Shopify recently removed the “Expected payment method” option from draft orders, preventing merchants from selecting payment methods like Cash on Delivery (COD) or Bank Transfer when creating orders with “Payment due later.”
Impact on workflows:
Merchants who process phone and B2B orders can no longer properly designate payment methods during draft order creation
The removal affects order confirmation emails and integration with accounting software
Selecting “Collect Payment” instead marks orders as paid immediately, which is illogical for COD transactions
Suspected cause: The issue appears linked to Shopify’s partial payments enhancement feature, though this connection isn’t confirmed.
Attempted workarounds: Support suggested reactivating payment methods as metafields, but this doesn’t resolve backend integration issues.
Current status: The problem has persisted for nearly a year with no official fix. Multiple merchants report significant operational disruptions, with some considering switching platforms. Users are requesting urgent restoration of this functionality from Shopify.
Summarized with AI on October 28.
AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
We receive some of our orders via phone, and some customers wish to pay with cash on delivery. Normally, we have created orders for them through the Shopify Admin zone - Draft Orders. We have set the desired products, name, and address of the customer. Then, we selected the option “Payment due later,” after which we were prompted to select the expected payment method (Bank Transfer or COD). This has worked like a charm until today. Now, we no longer get this option. I have contacted Shopify support, and they said that this feature was removed. I want to clarify this because I believe it must be an error. Why would Shopify remove this feature? By the way, when you select “Collect Payment” instead of “Payment due later,” you get the option to choose COD. But then, OBVIOUSLY, the order is marked as paid, which doesn’t make sense because how can an order that is COD be paid right away upon order creation time?
Again a new feature killing another. I wonder if the devs talk to the users before adding new features. I’m working on a new store and was looking into using the manual payment option and now it is gone on draft order input, I haven’t found a solution to replace that. Again someone will need to write a ‘paid app’ (if the api allows it) ?
@Shopify_77 please stop those radical changes that break our store flow.
The removal has significantly impacted our operational efficiency and, from what I understand, affects a wide range of Shopify users as well. Like many others, we heavily rely on the draft order process for managing phone and B2B orders. The ability to select a payment method at this stage is not just a convenience; it’s an absolute necessity for our workflow. The absence of this feature means Shopify does not recognize the payment option intended for each draft order. This lack of integration extends to the order confirmation emails and, crucially, to our connected accounting software, which is left without clear directives on processing these transactions.
After extensive conversations with support, I was advised to reactivate the payment methods as metafields in the draft order section. Unfortunately, this workaround does not address the underlying issue. While it may offer a semblance of a solution on the surface, it fails to establish the necessary connections in the backend. This oversight leaves us without a critical function, essential for accurately processing orders and managing our finances.
The removal of this feature is perplexing and, undoubtedly, has negatively impacted thousands of Shopify store owners. It complicates what should be a straightforward process, affecting not only the store’s operational flow but also the accuracy of financial management and reporting.
Therefore, I strongly urge @Shopify_77 to consider the significant implications of this decision and to promptly reinstate this crucial functionality. Ensuring that store owners can select and manage payment methods for draft orders directly within Shopify’s interface is vital for the smooth operation of our businesses.