--- title: "Frequently asked questions" description: "24 answers about SMART Preorder & Back in stock." url: "https://smart-preorder.com/faq" product: "SMART Preorder & Back in stock" --- # Frequently asked questions 24 answers about SMART Preorder & Back in stock. ## Pre-orders ### How do I start taking pre-orders? In the app, go to Pre-orders and click Create campaign. Choose the products (Specific products, Collections or All products), when the Pre-order button shows, and how customers pay, then create the campaign and activate it. A new campaign starts inactive, so shoppers don't see it until you activate it. The app embed must be on in your theme for the button to show. [Set up a pre-order campaign](https://smart-preorder.com/help/preorders/set-up-a-preorder-campaign.md) ### When does the Pre-order button show? You choose per campaign: When the product is out of stock (the default: shoppers buy as usual until a variant sells out), Always, Only while the product is in stock, or Coming soon, which shows a Coming soon button until the start date and then makes every purchase a pre-order. [Choose products for a campaign](https://smart-preorder.com/help/preorders/choose-products-for-a-campaign.md) ### Does the app change my inventory settings? Only with Allow purchases while out of stock on, which is recommended. Then the app turns on Shopify's Continue selling when out of stock for the campaign's variants while the campaign is live, and puts each variant's own setting back once no live campaign covers it. [Choose products for a campaign](https://smart-preorder.com/help/preorders/choose-products-for-a-campaign.md) ### Can I limit how many units I pre-sell? Yes. Set a unit limit for the whole campaign or for each variant (0 means unlimited). The Pre-order button hides once the limit is reached, and checkout refuses a cart with more units than are left. Limits count units, not orders, and there's no per-customer limit. [Pre-order limits](https://smart-preorder.com/help/preorders/preorder-limits.md) ### Can customers buy pre-order and in-stock items in one cart? You choose per campaign under Mixed carts: Allow, Allow but warn on the product page, or Block, which makes shoppers check out pre-order and in-stock items separately. The app never splits one checkout into two orders. [Mixed carts](https://smart-preorder.com/help/preorders/mixed-carts.md) ## Deposits and balances ### How do deposits work? Set the campaign's payment to Deposit and pick Percentage of the price or Fixed amount per item. The customer pays the deposit at checkout, Shopify saves their payment method, and the app charges the balance a set number of days after checkout, when you fulfill the order, or on a set date. A 0% deposit charges nothing today and collects the full amount later. [Take a deposit and charge the balance later](https://smart-preorder.com/help/preorders/take-a-deposit-charge-balance-later.md) ### Which payment gateways support deposits? Shopify supports deposits and pay-later pre-orders with Shopify Payments, PayPal Express, Adyen, and Stripe for some merchants. Local payment methods can't be used for pre-orders, and express checkout buttons are hidden on pre-order products. [How balance charges work](https://smart-preorder.com/help/preorders/how-balance-charges-work.md) ### What happens if a balance charge fails? The app tries again on your schedule in Settings > Deposits and cancellations: 3 attempts in total, 3 days apart, by default. When all attempts fail, it either emails the customer a payment link (the default) or cancels the order and refunds the deposit, which it does only if nothing has shipped. [How balance charges work](https://smart-preorder.com/help/preorders/how-balance-charges-work.md) ### Can I charge a balance early? Yes. In Pre-orders > Orders, use Collect balance on an order, or on several at once. Don't use Shopify's Capture payment for deposit orders: in bulk it can mark them as paid without charging the card. [Manage pre-order orders](https://smart-preorder.com/help/preorders/manage-preorder-orders.md) ### Can customers cancel their own pre-order? Yes, by default. With Let customers cancel pre-orders that haven't shipped on, customers cancel from their account or from the link in their pre-order emails and get a full refund to their original payment method. Turn it off in Settings > Deposits and cancellations. [Manage pre-order orders](https://smart-preorder.com/help/preorders/manage-preorder-orders.md) ## Back in stock ### When does the Notify me button show? On product pages, once back in stock is active and the app embed is on, for a selected variant that's sold out: it tracks quantity and is at 0 or less, or Shopify says it can't be sold. It doesn't show while Shopify still sells the variant through a pre-order or Continue selling, unless you turn on Also show on pre-order products. [Set up the Notify me button](https://smart-preorder.com/help/back-in-stock/set-up-notify-me.md) ### I