Create a draft order in Shopify for a pre-order
A customer wants to pre-order items that are not ready to ship yet. A draft order holds the pre-order: you build the order now, take a deposit, and collect the balance when the items ship. This tutorial takes one pre-order for Lena Brooks: three Heritage Jackets and two Trail Crew Tees, with a 20% deposit.
Written · Shopify admin, desktop steps · 5 minutes read
The worked example
| Customer | Lena Brooks |
| 3 × Heritage Jacket, $85.00 | $255.00 |
| 2 × Trail Crew Tee, $28.00 | $56.00 |
| Subtotal | $311.00 |
| Deposit, 20% | $62.20 |
| Balance due | $248.80 |
Download the pre-order record: pre-order-record.csv (96 bytes).
The lines for the pre-order, with the deposit and the balance due. The two line totals add to the $311.00 subtotal in the slip above.
1Open Drafts and create the order
From your Shopify admin, go to Orders, then Drafts, and click Create order. A new draft has no order information filled in, so you add every detail yourself. Tell the customer the ship date before you build the order, so the draft matches what they were promised.
2Add the three jackets
Click Product, search for the Heritage Jacket, select it, set the quantity to 3, and click Done. Three jackets at $85.00 is $255.00. The jackets are not in stock yet, so check the inventory shown in the product picker and note that this is a pre-order, not a shipment today.
3Add the two tees
Click Product again, search for the Trail Crew Tee, select it, set the quantity to 2, and click Done. Two tees at $28.00 is $56.00. The subtotal is now $311.00.
4Add the customer
Add Lena Brooks to the draft so the invoice goes to the right person and the tax is calculated for her address. You need her email address or phone number before you send the invoice. If you do not include contact details, the order confirmation cannot be sent.
5Set payment terms with a 20% deposit
In the Payment section, select Payment due later. From the Payment terms drop-down menu, select a payment term. Then click + Require deposit and enter 20%. The deposit is 20% of $311.00, or $62.20, and the customer pays it right after you send the invoice. The rest, $248.80, is due later. A deposit requirement on a draft order is available only on the Shopify Plus plan.
6Send the invoice and hold the order
Click Send invoice and add a short message with the ship date and the balance due. When the customer pays the deposit, the order payment status becomes Partially paid. Do not mark the draft as paid before the customer pays, or the invoice link will not work. When the jackets arrive, collect the $248.80 balance and fulfil the order.
The arithmetic
| Line | Quantity | Unit price | Line total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heritage Jacket | 3 | $85.00 | $255.00 |
| Trail Crew Tee | 2 | $28.00 | $56.00 |
| Subtotal | $311.00 | ||
| Deposit, 20% of $311.00 | $62.20 | ||
| Balance due | $248.80 |
The deposit is $62.20 and the balance due is $248.80. Together they are $311.00, which is the full subtotal of the pre-order.
Held at the counter
A deposit needs the Plus plan. A percentage deposit requirement on a draft order is available only on Shopify Plus. On other plans you cannot add one to the draft, so do not promise a deposit split until you have checked your plan.
Unreserved stock can sell out. If you do not reserve the jackets, they stay available to other customers. A slow payer can lose the stock while the draft sits unpaid. Reserve the items if the stock is low.
A draft left alone is deleted after a year. Draft orders created on or after 1 April 2025 are automatically deleted after one year of inactivity. Any edit resets the timer, so touch the draft or finish it before the year runs out.
Sources
- Creating B2B orders using draft orders — Shopify's help pages: draft orders for company customers, purchase order numbers, payment terms, deposit requirements, price locks, and local pickup.
- Creating draft orders — Shopify's help pages: the full create-draft steps, custom items, inventory warnings, reserving items, and the invoice, payment, and payment-terms options.