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Harbinger

Take pre-orders paid in full, on release, by deposit, or the customer's choice - in the same cart as in-stock items - and release them by themselves.

Harbinger turns any product, or any single variation, into a pre-order.

pre-orderpreorderwoocommercedepositbackorder
What it does

Inside Harbinger

Four ways to pay

in full today; nothing today and a payment link on release; a deposit today and the rest on release; or let the customer choose.

One cart

pre-orders and in-stock items check out together. Ship what is in stock now and each pre-order on its date, or everything together when the last arrives - or keep pre-orders on their own if you prefer.

A limit per product

"Only 3 pre-orders left", then "Pre-orders for this are full".

The date on the product page

"Pre-order: ships on November 20, 2026", or "release date to be announced".

Releases by itself

every hour it moves paid pre-orders on to Processing and emails a payment link for anything still due.

Date changes

move a release date and one button emails every customer who was told the old one.

Cancelling

let customers cancel from their account, or turn it off per product.

A health check of every pre-order: released but still waiting, over the limit, a date moved without telling customers, a cancelled pre-order not refunded, a payment link left unpaid, a deposit that is not a deposit, a date that never came.

What it needs

Before you start

WordPress 6.0 or newerPHP 7.4 or newerWorks with WooCommerce
Questions

Asked first

Does it charge the card automatically on release?

No. It emails a payment link for what is due, which works with every payment method. Charging a saved card automatically needs a payment method that stores cards for later; that is planned, not in 1.0.

Can one variation be a pre-order and the others not?

Yes. Each variation has its own Pre-order switch; leave it off to follow the product.

What happens to the stock count?

Nothing. Harbinger does not change WooCommerce stock; set the limit on the Pre-order tab.