How to send a payment link for an existing Shopify order

Which way should I collect payment on an order that already exists?

Any order with an outstanding balance can be invoiced from the Shopify admin, including an order placed with bank transfer or cash on delivery (COD). Duplicate it as a draft when you need a link to text or need to change the order, including an imported order (imported orders can’t be edited). A partially paid POS order can be paid at the counter.

For the phone-card route, see taking card payments over the phone in Shopify and whether Shopify has a virtual terminal.

How do I send an invoice for an order marked Pending or Payment pending?

Open the order in the Shopify admin and click Collect payment > Send invoice, add a message, then Review invoice > Send invoice. Shopify emails the customer a link to a checkout for that order, where they enter billing details, choose shipping and pay. Add payment terms first if you want a due date.

1. In the Shopify admin, go to Orders and open the order.
2. Click Collect payment > Send invoice.
3. Add a message, then click Review invoice.
4. Click Send invoice.

To add a due date, add terms before you send. In the Payment pending section, click the horizontal menu icon > Add payment terms, choose a term such as Due on receipt from Payment terms, and click Save. If the order isn’t paid by the due date, its status becomes Overdue, and you can set up to five payment reminders. Running regular trade customers on Net 30 is covered in taking phone orders at a trade counter.

Can I copy the payment link for an existing order instead of emailing it?

The order invoice goes out by email. To get a link you can paste into a text, duplicate the order as a draft: a draft has Share > Copy link in the admin and the Shopify app. The next section has the steps, and sending a Shopify payment link by text covers texting it from your phone. If the customer says the email never came, start with what to check when a Shopify invoice email isn’t received.

How do I duplicate a Shopify order as a draft and cancel the original?

Duplicating makes a new draft with the same items, which gets its own link, and you then cancel the original so only one order is waiting for payment. Shopify doesn’t copy discounts or shipping rates to the draft, so add them back. In the cancel dialog, two options are ticked by default: restocking the items and emailing the customer.

Make the draft

1. Open the order and click Duplicate. In the Shopify app, tap the horizontal or vertical menu icon > Duplicate.
2. Add back any discount, and the shipping or pickup option.
3. Check the prices. They lock by default when you send the invoice or share the link, so later product price changes won’t alter them.

Cancel the original

Cancel it before you share the new link, so the customer has only one way to pay. An order in Pending payment status with scheduled payments might not cancel.

1. Open the original order and click More actions > Cancel order.
2. Choose a Reason for cancellation.
3. Untick Send a notification to the customer if a cancellation email would confuse them.
4. Leave Restock inventory ticked. It returns the items to stock, ready for the draft.
5. Click Cancel order.

If no payment was captured on the original, its payment status changes to Voided.

Share the draft

1. If stock is tight, open the draft, click the horizontal menu icon > Reserve inventory (Reserve items in the Shopify app), pick an expiry and click Done. Reserved units can’t be bought by other customers.
2. Click Share > Copy link and paste the link into your message, or click Send invoice in the Payments section.

If the customer then reports a problem on the draft’s checkout, see why a customer can’t pay a draft order invoice.

What if the customer comes back into the store to pay the balance?

Take the rest at the counter if the order was rung up in Shopify POS and is partially paid. Go to Orders, tap the order, tap Collect payment, enter the amount, choose the payment method and tap Done. If a balance still remains, tap Mark as partially paid. No link or invoice is needed.

Once an order with several payments has had a refund, exchange or edit, POS can’t take further payments on it.

Why doesn’t Apple Pay show on the checkout after I edit a Shopify order?

After you edit a Shopify order, the checkout Shopify sends for the extra amount doesn’t offer accelerated checkouts, such as Apple Pay. An order in Pending payment status might not let you edit items and discounts at all. Duplicating it as a draft lets you change items and discounts before you send the link.

How do I take a sale the customer will pay later without creating an unpaid order?

Build any sale the customer won’t pay on the spot as a draft order, not an order. A draft has Share > Copy link and Send invoice, prices that lock when you share it, and the option to reserve stock, and Shopify creates the order when the customer pays the draft’s invoice. You won’t need to duplicate or cancel anything.

At the counter, that’s Create draft order from the cart menu in Shopify POS, which needs POS Pro. Shopify POS draft orders covers the details, and Shopify payment links explained compares the link types.

Don’t mark a draft as Paid before the money arrives, or the link in its invoice stops working. Drafts created since April 2025 are deleted by Shopify after a year without changes, and any edit resets the clock.

Can I send a payment link straight from the Shopify POS cart?

Yes. With POS Pro, Send cart emails the customer a link to a checkout where they can pay for the cart in full, and Shopify creates the order when they pay. Nothing becomes an unpaid order first, so there’s no invoice to chase and no order to duplicate or cancel.

For sales taken at the counter, Pay Link, from Countermade, lets your staff build the order in Shopify POS and make the payment link from the POS cart, so the customer pays before an order exists. Beyond the native button:

• Staff see the total up front before anything is sent, with a note when checkout will add shipping.
• Tap twice by accident and you still get one payment link.
• Staff can see whether a link has been paid.
• The customer pays on Shopify’s own secure checkout. Staff never see or type card details.

Pay Link needs Shopify POS Pro. Checkout asks for a delivery address and may add shipping, so turn on local pickup at the store and the customer can choose pickup instead. For the native options side by side, see Shopify POS payment link options compared.

Next step

Open the unpaid order and click Collect payment > