Collect remaining balances on partial-payment preorders (Essential Preorder app)
This article explains how to charge the remaining balance on preorders that were paid with a deposit, in bulk from the app or automatically with Shopify Flow, and what the result statuses mean. It is for shop owners who use Partial payment on a preorder campaign.
Background on deposits and how orders look in Shopify is in Managing Preorder Partial Payments.
Before you start
- Partial payments and balance collection work with Shopify Payments only.
- Collecting payments from the app needs the Lite plan or higher. On the Free plan the button reads Upgrade to Lite plan.
- Do not use Shopify’s bulk Capture payments in the Shopify order list. It marks the orders as paid without charging and removes the customer data needed to collect the balance later.
- Only orders whose payment status is Partially paid or Payment pending can be charged. Others are skipped.
Collect in bulk from the app
- Open Preorder in the app and go to the Preorders tab.
- Use the Partially paid tab, the search box or the campaign filter to find the orders.
- Tick the orders, or leave them unticked to act on the whole filtered list.
- Open the actions menu and choose Collect payments for N selected or Collect payments for all Partially paid.
- In the Collect payments window, check the summary of how many preorders will be charged.
- Optional: tick If payment collection fails, send invoice to customers. Shopify then emails an invoice to each customer whose card could not be charged, so they can pay the balance themselves. The invoice email is Shopify’s own. Customise it under Shopify admin → Settings → Notifications.
- Click Collect payments. You will see Payment collection has started.
If this is your first time, start with one or two orders to confirm everything works.
How the charge works
Payments are processed by Shopify. The app asks Shopify to charge each selected order using the payment method the customer saved at checkout. The app never sees or stores card details. If a charge succeeds, the order becomes Paid in Shopify. If it fails, the order stays Partially paid.
The results email
When the run finishes, the app emails your store’s contact email with one line per order. You can also download the results as a CSV from the Preorders tab afterwards.
| Status | Meaning | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Paid | The balance was charged. | Nothing. Fulfil as normal. |
| Failed | Shopify could not charge the saved payment method. The reason is in the note (declined, expired card, no saved method). | Ask the customer to update their card, or send an invoice from the Shopify order page. |
| Invoice Sent | The charge failed and you had ticked the invoice option, so Shopify emailed the customer an invoice. | Wait for the customer to pay. The order updates when they do. |
| Failed to send invoice | The charge failed and the invoice could not be sent either. | Send the invoice manually from the Shopify order page. |
| Skipped | The order was not Partially paid or Payment pending, so there was nothing to collect. | Nothing. |
Collect automatically with Shopify Flow
The app adds a Flow action, Collect preorder balance now, with the same invoice option, and a trigger, Preorder payment failed. Use them to charge balances on a date or when stock arrives, and to alert your team about failures. Details and example workflows in Shopify Flow triggers and actions.
Customers can update their card
The Cancel order button in the preorder confirmation email opens a page where the customer can also change the payment method saved for the balance. If a charge failed because a card expired, point the customer there. See Preorder emails.
Common questions
Does the app remind customers before the balance is due?
No. The app sends no reminder emails. Use the Shopify Flow trigger Preorder placed plus Shopify’s Wait step and an email action if you want reminders.
Can I collect from one order only?
Yes. Tick one order in the Preorders tab, or open the order in Shopify and use Shopify’s own Collect payment on the order page.
The balance date on the order passed and nothing happened.
The app does not charge automatically on that date. Collection runs when you start it from the Preorders tab or from a Flow workflow.
Still stuck?
Contact support from the app with the order numbers and the status shown in your results email.