Question 1

Do I have to edit my theme?

Accepted Answer

No. Install it from the Shopify App Store, switch the app embed on in the theme editor, and it appears on your product pages. You never touch theme code. The only time you repeat it is after switching themes — turn it on again in the new one.

Question 2

What's the difference between pre-order and made-to-order?

Accepted Answer

Pre-order takes orders now for stock that is on its way. Made-to-order holds no stock at all and makes each item after the order arrives. You choose per product, and made-to-order lets you follow each order through production and shipping.

Question 3

What happens to a product when it sells out?

Accepted Answer

You decide per product where it should switch to: restock alerts, pre-order or made-to-order. It changes over automatically, so you carry demand into the next delivery instead of going dark. When stock returns, it goes back to normal sale on its own.

Question 4

Does automatic stock-out switching need any setup first?

Accepted Answer

Shopify has to be tracking inventory for that product ("Track quantity" on the product). Products without tracking report a quantity of 0, so the rule would fire the moment you create it.

Question 5

Will it switch at exactly the time I set?

Accepted Answer

It can lag by up to five minutes, because phases are updated by a job that runs about every five minutes. Dates are also stored in your store's time zone, so check the time zone shown on the create screen against the clock you're working from.

Question 6

Can I collect email addresses before launch?

Accepted Answer

Yes. During the announcement phase the buy button becomes a sign-up form and addresses collect in the waitlist. The moment pre-order intake opens, everyone not yet contacted is notified automatically.

Question 7

Can I export the addresses I've collected?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Email address, product, variant, current phase, sign-up time, status and more come out together as a UTF-8 CSV, ready to use in a newsletter or any other campaign.

Question 8

How precise can purchase limits be?

Accepted Answer

Three caps — maximum per order, maximum per customer, and maximum number of orders per customer — set on a product or on individual variants. You can also require sign-in, restrict to customers carrying a given tag, or suspend sales entirely. Limits apply on the product page and again at checkout.

Question 9

How many notification emails are there, and are they multilingual?

Accepted Answer

Seven: pre-order confirmation, made-to-order confirmation, launch notice, restock notice, delay notice, shipping confirmation and cancellation. They cover nine languages and switch to the customer's language automatically. Subject and body are editable per language, and you can send yourself a test without creating a real order.

Question 10

What happens when a shipping date slips?

Accepted Answer

You change the ship date from Order progress and, when pushing it back, send a delay email with your reason attached. Several orders can be changed at once.

Question 11

Can I restrict payment methods on pre-orders and made-to-order?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Methods that amount to paying later, such as cash on delivery, can be hidden for those orders only. That keeps you from starting production or holding stock before the money is in.

Question 12

Can it work with the order system we already use?

Accepted Answer

Orders from SellRules are recorded as ordinary Shopify orders, so the order, inventory and logistics systems already connected to Shopify keep working exactly as before. There is no separate SellRules API.

Question 13

How much does it cost?

Accepted Answer

One plan: Launch, $7.99 USD a month, with every feature included. It comes with a 10-day free trial, and billing runs through the Shopify App Store's billing system.

Question 14

Am I charged anything if I cancel during the trial?

Accepted Answer

No. Uninstall within the 10-day free period and nothing is billed. There is no minimum term either, so you can cancel any time after that.

Question 15

What happens to my data if I uninstall?

Accepted Answer

Sales schedules, rules, the waitlist, the delivery log, email templates — that store's data is deleted. GDPR and CCPA deletion requests are supported too. If you want to keep the waitlist, export it as CSV first.

Question 16

Is there support?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Step-by-step instructions live in the user guide. If that doesn't settle it, write to us from the contact form inside SellRules in your Shopify admin, or from the contact page on this site.

Frequently asked questions