Hello Team
We would like make out-of-stock products available on pre-order. Our program in the back-end is uphance, which is connected to our shopify online shop and controls stock. So far we had make the incoming products/stock accessible that we could order pre-order pieces on the shopify onlineshop. Is there another way ? is it possible to order pre-order pieces without providing stock already because there is non ?
Hey @ElenaKaarina ! Generally, yes you can sell preorders without adding stock. You’ll need to do 2 things - enable ‘Continue selling when out of stock’ and then install a Preorders app on Shopify App Store.
I wasn’t able to find information specific to Uphance through a quick Google search, but some merchants we work with use inventory management platforms similar to Uphance and they are able to sell preorders.
Hi @ElenaKaarina ,
This is Theodore from PageFly - Shopify Page Builder App.
You can definitely offer pre-orders for out-of-stock products in Shopify, even with Uphance managing your inventory. Here’s how:
Shopify Setup:
Uphance Integration:
Benefits of Pre-Orders:
Best regards,
Theodore | PageFly
Hey Elena!
The basic way to try and emulate pre-orders through Shopify have been discussed (setting “Continue selling when out of stock” on the product, and maybe editing the product description), but it’s not clear these products are currently out of stock, and that the fulfillment/shipping time may be increased (or maybe has a specific restock date).
I’ve actually just launched a pre-order and back-order app, Early Bird, which I built to manage this sort of thing specifically, and it allows you to schedule pre-order campaigns, offer partial payments (collect deposit upfront, auto-collect rest later), native discounts, mixed cart purchases and a bunch more.
Sounds like you might be a great fit for it. It also has a 100% free plan (we don’t charge commission fees!) if you wanted to try it out and see if it works for your needs. Let me know if you have any questions or wanted help with onboarding or anything! Hope we can help, thanks!
PS: Here’s some screenshots of the app in action - we aimed to make it feel as native to Shopify as possible:
Hi,
Shopify’s got you covered with the Continue selling when out of stock setting. Find it under Products → select your product → Inventory section. You’ll see a checkbox for each variant - tick it, save, and customers can place orders even at zero stock. That works independently of Uphance or any other inventory system you’re syncing with. The official inventory documentation explains the mechanics.
The limitation here: your storefront won’t automatically communicate that it’s a pre-order. The button still says “Add to cart,” and there’s no visual badge or estimated delivery date unless you manually add that info to your product copy. You’ll also need to repeat this process for every variant that should accept pre-orders.
Let me know if you need help with the manual setup.
Yauheni
Hi @ElenaKaarina ,
Yeah, you can enable pre-orders without holding stock by overriding Shopify’s inventory settings. Mark the product as “Continue selling when out of stock” and show a “Pre-Order” label or message optionally. Tools such as Pre‑Order Manager or Pre‑Product also allow you to automate messaging, handle cut‑off dates, and integrate with Uphance for fulfillment once stock arrives.
This allows customers to buy before the store has stock, if you want to take pre-orders, but still keep your order tracking and notifications in order.
