Set up payment

Use this guide to choose how customers pay for a preorder, in full or as a deposit, and when you collect the remaining balance. By the end, customers will see the payment terms you chose on the product page and at checkout.

Before you begin

• Partial payment (a deposit) requires Shopify Payments and the Shopify purchase option turned on, because STOQ charges the customer’s saved card for the balance later. Without them, only full payment is available.
• Letting customers choose between full and partial payment, and collecting balances automatically, both require a paid plan.

Choose your setup

STOQ offers three payment types for a preorder offer:

• Full payment: the customer pays the full price at checkout, like a normal order. This is the default and needs no extra setup.
• Partial payment or deposit: the customer pays a deposit now and the remaining balance later.
• Full payment & partial payment: the offer shows both options at checkout and the customer chooses. Requires a paid plan.

If you offer partial payment, also choose how the remaining balance gets collected:

• Manually: available on all plans. You charge customers yourself from STOQ → Reports, in bulk or one at a time, whenever you’re ready. The balance due date is only what the customer sees; it doesn’t charge them on its own.
• Automatically: requires a paid plan. STOQ charges the customer’s saved card for you, either on the scheduled balance due date or when the order ships. Each method makes a single charge attempt per line item, with no automatic retry.

What customers will see

When Show payment & discount savings is enabled, the product page shows a payment-breakdown widget so customers see the terms before checkout.

Where	What appears
Product page	The widget shows your option title and description with the deposit and remaining balance filled in
Product page (Full payment & partial payment)	Two selectable radio options, each with its own title, description, and optional discount badge
Checkout	Only the deposit is charged; the balance is not
After purchase	The order is created with an outstanding balance and the saved card on file, so STOQ can charge the rest later

Exact placement and styling depend on your theme and where the app embed block sits.

Set it up

On a phone, this menu is collapsed. In the Shopify mobile app, tap the STOQ logo at the top of the screen to open it, then choose the section named below. There is no hamburger icon. See Finding the STOQ menu.

1. Open the Payment section

   1. In the left menu bar of the STOQ app, click Preorders.
   2. Click the Offers tab at the top.
   3. Click the offer you want to edit to open its Overview tab (this shows the Customize button, a live preview, and the offer’s Products section).
   4. Click Customize to open the offer editor.
   5. In the editor’s sidebar, click Payment.

   

   

   

2. Choose the payment type

   Select Full payment, Partial payment or deposit, or Full payment & partial payment. For full payment, save the offer here, you’re done. The remaining steps apply to partial payment.

   Caution

   The first time you select a partial-payment type in a browser session, STOQ shows a one-time reminder not to use Shopify’s Capture payments bulk action to collect balances. Click I understand to dismiss it.

   

   

3. Set the deposit

   Under Customers pay now, choose No upfront payment, or enter a percentage or fixed amount to charge at checkout, for example 10%.

   

4. Choose how to collect the balance

   1. Select I’ll collect it manually or Collect it automatically.
   2. Then pick On the scheduled date or When the order ships.

   See Choose your setup above for how these differ.

   

5. Set the balance due date

   Under Balance due date, choose A specific date or Days after checkout, for example 7. This is required for partial payments and is shown to the customer at checkout.

   

6. (Optional) Show the breakdown

   Under Display, enable Show payment & discount savings so customers see the deposit, the remaining balance, and any discount on the product page.

   

7. Save changes

   Click Save changes at the top right of the editor. Changes apply to orders placed after you save; existing orders keep their original terms.

   

Customize the payment widget

The default copy works out of the box, but you can adjust it from the Payment section:

Turning the widget on or off

Show payment & discount savings (under Display) controls whether the payment-breakdown block appears. It turns on automatically when you choose Partial payment or deposit or Full payment & partial payment. For a pure full-payment offer it defaults to off, and you can enable it yourself.

Title and description (single-option offers)

For Full payment or Partial payment or deposit, click Customize next to the Payment type selector to edit one title and one description.