restocked a product. Why didn't anyone get an email? The back in stock email goes out when the Back in stock email is active, the available stock at locations that fulfill online orders reaches your Minimum quantity, and the product is active and on your online store. It also waits while your store has used today's back in stock emails or sending is paused. [Back in stock emails](https://smart-preorder.com/help/back-in-stock/restock-alert-emails.md) ### Does opening a pre-order email the waitlist? No. A pre-order turns on Continue selling, which isn't stock, so the waitlist isn't emailed. To tell them, use Send to all waiting on the product in Back in stock > Signups. [Back in stock signups](https://smart-preorder.com/help/back-in-stock/waitlist-signups.md) ### Can I import my waitlist from another app? Yes. Use Import CSV on the Signups tab with a file that has an email column and a variant ID, SKU or product link column, up to 2,000 rows a file. Imported shoppers are emailed after the product sells out and comes back. CSV import opens once your store has 10 paid orders in the last 90 days. [Back in stock signups](https://smart-preorder.com/help/back-in-stock/waitlist-signups.md) ### How many back in stock emails can I send a day? It depends on your store's level, from 10 a day for development and trial stores to 20,000 for Shopify Plus and large stores. Only back in stock emails count; order emails never do. Contact us if you need more. [Plans and limits](https://smart-preorder.com/help/general/plans-and-limits.md) ### Can back in stock emails come from my own email address? Yes. In Settings > Email sender, connect an address on your own domain and add the DNS records the app shows. Until it's verified, emails go out from no-reply@alerts.smart-preorder.com with your store name as the sender name. [Sender address and deliverability](https://smart-preorder.com/help/back-in-stock/sender-address-and-deliverability.md) ## Payment rules ### What can payment customizations do? They hide payment methods (specific ones, ones matching a name, or all), show only the ones you pick, move a method to the top, bottom or a set position, sort them by name, and rename them at checkout, when your conditions match: for example cart total, products, collections or tags, customer tags, shipping country or delivery method. [Hide payment methods](https://smart-preorder.com/help/payment-rules/hide-payment-methods.md) ### Can I hide or rename credit cards in the United States or Canada? Not unless you're on Shopify Plus. Shopify limits payment customizations in the United States and Canada to payment methods other than credit cards. [Hide payment methods](https://smart-preorder.com/help/payment-rules/hide-payment-methods.md) ### How many payment customizations can be active? Shopify allows up to 25 active payment customization functions per store, counting every app. [Payment rule recipes](https://smart-preorder.com/help/payment-rules/payment-rule-recipes.md) ### I used Hide & Sort Payments. Do I need to reinstall? No. It's the same app with a new name, and your payment rules keep running at checkout, now under Payment customizations. Don't uninstall: that removes them. Pre-orders and back in stock are optional and stay off until you set them up. [Hide payment methods](https://smart-preorder.com/help/payment-rules/hide-payment-methods.md) ## Setup and support ### Is the app free? Yes. SMART Preorder & Back in stock is free on the Shopify App Store, with no paid plans. Pre-orders, deposits, back in stock, payment customizations and support are there for every store. The limits that apply are a daily back in stock email allowance by store level and Shopify's own platform rules. [Plans and limits](https://smart-preorder.com/help/general/plans-and-limits.md) ### Why don't I see the Pre-order or Notify me button on my store? Most often the app embed is off. On the app's Home, click Activate on the App embed card and save in the theme editor. A newly published theme starts with app embeds off. Also check that the campaign or back in stock is active and the variant matches its rules. [Turn on the app embed](https://smart-preorder.com/help/general/enable-the-app-embed.md) ### What happens if I uninstall? The app stops at once: no balance charges, hold releases, back in stock emails or payment customizations, and it deletes its data for your store. Your Shopify orders stay, and Shopify deletes the app's selling plans 48 hours later. Collect balances, release holds and export your lists first. [Uninstalling and your data](https://smart-preorder.com/help/general/uninstall-and-data.md) ### How do I get help? Chat with us in the app (the link at the bottom of every page) or email support@etradepartner.io. Include your store's myshopify.com address and a link or screenshot of what you see. [Get support](https://smart-preorder.com/help/general/get-support.md)