Byte8 Pre-Order
A paid, proprietary Magento 2 module that handles pre-order checkout the way it should be done — deposits split cleanly across the order lifecycle, balances captured automatically when stock arrives, and inventory reservations that don't lie to your warehouse team.
Why this exists
Most Magento 2 pre-order modules — free or paid — fall into one of two camps:
- Free / GitHub modules that bolt a "Pre-order" button onto the PDP, take full payment at checkout, and leave you to chase refunds when the launch slips.
- Paid competitors (Mageplaza, Webkul, Mirasvit, Amasty) that ship the basics — but none of them ship deposit-based payments well. Vault capture is missing, MSI integration is partial, and the headless story is non-existent.
Byte8 Pre-Order closes the gap:
- Deposit-first checkout — Full / percentage / fixed-amount deposit modes, with the deferred balance tracked on the pre-order entity until stock arrives.
- Automated vault capture — Token stored at checkout via Magento Vault. Balance auto-captured on shipment, tracking added, or admin trigger. Cron retries with backoff. Fallback email asks the customer to pay manually only if capture truly fails.
- Tokenised guest balance payment — When there's no vault token (or you don't want auto-capture), a single-use link emails the customer the moment stock is ready. They pay the outstanding balance in a guest-friendly flow without needing to log in.
- MSI-aware — Real reservations placed when pre-orders book, reverted on cancel. Stock-arrival detection plugged in at the canonical MSI save path. Legacy
cataloginventory_stock_itemfallback when MSI isn't installed. - Asynchronous email delivery — Status transitions and email sends are decoupled via a one-minute cron drainer (the flag-and-drain pattern). Bulk stock arrivals or mass-actions don't hang the admin request on SMTP latency.
- Headless-ready — Full GraphQL surface for VelaFront / Hydrogen / Next.js. REST endpoints for everything else.
Where to start
If you've never installed the module, jump to the Quick start — Composer install, four config flags, and your first pre-order capture in ten minutes.
If you're configuring deposit logic, the Payments configuration page is the one to read.
If you're integrating into a headless / VelaFront storefront, the GraphQL page and VelaFront page cover the schema and integration.
If you're a launch operator running the campaign, the Pre-order grid and CLI commands pages tell you how to run the day-of operations.
What this module is NOT
- Not an inventory-management system. Pre-Order reads
cataloginventory_stock_item(or MSI source items) and tracks pre-order balances. Inventory still lives in Magento, MSI, or your ERP. - Not a payment gateway. We charge via the gateway you've already configured (Stripe, Adyen, Braintree, PayPal, Authorize.net) — using the standard Magento Vault interface for stored tokens. We don't add a new gateway, we layer deferred capture on top of yours.
- Not a marketing / drip campaign tool. We send the availability, completion-ready (tokenised balance), completion, and vault-capture-failed emails — and enhance the order confirmation with a pre-order summary callout. Lifecycle marketing, drip sequences, and audience segmentation belong in Klaviyo or Mailchimp.
Module ecosystem
| Package | Licence | Audience | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
byte8/module-preorder | Proprietary (€129) | Magento merchants running launches / drops / deposits | byte8.io |
| Bundled with Pro Service Support Plan | Free for subscribers | Byte8 SLA customers | included |
| Bundled with multi-module SaaS suite ≥ €500/yr | Free in suite | Multi-module Byte8 customers | included |
See Pricing for the full bundling rules and competitive comparison.