Can you send a Shopify payment link for a custom amount?

How do I send a custom-amount payment link from the Shopify app?

Open a Quick Sale in the Shopify app, tap Custom amount, give the charge a name and a price, and tap Add. Then tap Collect > Payment link and share the link or let the customer scan its QR code. A Quick Sale can hold any number of custom amounts, so a two-part charge fits on one link.

1. In the Shopify app, tap the menu icon, then Quick Sale in the main menu.
2. Tap Custom amount.
3. Optional: tap the Name field and name the charge, for example “Engraving fee”. Left blank, it’s called “Custom amount”.
4. Tap the price field and enter the amount, for example US$85.00.
5. Tap Add.
6. At the bottom of the Quick Sale, tap Collect, then Payment link. A QR code appears.
7. Tap Share link to send it from any app on your phone (text, email or a social app), or Copy link to paste it into your own message. Tap Done to save the sale as Payment pending and come back to it later from Pending links.

Leave shipping blank and checkout asks the customer for their details and a rate. To post something, add shipping yourself before you send the link; Shopify prices a custom amount’s rate from your default package settings.

To use Quick Sale you need a payment provider (Shopify Payments, in countries where it’s available), and staff need the Quick Sale permission in their role.

How do I add a custom item to a draft order and send the link?

In your Shopify admin, create a draft order, click Custom item, and enter a name, price and quantity. Then click Share > Copy link and paste the link into your own message, or use Send invoice to email it from Shopify. The link charges the price you entered, plus any tax or shipping on the draft.

1. Go to Orders > Drafts and click Create order.
2. Click Custom item.
3. In the Add custom item dialog, enter the item name, price and quantity.
4. Select Item is taxable if the charge is taxable, and Item is a physical product if you will ship it.
5. Click Add.
6. Click Share > Copy link, then send the link in your own message. To email it from Shopify instead, go to the Payments section and click Send invoice > Review invoice > Send invoice.

In the Shopify app, the button is Add custom item, and you finish with Save or ✓. To get the copied link to the customer’s phone, see how to text the link to your customer.

Can the customer type in their own amount?

Not on these links. On both native routes you set the amount, on the Quick Sale custom amount or the draft’s custom item, and the customer pays exactly that figure at checkout. If the amount is still being worked out, settle it with the customer by phone or message first, then send the link for that figure.

Which is better for a custom amount: Quick Sale or a draft order?

Use Quick Sale for a quick one-off charge from your phone. Use a draft order when you need the customer on the order before they pay, automatic discounts, or a record to finish later. If the customer is standing at your counter, a custom sale in Shopify POS does the job instead.

For the wider picture, see how each kind of Shopify payment link works and Quick Sale or Shopify POS.

Will a custom amount mess up my tax or my sales reports?

It can if you don’t set the charge up with tax and reporting in mind. Quick Sale applies one set of tax rates to the whole sale, while a draft order taxes each custom item. Custom items on a draft order don’t appear in product sales reports, and Shopify POS leaves custom sales out of its default sales-by-product report until you change a filter.

Quick Sale tax. Rates come from the location and your admin tax settings, and recalculate if you add shipping. To change them, tap the Edit icon beside Taxes in the Quick Sale summary. Because the rates apply to the whole Quick Sale, put a taxable charge and an untaxed one on separate Quick Sales.

Draft order tax. Tax is set per custom item (step 4 above). For tax on links more generally, see why a payment link shows the wrong tax. On either route, Shopify’s own advice is to check your tax treatment with a local tax authority or a tax accountant.

Draft order reports. To find sales that began as drafts, use the Total sales by sales channel or Net sales by channel report, which lists them under Draft Orders. Name each kind of custom charge the same way every time so it’s easy to spot later.

Shopify POS reports. To see custom sales in the default total sales by product report, remove or change its Product title is not None filter, as set out in custom sales in Shopify POS and how to report on them.

If you charge the same thing every week, make it a product. Shopify recommends products over custom items wherever possible, because custom items complicate shipping and inventory.

Can I send a payment link from Shopify POS instead?

Yes, for an order you’ve built in the POS cart. Save the cart as a draft order (the cart’s ⋯ menu > Create draft order), then send it with Email to customer in POS or Share > Copy link in your Shopify admin. Or tap More actions > Send cart, and the email links to a checkout where the customer pays. Both need POS Pro.

Quick Sale lives in the Shopify app, not in Shopify POS, so using it here means rebuilding the order. For the full draft routine, see draft orders in Shopify POS.

Can staff send a payment link for a product order straight from the Shopify POS cart?

Pay Link, from Countermade, makes the link for an order you’ve built from your products in the POS cart. Staff create it right there, with no copying a link from the admin. The customer pays on Shopify’s own secure checkout, so staff never see or type card details.

Before anything is sent, Pay Link shows staff the total up front, with a note when checkout will add shipping. Turn on local pickup at the store so a customer who’s collecting can choose it at checkout. If someone taps twice, Pay Link still makes one link, not two, and staff can see whether it’s been paid. Pay Link needs Shopify POS Pro. See native POS payment link options compared.

Your next step

Open the Shopify app, start a Quick Sale and tap Custom amount.

Pay Link is one of the Countermade Shopify POS apps from Invenire Studios. It isn’t on the Shopify App Store yet: get early access and we’ll email you when it’s ready to try.