Pre-Orders in UltraCart

UltraCart allows you to accept pre-orders for items that will ship in the near future. This is useful if, for example, you are selling a product that will be released in 90 days but want to start taking orders today. When a customer places an order containing a pre-order item, the credit card is not processed immediately. Instead, the order information is collected and stored in a dedicated "pre-orders" section within order management.

Configuring an Item for Pre-Orders

To configure an item as a pre-order item, follow these steps:

Edit the item in your UltraCart account.
Navigate to the Shipping tab.
In the Basic Settings section, check the box for Pre-order.
Optionally, configure the ETA (YYYY-MM-DD) field with the date the pre-order item will be available for processing and shipment. This field is recommended.

Suggested Item Configuration

We recommend updating the pre-order item's Title (the item description displayed in the shopping cart and on the receipt) to include a reference to its pre-order status and expected ship date.

Note: Alternatively, or in addition to updating the title, you may also configure checkout terms for the item. This requires the customer to review the terms and select a checkbox agreeing to the pre-order terms before completing their purchase.

Pre-Orders and Payment Processing Gateway Configuration

Orders containing pre-order items are not processed in real-time. Your payment gateway may have rules requiring the Card Verification Value (CVV) number to process payments. To avoid issues, you may need to adjust your CVV rules with your credit card processing gateway service.

Tip: Typically, you should keep the "decline on mismatch" rule enabled but disable any additional rules that decline a transaction if the CVV number is "Missing" or "unavailable". This allows you to process payments for pre-orders without needing to contact the customer for their CVV number.

Processing Pre-orders

To access and manage pre-orders:

Operations → Order Management → Pre-Orders

You will see a list of all orders in the pre-orders section. Each order in the list displays the items it contains.

Note: If the items on an order are no longer marked as pre-order, the order will display in green and be marked as "releasable".

Releasing Pre-Orders

To release an order for processing:

Check the box next to the order ID.
Click the Release button.

You can also print invoices or copies of orders by clicking the associated buttons.

Updating Prices for Pre-Orders

The Update Prices tool is available in the pre-order section. This tool allows you to update the price of a single pre-ordered item or batch update prices for selected orders.

To update a price:

Select the order(s) you wish to update.
The current configured price of the item will appear in the cost field.
Change the amount in the cost field to the new price.
Click Update.

Individual Pre-Order Screen

Clicking on an order ID (the number, not the checkbox) will take you to the Pre-Order Editor. This screen is divided into three sections:

Order Section: Here you can edit customer information and/or items.
Pre-Order Section: Here you can Release or Reject the order.
Merchant Comments: Use this section to enter comments for later reference.

Note Regarding PayPal Payment Type and Pre-Order Configuration

Due to its "push" model of authorization, the PayPal payment type will bypass the Pre-Order holding area.

To temporarily disable the PayPal payment type for a pre-order item:

Navigate to the Other tab within the Item Editor.
Go to the Payment Method Settings section.
In the Restrictions table, set PayPal as Invalid For.