1. What payment options can I offer customers for a preorder?
Dibs provides a payment option selector widget on the product page, allowing customers to choose from the payment options configured for the preorder.
Depending on your configuration, customers can choose:
- Full payment upfront (or)
- Partial payment / deposit
If a customer chooses partial payment, the remaining balance is collected later using one of the available balance-collection methods.
2. When is the payment made at checkout captured?
In most stores, Shopify is configured to automatically capture payments at checkout, in which case the applicable amount – the full payment or the initial deposit – is charged when the customer completes checkout.
If your Shopify payment settings use manual capture, the payment made at checkout is initially authorized rather than captured. You can then capture that authorized payment from the Shopify Orders dashboard within the authorization period supported by your payment provider, typically 7 days.
Important: This authorization period applies only to the checkout payment. It does not apply to the remaining balance of a partial-payment preorder.
3. If my preorder takes 30–90+ days to fulfill, what happens to the payment after the authorization period?
The payment authorization period applies only to the payment made at checkout. It does not determine how long the preorder can remain open or when the remaining balance needs to be collected.
For example, if a customer pays a deposit at checkout and the product will be ready in 60 days, the original checkout authorization does not need to remain active for those 60 days. The initial payment and the later balance payment are separate payment transactions.
For partial-payment preorders, Shopify securely vaults the payment method during checkout and establishes a payment mandate, which authorizes the merchant to initiate the applicable future balance payment.The later balance payment therefore does not depend on the original checkout authorization or its 7-day authorization period.
The saved payment method can subsequently be used for a supported balance payment as a separate Merchant-Initiated Transaction (MIT).
4. Can I use Shopify Admin's “Capture payments” action to collect the remaining balance for partially paid preorders in bulk?
No. The “Capture payments” option in Shopify Admin is specifically used to capture a payment that was authorized at checkout when manual payment capture is enabled. It applies to the initial payment - whether the customer is paying the full amount or the initial portion of a partial payment - and must be captured within the authorization period supported by the payment provider.
For a partial-payment preorder, the remaining balance is a separate payment and should not be collected using Shopify's “Capture payments” option. Using Shopify's bulk capture option for the balance can result in the order being marked as paid without actually charging the customer's remaining balance.
5. How can I collect the remaining balance for a partial-payment preorder?
For a partial-payment preorder, the initial payment is collected at checkout and the remaining balance needs to be collected separately when it becomes due. There are five options for handling the remaining balance, depending on your preferred payment and fulfillment workflow.
To understand these options and choose the one that best fits your workflow, see: Balance collection guide
6. Does the customer need to enter their card details again when the balance is collected?
Dibs does not receive or store the customer's full card details.
When the customer makes the initial partial payment through Shopify Checkout, Shopify securely vaults the payment method and establishes the required payment mandate. The saved payment method can then be used, where supported, to process the remaining balance as a separate Merchant-Initiated Transaction (MIT), without requiring the customer to re-enter their card information.
7. Does Dibs automatically collect the remaining balance when it becomes due?
Not currently. Dibs does not automatically charge the remaining balance when it becomes due. Automatic balance collection is on the Dibs roadmap.
8. Can the customer use a local payment gateway available on my store to pay the remaining balance through the payment reminder email?
Yes, customers can use a local payment gateway available on your store to pay the remaining balance through the payment reminder email.
Please note that the initial payment can only be collected through Shopify Payments or Stripe. However, the remaining balance can be paid using other payment gateways available on your store.
If you are using a payment gateway other than Shopify Payments or Stripe, we recommend testing the complete payment process to ensure everything works as expected.