Create order without payment then send invoices later?

Shopify Discussion
1

Hi all!

I’d like to start my shopify store but I have one potential issue. I’m going to be selling large equipment and the pricing for shipping will vary quite a bit depending on the customers location. Due to this, I will need to take orders without payment then send a custom invoice to each client once I know the exact shipping cost. The cost of the goods will be the same for everyone however shipping will be different. I do not intend on making money from the shipping expense (disclaimer)

How do I go about doing this? From what I understand is that you can disable shopify payments but would this not disable the payments when sending out draft orders as well?

Thanks in advance!

2

Hello Patel,

The best way you create custom invoice, shopify provide custom invoice form here link.

Free Invoice Generator: Create an Invoice in Minutes (shopify.com)

This information is useful accept solution.

3

Why don’t you use a live shipping rate from a carrier to display the correct shipping rates during the checkout only? That would be a much better experience than sending an invoice later.

4

can we do this with DHL? and what app would you recommend to do that?

5

will this allow the users to submit an inquiry through a shopping cart as if they are purchasing?

6

Hello @patelhassanali ,

No no patel that’s not this you address. The shopify generate invoice form for any one this is not a part of shopify dashboard. I suggest you, you register your business to ups or fedex, then this problem has been solved.

7

DHL has an official app on the Shopify app store. You could try that.

8

Hi there! :waving_hand:

Great question—and totally understandable when you’re dealing with large equipment and variable shipping costs. Shopify’s native checkout isn’t ideal for this kind of setup, but there’s a workaround that works well.

I’d recommend using the Shopify invoice payment app.

Why it’s perfect for your use case:- Let customers place orders without paying immediately

You can capture their order info first, then calculate the actual shipping cost.

  • Send a custom invoice afterward.
    Once you know the shipping, you can send a tailored invoice that includes the final total—goods + shipping.

  • Ideal for high-value and B2B-style orders
    Especially when shipping varies, and you want to manually approve pricing before collecting payment.

And no worries—this method won’t interfere with your ability to send draft order invoices. You can keep Shopify Payments active and still use this to delay billing until you’re ready.

Hope that helps get you started smoothly! Let me know if you need a hand setting it up.