# Paying when it's released - Preorderline 1.x documentation

> Let customers place a pre-order without paying, and send them a payment link when it's released.

> [!NOTE]
> This is part of **Preorderline Pro**.

With Preorderline alone, customers pay for a pre-order at checkout. Preorderline Pro lets them pay when the product is released instead: nothing is charged now, and when you release the pre-order they get a link to pay with any of your payment methods.

## Switch it on

For every product, go to **WooCommerce → Settings → Products → Pre-orders** and set **Customers pay** to **When it's released**.

For one product, open its **Pre-order** tab and set **Customers pay** to **When it's released**. The default, **Store default**, follows the store-wide setting. A variation can have its own, or follow its product.

![The store-wide Pre-orders settings with Pro's](https://storage.extendiment.com/media/1020/screenshot-5-8064c560.png)

## At checkout

The cart shows **Payment: When it's released** under each such item. At checkout, customers get a payment method called **Pay when it's released**, with the description "Pay nothing today. We'll email you a payment link when your pre-order is ready to ship." They can still pay now with any other method if they prefer.

![Pay when it's released at checkout](https://storage.extendiment.com/media/1021/screenshot-1-abe398a3.png)

Pre-orders paid on release are checked out on their own: a cart can't mix them with products paid now. Customers who try are asked to check out the items in their cart first.

The payment method's title and description can be changed under **WooCommerce → Settings → Payments → Pay when a pre-order is released**, where you can also switch it off, or switch off the saved-card option (see **Saved cards charged on release**).

## While it waits

- The order is placed without payment and waits as **Pre-ordered**, with the stock taken.
- The customer gets **Pre-order received**, saying they pay when it's released and get a payment link then. Your **New order** email is sent as usual.
- Packboard's cards say **Pays on release**.
- Customers can cancel it themselves from **My Account → Orders**, as long as it's unpaid. Its stock goes back.

## On release

When you release it (by hand or automatically), the order moves to **Pending payment** and the customer gets **Pre-order ready to pay**, with a **Pay for your order** button. The notice on their order in My Account says so too, with a **Pay now** button.

The stock stays reserved while they pay: WooCommerce normally puts a pending order's stock back, but not for a released pre-order. WooCommerce's clean-up of unpaid orders leaves it alone too, so it isn't cancelled after a few minutes.

Once paid, the order moves to Processing and ships like any order. If the customer never pays, cancel the order and its stock goes back.

## Emails

| Email | Sent when |
|---|---|
| **Pre-order received** | The order is placed (says how they'll pay) |
| **Pre-order ready to pay** | It's released, with the payment link |

Edit or switch them off under **WooCommerce → Settings → Emails**.

Source: https://extendiment.com/plugins/preorderline/docs/1.x/pay-when-released