How Try Before You Buy works
Shoppers check out with the Try Before You Buy option on products.
When the order is placed, an authorization is placed on the shopper's card for the TryNow order.
The merchant ships inventory to the shopper, just like a typical order.
The shopper tries items at home and decides what they would like to keep or return.
After any returns are accepted, the shopper's card is charged only for the items kept. This charge occurs after the trial.
Key Topics
How can I identify TryNow orders in my reporting?
All TryNow orders are tagged with "TryNow"
TryNow items within an order have selling plan names that contain "Try Before You Buy"
What are the order statuses of TryNow orders?
When TryNow orders are placed, the payment status is "Authorized" for fully TryNow orders and "Partially Paid" for mixed cart orders, consisting of buy now and TryNow items. Our system places an authorization on the shopper's card and the shopper is not yet charged for the order. Typical buy now orders would have status "Paid" as their payment status.
Once TryNow orders are captured and closed out, then the payment status transitions to "Paid."
There is no difference in how fulfillment statuses work between TryNow and buy now orders.
How do TryNow orders appear in Shopify reporting?
You can filter for in-progress TryNow orders by filtering for Payment Status = "Authorized" or "Partially Paid".
In Shopify Analytics reporting, there is no difference in how gross sales, refunds, and net sales are reported for TryNow orders vs. buy now orders. For example, a $100 TryNow order at the time the order is placed is recorded as $100 in gross sales. When a return occurs, there is a corresponding refund line in Shopify Analytics.
How do the shopper payments work for TryNow orders?
Shopper payments are still processed entirely through Shopify Payments. The shopper goes through the same Shopify checkout as they normally would.
How are Shopify Payments fees handled with TryNow orders?
Shopify deducts their fees based on the captured amount on the authorization. Therefore, TryNow merchants benefit from some cost savings, since on typical buy now orders, Shopify charges their fees based on the gross order total, even if there are subsequent refunds. For TryNow orders, Shopify's fees are based on the captured amount, which is the net order value, and Shopify fees are not charged on returned items.
How do the payouts work for TryNow orders?
Payouts are still processed through Shopify Payments in the same way as your typical buy now orders.
Where can I find app charge details? Where is this tracked / logged?
You can find this in a few places:
App charges can be found in your Shopify bills. To locate these charges, go to Shopify settings, select the Billing tab, and apply any necessary filters. You can then export all billing charges and filter by app to find the specific charges for TryNow. Shopify has more detailed documentation here.
You can also find a report of TryNow app charges in your TryNow portal by navigating to Billing > Transactions. You can easily filter and export a report.
In Merchant Portal, when you search for an order, you will see events in the timeline for our app's charges. You will see a $0.99 charge when the order is created and later on a 2.99% charge when the order is captured post-trial.
What happens if a shopper cancels their card while a TryNow order is in progress / is authorized?
Our system always ensures that there is a valid authorization on a card throughout a shopper's trial. Any pending authorizations go through even if a card is canceled.
Are chargebacks handled any differently for TryNow orders?
The merchant is still responsible for the chargeback process. Our customers have not reported any difference in chargeback rates when comparing TryNow orders vs. buy now orders.
Note that chargebacks can only be placed on paid amounts. Since TryNow orders have an authorization and not a payment throughout the trial, shoppers cannot raise chargebacks during a trial. Once a shopper's card has been charged after a trial has ended, only then can a shopper place a chargeback.