If your store holds payments instead of taking them at checkout, Tacey can leave each payment on hold while your customer can still edit the order. A change that lowers the total then moves no money at all: there is nothing to refund. When the window closes, Tacey takes the final amount once.
Tacey recommends it, and it is off until you turn it on, for each store separately. You can turn it off again at any time. It only does something on a store whose Shopify payment capture is set to manual.
Before you start: there is nothing to place
This is a setting inside Tacey, so there is nothing to add to your checkout or your Order status page for it. What your customers see is the editing tools you already placed there. If customers cannot see Tacey at all, fix that first: How do I add Tacey to my Shopify Thank you and Order status pages?. Tacey also needs an edit window to wait for: see How long can customers edit their Shopify order after checkout?.
Where to find it
Editing Tools → Global settings → Payment capture. The one switch there is Keep payments on hold during the edit window. Change it, then click Save.
Home also shows a recommended step, Hold payments while customers edit (recommended), with a button Review payment capture that leads to the same place. The step is a suggestion: it is not counted in your setup progress.
Turn it on in the right order
Turn the switch on in Tacey first, and click Save.
Then set Shopify's payment capture to manual: in your Shopify admin go to Settings → Payments → Payment capture and choose Manually.
If you change Shopify first, new orders can wait unpaid, because Tacey is not yet watching them to take the payment.
What happens to an order
A customer places an order. Because payment capture is manual, the payment is held: the customer's bank has set the money aside and you have not been paid yet.
The customer edits the order inside your edit window. Tacey shows them the exact new total before they confirm.
The window closes. Tacey checks for held orders every 15 minutes, so the payment is taken within about 15 minutes of the window closing, not at the exact second.
Tacey takes the final amount once. It takes the lower of what Shopify says can still be taken and what the order is now worth, so never more than the original hold and never more than the order is worth.
On the Order changes page the order has a Payment capture row with the money status Collected, and its details read Payment captured with the amount. Tacey writes the attempt first and the result after it, so the page always shows what happened.
When the customer changes the order
The customer... | What happens |
Lowers the total, on Shopify Payments | No money moves. Tacey takes the lower amount and the unused part of the hold is released. |
Lowers the total, on a provider where a payment can only be taken once | No money moves. Tacey takes the lower amount once, which closes the payment. |
Lowers the total, on any other provider that lets one payment be taken in more than one part | Tacey does not take the payment, because it cannot be sure the unused part of the hold is released. The order shows Capture failed on the Order changes page and under Needs your action, with Capture this amount and the exact figure. Capture the order's new total in Shopify, not the full held amount Shopify fills in. |
Raises the total | The held amount cannot grow. The customer pays the difference on Shopify's payment link, which shows the amount before they pay. Tacey takes the original held payment when the window closes, and the difference is the customer's separate payment. |
Tacey never guesses with the customer's money. If it cannot read the figures it needs, it takes nothing and tells you.
An order that holds two payments
On some payment providers, when a customer raises the total and pays the difference on the payment link, Shopify holds that extra payment separately. The customer's card then holds two payments for one order.
Today Tacey takes neither of the two payments, and you capture them yourself in Shopify. Automatic capture of each payment exists in Tacey's code but is switched off on every live store, so you will not see it happen.
When it happens:
the order shows Payment not taken on the Order changes page, and under Needs your action;
Tacey emails you, one email for each order;
the Payment capture section counts it under Held orders with two payments on hold;
you open the order in Shopify and capture the payment there before the holds end.
When both payments are captured the notice clears by itself. It also clears if the order is cancelled or the payments are released. If the earliest hold is within a day of ending, Tacey reminds you once more.
How long a payment can be held
A payment on hold does not last forever. Card payments are usually held for about 7 days, and Shopify tells Tacey when your provider's limit is. After that the payment lapses: it can no longer be captured, by you or by Tacey, and you have to collect the money another way. Keep your edit window well inside the hold. Tacey cannot warn you before a hold lapses on its own, so look at Needs your action regularly.
If your edit window is longer than the hold, Tacey takes the payment early, before the window closes, so it does not lapse. A change the customer makes after that no longer keeps the payment on hold.
What the page tells you
The Payment capture section says so next to the switch when the switch is on but cannot do much.
