How to handle failed payment collection on deferred payment for Shopify pre-orders?

Sometimes your customers' pre-order payments may fail to process during fulfillment for orders using Shopify deferred payment collection (pay-later pre-orders), and you'll need to collect payment from customers.

This help article explains why the payments can fail to process and what are the solutions to handle it. Keep in mind this article specifically covers deferred payment collection for pre-orders on Shopify. For Shopify pre-orders that collect full payment upfront, different processes apply.

Understanding Shopify's Deferred Payment for Pre-Orders

  • Payment is authorized when an order is placed; but payment is captured later at fulfillment
  • Customers aren't charged until you're ready to ship
  • Payment failures occur during the capture process (not when customers initially place the order)
  • Cards may be expired/canceled, or have insufficient funds between order placement and fulfillment

Solution

Step 1: Monitor Deferred Payment Status

Check for authorized but uncaptured payments:

  1. Go to Orders in your Shopify admin
  2. Filter orders to show authorized payments that haven't been captured
  3. Look for orders with "Action required" status
Shopify orders list showing multiple orders with partially paid payment status and unfulfilled fulfillment status
Your orders page will show "Partially paid" status for pre-orders where payment has been authorized but not yet captured.
Shopify orders filter interface showing
Use the "Payout: Action required" filter to quickly identify orders that need attention for payment capture issues. This helps you prioritize which customers need immediate follow-up.

Step 2: Check if Customer Notifications are Enabled

Shopify has native email templates for you to send to customers about payment capture failures:

  1. Go to Settings > Notifications > Customer Notifications > Payments in Shopify admin
  2. Enable relevant notifications:
    • Pending payment error - Sent when a deferred payment can't be processed
    • Payment reminder - Sent on or after the due date for payment capture
    • Payment error - General payment processing failures
Shopify notifications settings showing payment notification options including payment error, pending payment error, pending payment success, and payment reminder
In your Shopify Admin, go to Settings > Notifications > Customer Notifications > Payments to edit these email templates

Step 3: Check Payment Details and Error Codes

When a deferred payment fails during capture:

  1. Open the Order in Shopify admin
  2. Scroll to the bottom and look at the Activity Feed
  3. Click on the failed payment attempt to expand details
  4. Review the specific error (expired card, insufficient funds, canceled card, etc.)
Shopify payment transaction details showing order number, payment amount, card information, authorization key, gateway details, and success status
You can check the detailed transaction info by clicking on a payment activity in the order timeline

Step 4: Contact Customers Immediately

Critical for deferred payment pre-orders:

  • Contact customers within 24-48 hours of capture failure
  • Explain their pre-order is ready to ship but payment collection failed
  • Provide specific reason (if appropriate): "Your card ending in 1234 has expired"
  • Give clear deadline for updating payment information

Sample message: "Hi [Customer], your pre-order [Product] is ready to ship! However, we couldn't process payment with your saved card (expired/insufficient funds). Please update your payment method by [date] to avoid order cancellation."


Step 5: Update Customer Payment Methods

For failed deferred payments:

  1. Go to the Customer record in Shopify admin
  2. Click "Manage payment methods"
  3. Either:
    • Send link to customer: Click "Send link to update card" (Better for privacy)
    • Phone collection: Take new card details over the phone if it's urgent
Shopify manage payment methods dialog showing saved customer cards with options to send update link, replace card, or delete card
You can access each customer's payment methods through their customer profile, and use "Send link to update card" to let them update the info themselves.

Step 6: Retry Payment Capture

After updating the payment method:

  1. Return to the Order
  2. Click "Collect payment" to attempt capture with new payment method
  3. Monitor for successful capture before proceeding with fulfillment

Common Deferred Payment Failure Scenarios for Shopify Pre-orders

  1. Expired cards - These are the most common scenarios for long pre-order periods
  2. Insufficient funds - This happens when your customer's financial situation has changed
  3. Canceled cards - This is due to the bank having issued a new card due to fraud/loss
  4. Changed billing address - Your customer may have moved between order placed and fulfillment

How Can You Avoid These Deferred Payment Failures From Happening?

  • Payment method validation: Send reminders to customers to update their payment methods before pre-order fulfillment
  • Capture deferred payments sooner: Consider shortening the time between deposit and the remaining payment
  • Proactive customer communication: Regular pre-order updates about shipping progress
  • Backup payment methods: Allow customers to save multiple payment methods

When to Contact Early Bird Support

Let us know if:

  • Your deferred payment capture continues to fail after updating payment methods
  • You need help configuring payment capture timing
  • Your customers report issues updating their payment methods
  • You need assistance with bulk payment retry processes for deferred payments

Need help?

If you have any questions about the above, email us at support@shopside.com.au to see how we can help!

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