Advanced Pre-Orders for WooCommerce
Sell products before they arrive. Set an expected date, turn Add to basket into Pre-order, and carry that date through to the customer's order.
What it does
Taking money for something that is not on your shelf yet is the easy part. Doing it without anybody being misled about when it will arrive is the part that goes wrong.
Tick a box on a product, give it the date you expect it, and the button changes from Add to basket to Pre-order. That date follows the customer from your shop listings to the product page, into the basket, through checkout and onto the order they keep. Their order says it is awaiting release, rather than sitting there looking like a warehouse has lost it — and it says the same on your orders screen.
Dates read the way you were told them. A full day when your supplier has been precise, the month alone when they have not, and wording of your own for a pre-order with no date at all, rather than an awkward blank.
A basket that mixes a pre-order with something you could post today is refused, because the alternative is holding a parcel back for six weeks or paying to post two. Pro's mixed baskets setting allows it instead, and can ask the customer which they would rather have.
Pro is for shops working to an allocation, shipping one colour before another, or with enough pre-orders on the go to need a screen of their own. Cap what you will sell before it exists and it counts against the orders you already hold. Date each variation separately. Write to everyone waiting when a date moves. Release orders automatically on the morning the goods are due, charge for holding something ahead of release, or open a pre-order on a launch morning you choose.
See it in action
What Free includes
Free forever on WordPress.org.
- Pre-orders on any product, with the expected date your supplier gave you
- Add to basket becomes Pre-order, in whatever wording suits your shop
- The date shown in your listings, on the product, in the basket, at checkout and on the order
- Dates written in your site's own format, as a full day, or as the month alone
- Wording of your own for a pre-order your supplier has given you no date for
- Awaiting release, due and released shown on every order
- Marking a pre-order released, written into the order's own history
- Baskets mixing a pre-order with goods on the shelf refused, in wording you write, unless you turn on Pro's mixed baskets
- Both checkouts covered, the classic one and the blocks
- PayPal and the other one-tap buttons refused as well
- A shortcode, [apofw_message], for putting the basket message anywhere else
- Settings import and export, so a configuration can be copied to another shop or kept as a backup
- Checkout block and High-Performance Order Storage compatibility
What Pro adds
Everything in Free, plus all of the features below.
- A date of its own for each variation, so one colour can ship in October and another in January
- A cap on how many you will sell before the goods exist, counted against the orders you already hold
- A pre-order that opens on a morning you choose
- Pre-orders and goods on the shelf allowed in the same basket
- Sent in one parcel or two, decided by you or offered to the customer
- A charge on anything bought ahead of release: a fixed amount, or a percentage of the pre-ordered lines
- An email to everyone waiting when a date moves, whether it has slipped or come forward
- Orders marked released on their own the morning the goods are due
- One screen listing every pre-order, with how much of each allocation has gone, how many orders are waiting, and the dates movable from it
- Pre-orders switched on and off in bulk from your products list
- The line about waiting in your own colour, size and shape, with a calendar or clock beside it
Pricing
Every Pro plan is the same plugin with every feature. The only difference is how many sites you can run it on.
Free
The free plugin, free forever. Distributed through WordPress.org. No licence, no account.
$0
Get Freeon WordPress.org
Single site
One site, with a year of updates and support.
$69/year
Secure checkout. Cancel any time.
5 sites
Most popularUp to 5 sites, with a year of updates and support.
$139/year
Secure checkout. Cancel any time.
25 sites
Up to 25 sites, with a year of updates and support.
$279/year
Secure checkout. Cancel any time.
Need more than 25 sites? Get in touch about a custom licence.
Frequently asked questions
What happens when the date arrives?
The product goes back to selling normally and the expected date comes off. Orders already placed move from awaiting release to due, and you mark them released once the goods have gone. Pro can do that for you on the morning they are due.
What if I do not know the date yet?
Leave it blank. The product still sells as a pre-order, and the storefront says you will confirm a date rather than inventing one. Set the date later and the customer's order picks it up.
Can somebody buy a pre-order and something in stock together?
Not by default: the basket is refused, because the alternative is holding a parcel back for six weeks or paying to post two. Turning on mixed baskets in Pro allows it, and the customer can be asked whether they would rather wait for one parcel or have the part you can post now.
If a basket has both, when does it ship?
In Pro, whichever you decide: hold the whole order back for one parcel, send what you have now and the rest on release, or put the choice to the customer at checkout and let them pick.
Can each variation have its own date?
Yes, in Pro. Otherwise every variation takes the date on its product, which is right for a single release and wrong for a title coming out in three formats. Pro lets a variation keep its own, so the black one can ship in October and the red one in January.
Can I limit how many pre-orders I take?
Yes, in Pro. Set the number you are willing to sell and it counts against the orders you are still holding, so turning a cap on today works out where you already stand rather than starting from nought.
Can I charge extra for a pre-order?
Yes, in Pro. A fixed amount, or a percentage worked out from the pre-ordered lines alone so the rest of the basket is not charged for waiting. The customer reads it on the basket and at checkout, under wording of your own, before anybody pays.
What happens when a date moves?
In Pro, everyone still waiting gets an email, worded as an apology if it has slipped and as good news if it has come forward. Their order is updated to the new date and its history records that they were told.
Does it work with the block cart and checkout?
Yes. A basket that cannot go through is reported through the WooCommerce Store API, so the block cart and checkout refuse to proceed and show the same message. The one-tap payment buttons are refused too, so an order cannot be placed around the message.
Does the plugin contact PluginCity?
Yes, but only to check its licence and bring updates to your Plugins screen the way any other plugin does. Nothing else in it reaches out at all.
What happens if a Pro licence lapses?
Nothing is deleted. Your allocations, variation dates and charge settings stay saved. Caps stop being enforced, variations go back to the date on their product, and a basket mixing a pre-order with goods on the shelf is refused again — so nothing is sold that you have not agreed to sell.
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