Shop Pay Installments (SPI) becomes unavailable at POS checkout when any scanned item shows zero or negative inventory, even if the product is physically present. This occurs because Shopify’s system requires positive inventory counts for all items before enabling SPI as a payment option.
Core Issue:
Merchants experience delays between receiving new stock and updating inventory in Shopify, creating a gap where physically available products cannot be sold using installment payments.
Suggested Workarounds:
Manually adjust inventory levels before completing the transaction
Enable “Continue selling when out of stock” in product settings (if applicable)
Process sales through draft orders and manually record SPI payments
Current Status:
No official fix or timeline announced by Shopify. The limitation stems from SPI’s integration with Shopify Payments and stock validation designed to prevent overselling. Users are encouraged to submit feedback to Shopify Support to advocate for changes to this restriction.
Summarized with AI on November 1.
AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
We’d love to turn on Shop Pay Installments for our POS, however we ran into an issue that won’t let us use it. Lets say we scan 10 items, and one of those items shows Out Of Stock, Shopify will then gray out the option to use Shop Pay Installments. It doesn’t matter that we just physically scanned the product, we cannot use this payment method because inventory is not positive. Most of our inventory is correct, however when we receive new product there is a delay on when those products are added into Shopify inventory.
Does Shopify plan on fixing this? I’d imagine there are a lot of merchants who would love to turn on Shop Pay Installments, but cannot because Shopify won’t let them ring up these scenarios. We could use custom sales, however that will only make inventory discrepancies far worse.
I’ve read through your question carefully and completely understand the frustration you’re facing with Shop Pay Installments (SPI) being disabled when an item is out of stock, even though you physically have it in hand. This limitation can be a real headache, especially when there’s a lag in updating inventory after receiving new stock.
Why This Happens:
Shopify’s system requires all items in a transaction to have a positive inventory count for Shop Pay Installments to be available. This is because SPI is linked to Shopify Payments and relies on stock validation to prevent overselling. Even if the product is physically scanned, Shopify still references the inventory data in the system, which may not reflect real-time availability due to delays in updates.
**Possible Solutions:**1. Manually Adjust Inventory Before Checkout
If the delay in updating inventory is causing issues, one workaround is to manually update the inventory before processing the sale. You can quickly adjust the stock level in the Shopify POS app or the Shopify admin before finalizing the transaction.
Enable ‘Continue Selling When Out of Stock’ (If Applicable)
If your store setup allows, you can enable the “Continue selling when out of stock” option in the product settings. This won’t prevent SPI from being available, though it may not be ideal for all inventory types.
Use a Draft Order Instead
Another workaround is to create a draft order in Shopify and manually mark the payment as paid after completing the Shop Pay Installments transaction. This allows you to process the order without inventory restrictions affecting the payment method.
Will Shopify Fix This?
At the moment, Shopify hasn’t announced any updates regarding this restriction. However, you’re not alone—many merchants face similar issues, so it’s worth submitting feedback directly to Shopify Support or through the Shopify Community to push for improvements.
If you need any other assistance, feel free to ask, and I will try my best to support you.