Creating draft orders

Use Draft orders for orders you prepare on behalf of a customer, such as requests received by phone, message, or in person. Build the items and costs, save the draft, then either ask the customer to pay through a checkout link or create an order with the appropriate recorded payment state.

An unsaved editor, a saved draft, an invoice link, and a completed order are different stages. Review the totals and stock settings before taking the action that moves to the next stage.

Open and find draft orders

1. Sign in as the owner or with Orders permission.
2. Open Draft orders under Orders in the sidebar.
3. Search by draft number or customer. When records exist, filter by Status or Created, and use Sort to change the Created order.
4. Open a row to review or continue it, or click Create order to start a new draft editor.

This is the actual demo list. No draft was created to populate it for the screenshot. Select any image to enlarge it.

Open is a saved draft still being prepared. Invoice sent indicates the invoice/payment-link stage; it does not prove payment. Completed means the draft was converted to an order. A completed editor is read-only and offers View order.

Add products or custom items

1. Click Create order.
2. In Summary, use Add product to open the product picker. Search, select the required variants, then click Add selected (count).
3. Use the Summary menu's Edit items to change unit prices or quantities and remove unwanted lines. Quantity is a whole number of at least 1; check each variant and SKU.
4. For a charge that is not a catalog variant, use Add custom item from the Summary menu. Enter Item name, Price, and Quantity, then click Add in that modal.
5. Review the calculated Summary before saving the draft.

This editor is unsaved. Opening or preparing it does not create an order or collect payment.

Adding the same catalog variant again increases its quantity rather than creating another independent line. Custom items are draft lines; adding one does not create a catalog product or give it tracked variant stock.

Edits in this modal update the local editor as you type. Apply closes it; closing it does not undo those local changes. Use the page's Save as draft action to persist the finished draft. The example was not saved.

Choose a customer, address, and note

Use Customer to search for and select an existing customer. Review the shipping address and choose the correct saved address where offered. If the customer has no saved address, use the customer page to add one before selecting it here.

Removing or changing the customer clears the selected shipping-address reference, so review it again afterward. Customer and address choices can change shipping-rate eligibility and calculated totals. A company customer's catalog pricing or tax-exempt status can also affect the Summary.

Use Note to add the order note and save it with the draft. The optional Message in the invoice modal is separate text for the outgoing invoice email.

You can prepare a draft without a customer. To send an order-confirmation email when converting manually, select a customer; to email an invoice, enter a valid recipient in the invoice modal.

Review discount, shipping, and tax

Use the Summary menu or cost-row actions to configure:

• Add discount: choose Percentage or Fixed amount, enter Value, and optionally add Reason for discount. Apply to return to the editor. Remove discount clears it locally until you save.
• Add shipping: choose an applicable store shipping rate or Custom and enter a shipping name and price. Customer shipping details are needed to look up address-based rates. If none apply, review the address or enter an appropriate custom shipping line.
• Tax: review the calculated tax and whether it is shown as included. It depends on the current draft details and store configuration; the displayed preview can change after choosing a customer or address.

The editor calculates totals while you work. Wait for calculation to finish and resolve Could not calculate the total before continuing. A total shown before selecting shipping or customer details may not be the final total.

Reserve stock and save the draft

Reserve items is off until you enable Hold stock for this draft's products. Enabling it suggests a date seven days ahead; review Reserve until and choose the date you need. The form holds through the end of the selected day.

This is a prepared, unsaved example. No stock hold was created for the screenshot.

1. Review items, customer/address, costs, note, and any reserve-until date.
2. Click Save as draft. At least one item is needed.
3. Reopen the saved draft to confirm the result. Later changes use the same save action.

Saving with a future reserve-until date holds the product stock for the draft. With the setting off, the draft does not hold stock merely because it exists. An expired date no longer holds the products; choose a new future date and save if they should be held again.

When the draft becomes an order, the order workflow takes over the hold. Custom items do not have a variant to reserve. For the stock figures, expiry behavior, and protected draft-order holds, see Managing inventory reservations.

Send an invoice or share a payment link

After saving the draft, the Summary offers Send invoice.

1. Review the saved items and costs, then click Send invoice. If the editor has pending changes, this action saves them before opening the modal; resolve any save error first.
2. Review To, Subject, and optional Message. To must be a valid email address; it starts with the selected customer's email where available.
3. Review the Product prices switch. On locks the product prices. Off lets product lines you have not manually repriced follow their current prices until payment. Custom or deliberately repriced lines keep their intended amounts.
4. Click Send invoice in the modal only when ready to email the customer a checkout payment link.

To share without sending this email, use Create link under Payment link, then Copy link. Creating the link is a saved action that prepares a checkout for the draft; copying a link does not itself send a message or collect payment.

The link reflects the draft's current saved contents. Editing a draft after sharing a link can change what the customer will pay for, including items, discounts, and shipping. Review and communicate material changes before asking the customer to pay. A Product prices lock does not freeze the entire draft against later merchant edits.

When the customer completes payment through the invoice checkout, the draft follows the conversion workflow and its order can be reviewed. Unpaid draft invoices belong here, rather than in Abandoned checkouts.

Convert a draft to an order manually

For a saved, editable draft with items, choose the action that matches what happened:

• Mark as paid: use only when payment was already collected outside the store, such as cash or bank transfer. The resulting order is recorded as paid. This button does not charge a payment card or initiate a transfer.
• Create with payment due: creates an order with payment still outstanding. Continue payment follow-up from the order page; do not use the paid option simply to finish the draft.

Review the confirmation. If a customer is selected, optionally enable Send an order confirmation email to the customer, then click Create order to confirm. Pending editor changes are saved as part of this flow before conversion.

After success, the admin opens the order. The draft becomes Completed and cannot be edited as a draft. Review the new order for fulfillment and subsequent payment actions; a paid order is not automatically a shipped order.

Delete an unneeded draft

Open a draft and use its details actions menu, or choose Delete from the list row menu. Review the confirmation before deleting. On the list, selecting rows also offers Delete for several drafts on that page.

Troubleshooting