1. Default title: “Full payment”, or “Reserve now, pay later” for a deposit.
2. Default description: “Pay the full price now”, or “Pay {{ payment }} now and the remaining will be charged when your product is shipped.”
3. Insertable variables: {{ payment }} (deposit paid now) and {{ remaining }} (balance due later).

Two-radio layout (Full payment & partial payment)

The widget renders two options side by side. Each option has its own title, description, and discount, set in the Full payment and Partial payment sections. Under Display, Show partial payment option first controls which radio is pre-selected when a customer lands on the page.

Discount badge text

When you add a percentage or fixed-amount discount to a payment option, a Customize link appears next to the Discount heading. It reveals a Badge field (one per option in the two-option layout) that supports the {{ discount }} variable, for example “Save {{ discount }}” becomes “Save 10%”.

STOQ and Shopify’s native preorders and deposits

Shopify has no built-in preorder switch or deposit setting. What it offers is selling plans (deferred purchase options), which an app has to create and manage. STOQ builds on them.

	STOQ	What this means
Deposit at checkout	Yes, with the Shopify purchase option on	Needs Shopify Payments. Other gateways get full payment only.
Balance later	STOQ charges the customer’s saved card	This is why the card has to be on Shopify Payments.
Online Store	Yes
Shopify POS	Yes, with the Add preorder to cart tile	POS collects full payment. No deposit at POS.
B2B	Yes, per offer	Full payment only.

If you read that “deposits only work with certain gateways” or “preorders aren’t possible on POS”, that describes Shopify’s own limits for selling plans in general. See Preorders on Shopify POS and Preorders on POS, B2B, and bundles.

Check your setup

Open a preorder product on your live storefront, add it to cart, and go to checkout. With partial payment you should see the deposit charged now and the remaining balance with its due date. Place a test order (a 100% discount code or Shopify’s Bogus Gateway avoids a real charge) and confirm it appears under STOQ → Reports → Preorders with the balance recorded.

Troubleshooting

Partial payment or deposit is unavailable

You need Shopify Payments and the Shopify purchase option turned on. Without them, only full payment works.

An order shows as paid but the customer's card was never charged

Someone likely used Shopify’s Capture payments bulk action to try to collect the balance. It marks the order paid without charging the card. Collect the balance from STOQ -> Reports -> Preorders instead. See Collect remaining preorder payments.

An automatic balance charge fails (declined, expired, or insufficient funds)

STOQ leaves the balance outstanding, notifies you, and emails the customer a link to pay. It doesn’t retry automatically. See When payment collection fails.

The payment breakdown widget isn't showing on the product page

Check that Show payment & discount savings is enabled under Display. It turns on automatically for partial payment offers, but defaults to off for a pure full-payment offer.

Limitations

Customizing the title and description text for each option in Full payment & partial payment requires a paid plan. Without it, the default copy is used.

FAQ

What's the difference between a deposit and No upfront payment?

A deposit charges a percentage or fixed amount at checkout, with the rest due later. No upfront payment charges nothing at checkout: the full amount is collected on the due date.

Does changing the payment type affect existing orders?

No. Changes apply only to orders placed after you save; orders already placed keep the payment terms they were created with.

What do customers see at checkout with a partial payment?

Only the deposit is charged at checkout. The remaining balance isn’t charged until you collect it manually or STOQ collects it automatically, depending on your setup.

Can I change the balance due date after orders are placed?

Yes, reschedule it for one order or in bulk. See Reschedule preorder payments. If automatic collection is on, the charge moves to the new date.

Can I switch from manual to automatic collection later?

Yes. Change it in the offer’s Payment section; the new setting applies to orders placed after you save.

Related guides

Set up preorder discountsOffer a percentage or fixed-amount discount on preorders.

Collect remaining preorder paymentsCharge balances and handle failed charges.

Choose a fulfillment setupDecide how preorder orders are held and shipped.

Which Shopify discounts work with preordersHow discount codes interact with preorder pricing.