Preorders: configure and verify one product

Preorders applies to selected products when stock is exactly zero. Start with one controlled product and read the package README before offering it to customers.

Set the product terms

Open the product's admin settings, set stock to zero and enable the preorder option. Choose full payment, a percentage deposit or a fixed deposit. Add a delivery message that describes what you can reasonably commit to.

Fixed deposit numbers are interpreted in the checkout currency. For a multi-currency catalog, a percentage deposit can avoid confusing the same numeric deposit with different currency amounts.

Inspect a customer order

Use an ordinary customer account to check the product label, selected plan, optional addons and amount due now. For a deposit, distinguish that first payment from the full quoted amount.

Confirm the resulting preorder stays pending and unprovisioned after its initial payment. A receipt should not promise that out-of-stock inventory is already available.

Review staff release

The staff fulfillment action is a separate inventory decision. It verifies the required initial payment before release. If a balance remains, release creates the balance invoice and provisions immediately; it does not wait for that balance payment.

Use this policy only if it matches how you intend to deliver services. Do not click fulfillment merely to test whether a payment arrived.

Check the final state

Verify the service quantity, balance amount and start of the first service period. Paying the balance must not add another renewal period. Repeated fulfillment should be refused.

Related: Preorder buyer checklist. Keep the compatibility and installation instructions from the downloaded package with your deployment records.