **paid plan**. ## What do you want to do? Find your goal and jump straight to the right article. | I want to… | Start here | |---|---| | Sell a specific product (or a few) before it's back in stock | [Set up preorders](https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/set-up-preorders/) β†’ [Add products to an offer](https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/add-products-to-an-offer/) | | Automatically offer preorder on **all** out-of-stock products | [Preorder inventory settings](https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/preorder-inventory-settings/) (the All products type) | | Charge the **full** amount at checkout | [Set up payment](https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/set-up-payment-for-preorders/) | | Take a **deposit** now and collect the balance later | [Set up payment](https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/set-up-payment-for-preorders/) β†’ [Collect remaining payments](https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/collect-remaining-preorder-payments/) | | Control **when** preorders ship (now, on a date, or held) | [Choose a fulfillment setup](https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/choose-preorder-fulfillment-setup/) | | Run preorders **without** Shopify's purchase option | [Hold without the purchase option](https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/auto-hold-fulfillments-without-purchase-option/) | | Sell preorders on **Shopify POS** | [Preorders on Shopify POS](https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/preorders-on-shopify-pos/) | | Show the button on **collection / home / search / Quick Buy** pages | [Show the button on store pages](https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/show-preorder-button-on-store-pages/) | | Require customers to **accept preorder terms** | [Set order limits](https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/preorder-order-limits/) | | Offer a **discount** on preorders | [Preorder discounts](https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/preorder-discounts/) | The articles above get your offer live. Once orders come in, manage them elsewhere: [find and read preorder orders](https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/find-and-read-preorder-orders/), [collect remaining payments](https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/collect-remaining-preorder-payments/), and [handle failed charges](https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/preorder-payment-collection-fails/). Before you publish, [test your offer](https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/test-your-preorder-offer/); if the button doesn't show, see [Troubleshooting the Preorder button](https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/troubleshooting-preorder-button-display/). ## The four tabs The **Preorders** section has four tabs. | Tab | What it's for | |---|---| | **Overview** | An analytics dashboard: total sales, average order value, orders, preorder sales, unpaid and unfulfilled orders, plus revenue charts and a products-by-revenue table | | **Products** | The products in your offers, where you add or remove products from an offer and toggle **Continue selling when out of stock** | | **Offers** | Your preorder offers, each with a status (Enabled / Disabled / Scheduled), markets, products, and revenue | | **Settings** | Notifications, storefront Pages (the Preorder button), Integrations, and other options | ## Key concepts - **Offer**: the rule set you apply to products: button design, inventory, payment, shipping/fulfillment, schedule, markets, and more. A product becomes a preorder by being added to an offer. - **Continue selling when out of stock**: the Shopify setting that lets an out-of-stock product still be purchased. The Preorder button relies on it, so STOQ helps you turn it on when you add products to an offer. - **Fulfillment status**: when the preorder fulfills: Unfulfilled, ready to fulfill right away; Scheduled, on a specific date or a set number of days after purchase; or On hold, held until you release it. See [Choose a fulfillment setup](https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/choose-preorder-fulfillment-setup/). - **Payment**: full payment, a partial payment or deposit, or both. See [Set up payment for preorders](https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/set-up-payment-for-preorders/). - **Notifications**: automated emails/SMS: preorder confirmed, shipping update, and payment-collection-failed. Stuck on setup or have a question? Click the purple chat icon in the bottom-right corner of the app and choose **Ask Quinn**, STOQ's AI assistant. It can walk you through setting up an offer or answer questions about how Preorders works. See [Ask Quinn, your AI assistant](https://help.stoqapp.com/general/ask-quinn/). ## FAQ ### Can I use preorders for in-stock products too? Yes. An offer can apply to in-stock products (for example, to take a deposit or sell ahead of a launch), not just out-of-stock ones. ### What's the difference between a product and an offer? An offer is the configuration (payment, fulfillment, button, schedule). Products become preorders by being added to an offer. One offer can cover many products. ### Do customers know it's a preorder? Yes. The storefront shows a Preorder button, and you can display a shipping timeline and payment breakdown. Customers also get a preorder confirmation notification. ### Where do I see preorder orders and revenue? Preorder analytics are on the **Preorders** page's **Overview** tab; individual orders are under **Reports β†’ Preorders** (or open an offer from the **Offers** tab and use its **Orders** tab), where you collect payments and manage fulfillment. ## Related guides - [How to set up preorders](https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/set-up-preorders/): Create your first preorder offer step by step. - [Choose a fulfillment setup](https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/choose-preorder-fulfillment-setup/): Decide how preorder orders are held and shipped. - [Set up payment for preorders](https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/set-up-payment-for-preorders/): Full payment, deposits, and collecting the balance. - [Set up preorder discounts](https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/preorder-discounts/): Offer a discount on preorder products.