How to take a deposit on Shopify and charge the balance later

If you sell made-to-order furniture, custom jewelry, guitars, bikes or anything with a long lead time, you probably want the customer to pay part of the price now and the rest later. Shopify can do this, but there are several ways to set it up, and they are not equally convenient.

Option 1: a separate "Deposit" product

The quickest workaround is to create a product called "Custom order deposit", price it at the deposit amount, and let the customer buy it. When the work is done you create a second order or send an invoice for the rest.

It works on day one, but you end up with two orders for one sale. You have to match them by hand, chase the second payment by email, and your reports show a deposit product instead of what you actually sold.

Option 2: draft orders and invoices

Many stores create a draft order, send an invoice for the deposit, and later send another invoice for the balance. This keeps the real product on the order, but every sale needs manual work, and the customer has to come back and pay a second time. Some never do.

Option 3: a deposit at checkout on one order

Shopify has a built-in way to split payment: deferred-payment selling plans. The customer sees "Due today" and "Due later" right at checkout, pays the deposit, and Shopify saves the card for the balance. It is still one order, with the real product on it.

Shopify does not let you switch this on from the admin by itself. You need an app that creates the plan and charges the balance when it is due.

Setting it up with Depozy

1. Create a payment plan: how much now (a percentage or a fixed amount) and when the rest is due (when you ship, after a number of days, or on a date).
2. Attach the plan to the products you sell on deposit.
3. Add the deposit block to your product page in the theme editor.

When the order ships (or on the date you chose), Depozy charges the saved card for the balance. If the charge fails, the customer gets a payment link, and you see the order under Outstanding balances.

Which option should you pick?

If you take one or two deposits a month, a deposit product is fine. If deposits are a regular part of your business, a deposit at checkout saves time on every order and you stop chasing second payments.

Depozy is free for up to 25 deposit orders a month, and paid plans are a flat monthly price with no percentage of your sales.