Reserve inventory on a draft order in Shopify
A buyer needs time to decide, and the stock should not sell to someone else while they think. Reserving inventory on a draft order holds the items for that draft alone. This tutorial reserves five Trail Crew Tees and three Summit Hoodies for a draft order, until 14 November 2026 at 5:00 pm.
Written · Shopify admin, desktop steps · 5 minutes read
The worked example
| Customer | Northgate Outfitters |
| 5 × Trail Crew Tee, $28.00 | $140.00 |
| 3 × Summit Hoodie, $45.00 | $135.00 |
| Reserved value | $275.00 |
| Tees available, before and after | 8, then 3 |
| Hoodies available, before and after | 5, then 2 |
| Reservation expires | 14 November 2026, 5:00 pm |
Download the reservation log: reserve-log.csv (95 bytes).
The lines reserved on the draft. The two line totals add to the $275.00 reserved value in the slip above.
1Open the draft and add the products
From your Shopify admin, go to Orders, then Drafts, and click the draft for Northgate Outfitters, or click Create order to create a new draft. Add five Trail Crew Tees at $28.00 and three Summit Hoodies at $45.00. The reserved value is $275.00. Before the reserve, eight tees and five hoodies are available.
2Open Reserve inventory
After adding your products to the draft order, click the menu and then Reserve inventory. To reserve an item, inventory tracking must be activated for that product. If tracking is off, the option is not there.
3Set the expiry date and time
Select the date and time when the reserve will expire: 14 November 2026 at 5:00 pm. The expiry is the deal: the buyer has until then to pay, and after then the stock goes back on sale. Pick a time you can keep, and tell the buyer the time in the invoice message.
4Save the reservation
Click Done, then save the draft order. When you Reserve inventory in a draft order, those inventory units are put in the Committed inventory state and cannot be purchased by other customers. The items that you reserve are dedicated to that particular draft order. The tees available drop from eight to three, and the hoodies available drop from five to two.
5Watch for the expiry
If the buyer pays before the expiry, the reserved units become the order and the draft converts. If the buyer does not pay, the reservation expires and the units return to Available. Check the draft on the expiry date: an expired reservation is not a sale, and the stock is free to sell again.
The arithmetic
| Line | Quantity | Unit price | Line total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trail Crew Tee | 5 | $28.00 | $140.00 |
| Summit Hoodie | 3 | $45.00 | $135.00 |
| Reserved value | $275.00 | ||
| Tees available, after reserve | 3 | ||
| Hoodies available, after reserve | 2 |
The reserved value is $275.00: $140.00 of tees plus $135.00 of hoodies. Eight tees less five reserved is three available, and five hoodies less three reserved is two available.
Held at the counter
Unreserved stock can sell out from under a draft. If you do not reserve items, the quantities stay in the Available inventory state and can be purchased by other customers. If a product with unreserved inventory in a draft order sells out, a warning displays in the draft order to let you know that the item has 0 units in stock.
A reserve needs inventory tracking on. To reserve an item, inventory tracking must be activated for that product. A product with tracking off cannot be reserved, so the draft cannot hold it.
A reserve is not a sale. Reserved units are Committed, not sold. No money has been taken and no order exists until the draft is paid. Do not count reserved stock as sold stock in your books.
Sources
- 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.