Sell a product before it's finished. Collect payments today, deliver on release day. Useful for book launches, courses you're still recording, or any product where you want to validate demand (and bank some early revenue) before doing the final polish.
Who can use it
Pre-orders aren't on every plan, and they're not a fit for every product type.
- ✓Creator plan or higher. Starter and Growth don't include pre-orders.
- ✓Supported product types: Ebooks, Courses, Playbooks, Templates, Systems, Webinars.
- ✓Not supported: Coaching, Communities, Services. (They're ongoing relationships, not single-delivery products — pre-order doesn't fit.)
How to set it up
Setting up a pre-order takes a minute.
- ✓Go to Create a new product in your dashboard.
- ✓Pick one of the supported categories (e.g. Ebook).
- ✓Fill in the basics: title, description, cover image, price.
- ✓Toggle 'Sell as pre-order' on — you'll see it just above the Enhancement steps.
- ✓Pick your release date — must be at least 24 hours from now.
- ✓(Optional) Add a short note for buyers, e.g. 'Early-bird price for the first 50 buyers. Book launches August 15.'
- ✓Publish. You don't need to upload the final files yet — that's the whole point.
What buyers see
Buyers always know they're pre-ordering — nothing about the purchase looks like a regular sale.
- ✓A green PRE-ORDER badge with your release date on the product page.
- ✓The buy button reads 'Pre-order Now' instead of 'Enroll' / 'Get Ebook' / etc.
- ✓After payment, their receipt email confirms the pre-order and tells them when they'll get access — no download links yet.
- ✓On their order page, a banner reminds them when release day is.
How you get paid
This is the important part: pre-order money is held until you release the product. You can't withdraw it before then. Why? It protects buyers from creators who collect pre-orders and disappear. You'll see those earnings on your dashboard as held — they don't count toward your available balance. The moment you release, the money flips to available and you can withdraw it like any other sale.
Releasing your product
You have two options for getting buyers their access on release day.
- ✓Option 1 — Release it yourself: When you're ready, go to Edit product. You'll see a Pre-order Management panel with a 'Release now' button. One click and every buyer gets an email with their access link, files become downloadable on their order page, and held earnings unlock to your available balance.
- ✓Option 2 — Let us do it automatically: Each day at 8 AM UTC, we check for pre-orders that have hit their release date. If you've uploaded the final files, we release them for you — buyers get the same email and access.
- ✓If you haven't uploaded the files yet, we hold off rather than send buyers an empty package. Better a day late than broken.
If you need to cancel
Plans change. If you can't deliver, use the 'Cancel & refund all' button on the same Pre-order Management panel. One click does everything:
- ✓Every buyer is automatically refunded the full amount via Paystack.
- ✓They get an email letting them know the refund is on the way.
- ✓The product is pulled from your store so no one else can buy.
- ✓You receive no money — the whole thing reverses cleanly.
Questions
Can I change the release date after publishing?
Not directly. If you need to push it, cancel the pre-order and recreate the product with the new date.
Can I turn an existing product into a pre-order?
No — the pre-order toggle is only available when you create a new product. If you want to convert, duplicate the product and add pre-order to the new copy.
What if I downgrade my plan after creating a pre-order?
The pre-order keeps running. You can still release or cancel it — buyer commitments outlive subscription changes. You just can't create new pre-orders from a lower tier.
Can I see who pre-ordered?
Yes. Pre-order sales appear in your dashboard's Sales list with a PRE-ORDER tag. You can view individual orders and see the buyer's details just like any other sale.
Does the platform fee apply differently?
No. Standard platform + Paystack fees apply at purchase, same as a regular sale. You just receive the money later.
What if Paystack fails to refund a buyer when I cancel?
We surface that in the cancel response with the affected order numbers. Contact support and we'll work with Paystack to push the refund through manually.
Still stuck? Reply to any SkillsPad email and we'll help you out.
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