What is a preorder?
For information on non-apparel preorders, please see our Help Center article Preorders.
A preorder is an order placed for a style before it has been produced, with the understanding that it will be shipped later. Preorders are placed on collections that are offered during a defined buying period, and ship months after the order date. Often, preorders have to hit order minimums for factories to go into production.
You can set product style listings as preorders within the Product Editor, Bulk Uploader, and Bulk Editor in your Brand Portal. Product styles that don't fall under the preorder selling model outlined above shouldn't be listed as preorders on Faire. Backorders and made-to-order aren't preorders.
- Backorders are created when an in-stock style is temporarily marked as out-of-stock on an order. For more information on backorders, visit Setting out-of-stock or discontinues items
- Made-to-order orders are received and then produced, often in small batches or one-off production and year-round, with a lead time of anything from a few days to several weeks.
How do I set up a preorder item?
- To create your preorder product listing, navigate to the Products tab in your portal. You can either add a new product or edit an existing one.
- To add a new product listing, select the Add Products button in the top right-hand corner and select Add Single Product. You will need to add a product name and product type.
- To edit an existing listing, select the product that you want to make a preorder.
- To bulk edit multiple product listings, select the products you want to convert to preorder and select the Bulk Edit link. You will need to select the Add Fields button and select Preorder.
- Navigate to the Availability section to indicate to retailers whether your listing is a preorder that will ship in the future or in-stock and available to ship now.
- Select Preorder for future delivery.
- Enter your expected Start ship date. This is the date you expect to ship the product. By default, the Deadline to order date will be listed as the start ship date. Once this date has passed, the preorder listing will automatically deactivate.
- [Optional] If you expect to ship the product over a period of time, you can enter an End ship date to create an expected ship window.
- Check the box if you would like to continue selling the product after the start ship date. If you select this option, the Deadline to order date will disappear.
- [Optional] Enter a Units in Stock value if you have a limited number of units available for preorder. You may leave this field blank if you are accepting an unlimited number of preorders. If you enter a “0” value and do not select the checkbox to Continue selling when out of stock, your preorder will be out of stock and unavailable to order.
- If your preorder product comes in multiple variations (i.e. color, pattern, etc.), you can choose to have the availability be the same across variations or assign different ship dates to each variation.
- To keep availability the same across all variations: Make sure the Same across sizes and colors toggle in the top right-hand corner is on. This toggle is on by default.
- To offer different ship dates across variations: Turn the Same across sizes and colors toggle off, and add the ship date for each variation.
Why am I getting an error message?
Error: Product preorder details cannot be changed due to unconfirmed invoice #XXXX
- This means you have a pending invoice that includes this product. Please go to the Invoicing tab and search for the invoice number. Products included on an unconfirmed invoice cannot be updated. To get the invoice confirmed, send a reminder for the invoice or reach out to the retailer directly for more information. If you do not need this invoice, you can select delete. This will allow you to change the product availability.
Error: Cannot backorder a preorderable product/ Product that is pre-orderable cannot be back-ordered
- This means your product option was marked as unavailable, which prompted it to go out of stock. To set the product option as a preorder, you will need to first mark the product as in stock by clicking Mark as In Stock. This will allow you to list the product option as a preorder.
Can I limit who can purchase my preorders?
If you are concerned about who can see and ship your preorder items, you have the ability to sell preorders to qualified retailers only. This setting is the default setting and is already toggled on in your Shop settings tab. Qualified retailers are those who have met Faire’s wholesale buying requirements or are on your Faire customer list. With this toggle on, only these retailers will be able to view your preorder items. For more information on qualified retailers, visit How am I notified of new orders?
Can I bulk upload and edit preorders?
Yes! If you would like to add preorder products in bulk to your shop, you can add these listings to your shop using the Bulk upload tool in your portal. You can edit preorders using the Bulk Edit tool.
Adding preorders in bulk
Go to the Bulk Upload tab in your portal. Select the Download button where it says Only adding new preorders? under Step 1. The below sections must be filled out in the Bulk upload template to create a preorder product:
- Preorder (Y/N)
- Ship By Date (YYYY-MM-DD)
- Ship By End Date (if range, YYYY-MM-DD)
- Order By Date (YYYY-MM-DD)
- Sell After Order By/Ship Date (Y/N)
For more information about each section that must be filled out to create a preorder, follow these instructions:
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Ship By Date (YYYY-MM-DD) |
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Ship By End Date (if range, YYYY-MM-DD) |
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Order By Date (YYYY-MM-DD) |
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Sell After Order By/Ship Date (Y/N) |
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Once the template has been filled in with all of your product details, you can move on to Step 2 in your portal and upload your complete spreadsheet. Once you select Submit you will receive an email confirmation that the upload is complete. To learn more about the Bulk Upload process, you can reference How do I add products using the Bulk Uploader?
