Learn how to launch a try before you buy campaign on products using deposits and payment authorization with Downpay on your Shopify online store.

On this page:

• Overview: How Try Before You Buy Works
• Considerations for running TBYB
• Setup: Creating a Trial Program
• Launching & Managing Orders
• - Launching the campaign
• - Fulfillment
• - Payment collection and returns
• FAQs

Overview: How Try Before You Buy Works

Try before you buy is a selling strategy that allows customers to try products for a limited time before being charged. It is most common for apparel (sizing), cosmetics (color testing), or high-consideration products like mattresses.

Instead of charging customers upfront, you place an authorization hold on their card at checkout. This hold can be captured if the items aren’t returned.

Considerations for running TBYB

When should I consider running a try before you buy program?

Try before you buy have been quite successful online as they let customers build a stronger relationship to your brand. However, managing a program comes with added operational complexity and risk (failed captures, long return windows, high logistics overhead). While some Downpay customers use the app for TBYB programs, we generally recommend this approach for larger businesses with a development team, established return processes, warehouse capacity, and fraud mitigation strategies.

If you’d like priority support, advisory services, and access to the Downpay API when setting up a TBYB program, this is available exclusively on the Scale and Custom plans. Assistance for TBYB on lower plans is limited to self service options like this guide and email support.

Can I guarantee that I’m able to collect the remaining balance from customers?

No, there is no absolute guarantee unless the remaining balance is authorized before shipping. Authorizations place a hold on the customer’s card, which ensures the balance can be captured later.

However, authorization windows are limited and vary based on your Shopify plan and the payment method used. For example, most Shopify plans allow 7-day holds, while Shopify Plus with certain gateways may allow up to 30 days, with some payment methods only up to 10 days.

We strongly recommend always authorizing the balance before fulfilling or shipping orders. This ensures the funds are reserved and reduces your risk of uncollected payments.

If you choose not to authorize in advance, you accept the risk that the card may decline, expire, or have insufficient funds when you attempt to collect later. In that case, Downpay cannot guarantee you’ll be able to capture the balance.

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Setup: Creating a Trial Program

The main steps for setup are:

1. Creating a purchase option, setting the deposit amount to collect at checkout, setting the due date for it to be returned, and assigning all eligible products
2. Creating a Shopify Flow workflow to authorize incoming orders before they are fulfilled
3. Creating a Shopify Flow for email notifications to ensure customers are aware of the steps in their trial

Create the purchase option in Downpay

Before creating a purchase option, it's important to decide one of two workflows for your trial program.

Option 1. Setting up a deposit on the product you wish to offer as a trial

Pros: Requires just Downpay to get started

Cons: Shipping charges for partially paid products are not charge at checkout. This is a Shopify checkout limitation that can only be avoided if another product in the cart is added as a pay in full or you can offer a free gift.

Option 2. Setting up a trial product with it's respective cost and a second security deposit product with 0$ due at checkout and a deferred balance.

Pros: Shipping will be charged at checkout

Cons: Requires more advanced setup with another app and displays a second line item product for the security deposit

Setting up option 1

Set up a $0 deposit option with a due date that matches your trial length. Assign all eligible trial products to this purchase option. You may also choose to charge a a nominal deposit instead of $0.

Setting up option 2

You can follow our Cart Bot Integration guide for this option.

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Create Shopify Flow authorization workflow

As mentioned in the overview, we recommend authorizing orders before shipping them out to reduce risk on being able to capture the remaining balance.

Install a Flow to automatically authorize payments when orders are created.

Trigger: [Shopify] Order created

Condition: [Flow] Wait 10 seconds

Action: [Downpay] Authorize remaining payment

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Temporary authorization to see if the card is valid

If you won't want to have an authorization and instead assume risk for your trial program but improve hte user experience, you may have to temporariry attempt an authorization to ensure the card is valid.

Adjust language on your store

Adapt checkout text and emails so customers clearly understand trial terms.

• Checkout due later language
• Email notifications

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Set up email notifications

You may wish to send notifications to your customers at various periods of their trial. With Downpay's integration with Shopify Flow you can use due date triggers to send invoices with extra information.. This can also be done with email apps for example our Flow Shopify Email integration guide.

Test your campaign by enabling the Downpay block on your theme

Follow the Downpay theme install guide to install Downpay blocks on your product and cart page and make any necessary content changes to suit your campaign.

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Managing Orders

Fulfillment

Be default, fulfillments are marked On Hold when using the Downpay payment due date type: Days after checkout. For try before you buy, this isn't very useful and it is recommended to release the On Hold fulfillments manually or with a Shopify Flow workflow to save time. We've provided one below.

Once the order holds are release, you may proceed with fulfillment as usual.

Payment collection and returns

If you've enabled the 2 Shopify Flow workflows, automatic payment authorization and automatic fulfillment hold release, try before you buy orders will appear in Shopify like this example:

In this section, we will discuss various scenarios depending on what a customer decides to keep and return.

Customer keeps all items

In this scenario, simply use the capture payment button to collect the balance owed.

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Customers keep some items

Alternatively, you may wish to work with your development team to create a custom return portal.

1. Toggle quantity of the right line item you wish you return, set a reason and return label url or tracking. Click Create return

Customers will receive a Return created email notification with the return label.

2. Once a return has been created, the remaining balance of the order will be adjusted to calculate only for the items left in the order. The payment authorization will still be active for the full amount of the previous remaining balance.

3. Once the product has been received, you may use the restock button to complete the return.

4. Now you may capture the remaining balance left on the order using the capture payment button and entering in the cost found under the Balance line. In this case, $99.30.

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Customers keep no items

If customers choose to return all products, simply follow the workflow for Customers keep some items.

One all items have been returned, if you do not want to refund the amount that was paid for the trial, use the Close return option found on the return section of the order page to close out the return.

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FAQs

How can I limit the number of trial products in a cart?

Use an order-limiting app such as AOD - Order Limits (Min-Max).

Can customers use a portal to tell me which items are kept?

We do not have this feature at this time however you may choose to build your own.

What if a capture fails?

Use “Collect payment” to retry. Success depends on card validity and funds.

Can I charge restocking fees?

Yes, this can be built into your return policy and checkout language.

Can customers self-report which items they’re keeping?

Not currently. Customers must contact you to begin the return.

Can I restrict trials to certain customers or regions?

Yes, it is possible to conditionally display Downpay deposits to only select customers or regions.

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Updated on: 06/09/2025