Message | What it means | What to do |
Check this before you rely on it. On, but it cannot do anything on this store right now: your recent orders were all paid in full at checkout | Shopify is still taking payment at checkout, so there is no held payment to take | Set Shopify's payment capture to manual; it then works on new orders |
Some of your recent orders were paid in full at checkout, and Tacey cannot hold those | You switched Shopify to manual part way through | Nothing: only orders placed after the change are held |
Tacey has not seen a recent order on this store | Tacey cannot tell yet whether Shopify holds payments | Wait for an order |
Tacey could not read your recent orders | A temporary read problem | Reload in a minute |
On, but there is nothing to hold payments for: customer editing is switched off | With no edit window there is nothing to wait for, so Tacey takes each held payment within about 15 minutes of the order | Turn customer editing on and choose an edit window if you want payments held |
Your payments are held for about N days | How long your payment provider keeps a payment held | Keep your edit window shorter than this |
Your edit window is longer than your payments are held | Tacey will take the payment early, before the window closes | Shorten the window |
Tacey has not seen how long your payments are held | Tacey cannot check your window against the hold. Card payments are usually held about 7 days | Keep your window inside that |
Held orders Tacey will still capture: N | Orders placed while the switch was on. Tacey keeps taking them as their windows close, even with the switch off | Nothing |
Held orders that need you to capture by hand: N | Orders where a customer lowered the order and Tacey did not take the payment | Capture the new total in Shopify |
Held orders with two payments on hold: N | See the section above | Capture the payments in Shopify before the holds end |
Held orders whose payment Tacey could not read: N | Tacey took nothing from these | Capture the payment in Shopify |
Payment capture could not be read | The page could not read the setting; saving changes nothing | Reload in a minute |
Payment capture is paused | Tacey has switched capture off for every store, so the switch cannot be turned on and nothing is captured for you | Capture held payments by hand in Shopify |
Which orders it covers
Turning the switch on covers orders placed from then on. An order already waiting for payment stays as Shopify holds it: Tacey never takes the payment of an order placed while the switch was off, so capture those by hand.
Turning the switch off stops Tacey holding payments on new orders. Orders placed while it was on are still captured when their edit windows close.
While a payment is on hold, Merge orders and Combine orders are unavailable for that order. They work as soon as the payment is captured.
If a payment cannot be taken
Tacey tries up to three times. If the payment still cannot be taken, the Order changes page shows the money status Capture failed. The details say Tacey could not take the payment, that you have not been paid for it, and that you can capture it from the order in Shopify or collect it another way. The email gives the reason in plain words: the customer's bank or card did not allow it, the time Shopify allows for collecting it has run out, or Tacey tried several times and it still did not go through. A payment that is never captured can lapse with your payment provider, so act on it promptly.
Money
The amount. Tacey never works out the amount itself. It takes the lower of what Shopify says can still be taken and what the order is now worth, net of money already collected.
Who confirms it. You confirm by turning the switch on. The customer confirms every change on Tacey's own confirmation, which shows the exact total first. Tacey takes the payment you had already allowed the store to hold, and nothing more.
What shows afterwards. A Payment capture row on the Order changes page, written before the money moves and confirmed after.
Nothing before the window closes, unless your window is longer than your payments are held.
Off by default. The switch is off until you turn it on. Nothing is captured for a store that has never turned it on.
What this does not do
It does not change Shopify's own payment capture setting. You set that in Shopify.
It does not hold payments on a store that takes payment at checkout, and it cannot undo a payment already taken.
It is not for stores that capture by hand after shipping, such as pre-orders or made-to-order items. Leave it off there.
It does not take the payments of an order that holds two payments. Today you capture those yourself.
On a provider that allows more than one capture, it does not take a lowered order's payment. That is left for you, with the exact amount.
It does not warn you before a hold lapses, except the one reminder on an order with two payments.
If you uninstall Tacey, nothing can be captured for you any more. Capture any held payments in Shopify first.
What has and has not been tested
Tested on a development store with Shopify's test payment method:
an order held for the full window and captured once after it closed, with the capture recorded on the Order changes page;
an edit inside the window moving no money;
a lowered order refused with the exact amount to capture, and the notice clearing when the order was voided or cancelled;
an order edited up and paid on the payment link, then captured once at the end of the window;
an order holding two payments: the notice, one alert per order, capturing both by hand in Shopify, and the notice clearing;
the switch returning to off, and a store that never turned it on being left alone;
Tacey still taking a payment more than an hour after the last time the app was opened, with no failure.
Not yet tested:
a real Shopify Payments store: taking the lower amount on Shopify Payments, and on a provider where a payment can only be taken once, has not been seen on a live payment;
the full run on a live store after the production release: it was still in progress when this article was published;
the email you receive about two payments, and the reminder when the earliest hold is within a day of ending;
the order-page row for two payments, and the capture control on a phone-sized screen for that case;
a warning that a hold is about to expire (there is none).
Frequently asked
Do I need this? Only if you set Shopify's payment capture to manual and want a change that lowers the total to cost nothing to settle. If you take payment at checkout, leave it off.
How long can I hold a payment? It depends on your payment provider. Card payments are usually held for about 7 days, and the page tells you when Tacey has seen your provider's limit. Keep your edit window inside it.
Will my customer see anything different? They edit as usual and see the exact total before they confirm. A change that lowers the total needs no refund. A change that raises it is paid on the payment link.
Why was a payment taken before my window closed? Your edit window is longer than your payments are held. Tacey takes it early so it does not lapse. The page warns you about this beforehand.
Why did Tacey not take a payment? Either the customer lowered the order on a provider where Tacey cannot be sure the unused part is released, or the order holds two payments. Both show under Needs your action with what to do: a lowered order as Capture failed with the amount to capture, an order with two payments as Payment not taken.
An order shows two payments on hold. Will Tacey take them? Not today. Capture the payment in Shopify before the holds end.