Editing preorders in bulk
Once you're in the Bulk Edit tool, follow the steps below:
- Select + Add fields
- Select Preorder In the Product settings section
- Now you’ll be able to view and edit preorder settings using the Bulk Editor:
- Enable or disable preorderability
- Ship date (required)
- Order by date (optional)
To learn more about the Bulk Editor, you can reference How do I edit products using the Bulk Editor?
How will preorders appear in my account?
When a retailer places an order that includes both available-to-ship and preorder products, the order will be split into separate orders based on the product's expected ship date.
How do I accept or cancel a preorder?
To accept a preorder, follow the same process as accepting an available-to-ship order. To find new preorders, look for the New Wholesale Order email that was sent to you, select View Order or log into your Faire account, go to My Orders, or select the new order.
You can accept the preorder by selecting the Accept Preorder button on the order page. You’re able to update the expected ship date as needed, as we realize these orders are often fulfilled several months after the preorder is placed. Preorders that are not accepted within 30 days are auto-canceled.
At the start of your ship window, you will receive reminders to input the estimated ship date. You can input your estimated ship date on the order page. If for some reason there is going to be a delay in shipment or you would like to change the estimated ship date again you can select a date outside of your original ship window to communicate this new ship date to the retailer. Your retailers will be automatically notified that their order is processing. Preorders that are not fulfilled 30 days past the expected shipping date will auto-cancel in the system per Faire's cancellation policy.
To cancel the order, select the Cancel Order button on the right side of the fulfillment page. This will automatically notify the retailer that their order has been canceled and will not be fulfilled.
How do I edit a preorder?
The Edit Order function lets you:
- Change the shipping address
- Adjust items quantities
- Add or adjust promotions
- Add and remove items
To edit an order, follow the steps below:
- Select the order that you wish to edit from your Orders page.
- From the order fulfillment page, select Edit Order
- Add preorder products by selecting Add Product
- In the search bar, type in the name of the preorder product you would like to add, then select the product.
- Once your edits are complete, select Update to save and leave an optional note for the retailer. Your retailer will get notified via email of the changes made to their order.
How do I split a preorder?
Splitting a preorder allows you to partition an existing preorder into two orders to easily account for changes on some of the preorder products in an unfulfilled order. When you split a preorder, you specify the quantities of product you’d like to move from the original preorder into a new preorder.
All the order details, including the shipping address and expected ship date, will stay the same. The new order will have a unique brand order number while, for retailers, it will remain under the existing order number. Once you’ve created the new order, you can adjust order details as needed, and your retailers get notified via email of changes made.
- To initiate a split, go to the Orders tab in your portal and select the order that you want to split.
- Select the Split Order button on the right-hand side of the page.
- A pop-up screen will appear showing all the products in the order and the number of each individual product that was ordered. There will be two columns called “Original” and “New Order.” You can either input the number of products you want to move over to the new order or you can select the Move all checkbox to quickly move all units over to the second order. Please note, you can’t move all products that existed in the original order into the new order.
- Once you have made all the desired changes, select the Create New Order button.
- An order summary page will appear. You can either select the Go to order link on that page to view each order or you can exit that page and go back to the now updated original order.
- If you select the new order, you can update the expected shipping date immediately on the new order in the top left pane or make any other changes to order details using the Edit function on the right side of the screen. Your retailers get notified via email of changes made to the order.
How do I write a preorder for my retailers?
To write a preorder for your retailers, go to the Invoicing tab and select Create order.
If you are adding preorder styles with various ship dates, the invoice will split into multiple orders based on the ship date when the retailer accepts the invoice. Similarly, if you add available to ship styles and preorders, they will split into separate orders after the retailer confirms the invoice.
Once you’ve added all the products to the order, you will be able to Save draft. You can then email the invoice to the retailer by selecting Email invoice.
Note, you can’t have non-preorder listings and preorder listings in the same order due to different ship dates. The first product you list will determine what “Ship Date” option is chosen, whether it's: Ship now, Scheduled Ship Date or Preorder. (I.e. Adding a preorder listing first, will automatically select "Set future ship date" as the ship date.)
For more information on how to write orders and preorders through Faire, visit How to write your invoices through Faire.
When will I be paid for preorders?
Payouts work the same as regular order payouts. You will be paid based on your terms of payout according to the order's ship date. For more details visit What are my options for payouts?