Glossary: Order rules
Pre-order
A pre-order is an order for a product that has not been released or is not yet in stock, taken in advance and fulfilled on a later date. Wholesale sellers use pre-orders to gauge demand and to fund production before a season.
In detail
Wholesale runs on seasons. A brand shows a new collection months before it ships, retailers commit to quantities, and the brand then makes to order. A pre-order turns that commitment into a real order before production, so the brand can size the run and the buyer secures a place in the queue.
Set the terms up front: when the order window opens and closes, the ship date or date range, the minimum quantity per style or per order, and the payment. Payment can be in full, a deposit or nothing at order, with net terms counted from the ship date. State what happens on cancellation, for example that orders are final after the cutoff or that the buyer loses the deposit.
A pre-order differs from a backorder. A pre-order is for a product that has not launched, and a backorder is for a product you normally stock that is out for now. Both promise a later ship date, so the date and the policy must be clear to the buyer.
Wholesale pre-orders usually run through a line sheet or a private page, with a deposit and a pro forma invoice. Keep wholesale and retail pre-orders separate, so retail demand does not use up the stock set aside for your trade accounts.
Example
A candle brand opens autumn pre-orders for retailers from June 1 to June 30. Each order needs at least 24 units and a 30% deposit, with the balance due on Net 30 after the October 15 ship date.
On Shopify
Shopify describes pre-orders as customers purchasing or reserving items that are not ready for fulfillment yet and that you fulfill later. Its Help Center says you can collect full, partial or no payment when the order is placed, that you set pre-orders up by installing a pre-order app from the Shopify App Store, and that you must use Shopify Payments or PayPal Express. The page does not say how pre-orders work with B2B orders.
Source: Shopify Help Center: Pre-orders (read October 4, 2026).
In BSS B2B apps
BSS B2B Lock's secret link condition lets you share a private collection, such as a pre-order preview or line sheet, with anyone who holds the link, with no customer account needed. The link does not hide the page from search engines by itself. Most Lock rule targets need a paid plan, see the pricing page.
Related use cases
Learn more
Read the Order rules and terms hub for guides, use cases and setup docs, or the complete Shopify B2B guide.