How do I test a pre-order before going live?

Updated November 2, 2026 · SMART Preorder & Back in stock (E-TRADE PARTNER)

Turn on Shopify Payments test mode, activate a campaign on one product, check its product page, then check out with Shopify's test card. Within a minute the order should be on the app's Orders tab with the "Pre-order" tag, and the confirmation email should arrive. For a deposit campaign, click Collect balance on the order to test the balance charge.

1. Prepare

1. Turn on Shopify Payments test mode: in Shopify admin go to Settings > Payments, click Manage in the Shopify Payments section, select Enable test mode and save (Shopify Help Center). Shopify needs Shopify Payments set up and a paid plan for this, and while test mode is on, customers can't place real orders.
2. Pick one product to test with. For When the product is out of stock, make sure Track quantity is on and set one variant's stock to 0.
3. Create the campaign (see Set up a pre-order campaign) and click Activate. If the app embed is off, the activation dialog walks you through turning it on.

2. Check the product page

• Open the product in your store, ideally in a private window. The sold-out variant should show the Pre-order button with your text (default "Pre-order now") and the delivery message under it. A deposit campaign also shows the payment line, such as "Pay $50.00 now, $50.00 due Dec 1, 2026".
• Buy it now and express checkout buttons are hidden on that variant. That's expected.
• An in-stock variant on a "When the product is out of stock" campaign still shows Add to cart. Also expected.
• After your first activation, the app asks Do you see the Pre-order button? If you don't, No, get help opens a support chat, and Pre-order button not showing has the checklist.

3. Place the order

1. Add the variant to the cart. The cart shows the purchase option name (default "Pre-order") and the line "Delivery: ...".
2. Go through the regular checkout. Pay with the test card 4242 4242 4242 4242, any future expiry date, any 3-digit security code and a name of at least two words. Test purchases must be worth more than the equivalent of $1 USD.
3. For a deposit, checkout shows what's due today and when the rest will be charged.

4. Check what happened

5. Test the balance and a cancellation

• Balance: open the order in the app and click Collect balance. Shopify charges the saved test card and shows the order as paid right away. The app shows Charging until its next check, within 15 minutes, then Paid. To test the automatic charge instead, use Change balance date to move it to tomorrow and check the order the next afternoon.
• A failed balance can't be simulated: Shopify Payments test mode checks the card at checkout, so a declining test card is refused there. How balance charges work explains what happens on a real failure.
• Cancellation: cancel the order in Shopify admin, or as the customer use Cancel pre-order in the customer account or the cancel link in the confirmation email. The app marks the order Cancelled within seconds and won't charge a balance.

6. Test the emails

On each email's page in Settings > Pre-order emails, Send test email sends a copy with sample data to your store's own email address, up to 10 a day. To see a real shipping update, place a test order with your own email address and send the update from the order page.

7. Clean up

• Turn Shopify Payments test mode off, so real payments are captured again.
• Cancel the test orders. Don't fulfill them: Shopify charges you for any shipping labels you buy.
• Deactivate or delete the test campaign. The app puts the variants' Continue selling setting back.
• Set the test variant's stock back to its real number.

Frequently asked questions