Pre-Order

[MELSHH]

I am wanting to know how to add a product as a 'pre-order'. I am wanting customers to be able to select and pay for an item but the items isn't in stock yet, it is being 'pre-ordered', how do I do this?
My site is www.melaniesholistichealing.com

Thank you

[PatClay]

Settings:
Admin, Configuration, Stock, Allow Checkout, true
Will allow people to purchase a product which is out of stock.

There is a plugin called "Ceon Back In Stock Notifications" which allows people to sign up to be emailed when a product is back.

[mc12345678]

An alternative option is to set the number available to a known ridiculous quantity until the item is truly in stock making the description of the product clear that it is a pre-order...

Really a pre-order is nothing more than selling the product when the product is not physically available. The hard part comes from having to track the sales for later when the product arrives as all the pre-orders need to find their appropriate destination.

What is special or the concern about trying to setup pre-order status for your product?

[MELSHH]

An alternative option is to set the number available to a known ridiculous quantity until the item is truly in stock making the description of the product clear that it is a pre-order...

Really a pre-order is nothing more than selling the product when the product is not physically available. The hard part comes from having to track the sales for later when the product arrives as all the pre-orders need to find their appropriate destination.

What is special or the concern about trying to setup pre-order status for your product?

I actually have done this. Set up normal products but made it known in the description that they are pre-orders only. I've just noticed though, that it shows people that they are in stock and shows the quantity. This is really what I wanted changed. I don't want any stock to show but I can't find how to delete 'availability'.

[mc12345678]

Do you want to remove quantity availability from just these pre-order products or all products?

In the end it would require a sql statement to modify, but you could setup the presale product as product type document-general where the quantities available are hidden for document-general product type, then when the product does come into availability it can be changed over to a product-general product type using a sql command in tools->install sql patches.

Or you could code to exclude display of the product quantity availability for particular products or products in particular categories. Or you could use css to visually hide the available quantity (html through view source would still have the available quantity present.)

The sql command to change the product type of the product having products_id=5 back to product-general is:

UPDATE products set products_type = 1 WHERE products_id = 5;

[mc12345678]

To change the current product (assuming already setup and the reason for this question) to the document-general product type, a similar sql command would be run:

UPDATE products set products_type = 3 WHERE products_id = 5;

[MELSHH]

I just need the products in the 'pre-order' section to not have the availability showing. The rest of the products throughout the site can stay with stock showing.

[mc12345678]

I just need the products in the 'pre-order' section to not have the availability showing. The rest of the products throughout the site can stay with stock showing.

Okay, then any of the above suggestions could be implemented to accomodate that goal. It depends mostly on the knowledge of the individual, the ability to follow instructions and/or maintain notes, the acceptance of the "result, and/or the frequency/repeatability of doing this type of setup/modification.

The method easiest at the moment for someone with admin access only (non-ftp) is the change to/from product types. A product type can be edited to not display (and to also not provide meta-tag info) the available quantity: catalog->product types->edit layout modify the settings for the product type in question.

[MELSHH]

Thank you!!!! Very much appreciated. Has helped a lot.

[lucidlee]

Hi I've got a similar problem but an inverse intent.

I'm converting a website to zencart that sells just two or three products. The main product is renewed annually and the (loyal) client base is used to ordering at the beginning of the year and waiting six to nine months for delivery - no, not a baby ;-). Part of the ordering process includes taking credit card details that are then emailed to the fulfilment house which holds onto them until delivery time and then initiates the transaction. Clearly this is not best practice.

What I'm looking for is to take orders but not credit card details and then when delivery is imminent email the customer with the order and the account login details and suggest they come back and complete the payment. I don't think zen cart has a concept of suspended payment as such, but thought a Purchase Order plugin would be a partial solution. The challenge is to avoid the account creation process as the clients are not good at managing passwords etc. I'm particularly keen to avoid complicating their life by introducing a multipage ordering process where a single page email form has until now sufficed.

Any suggestions?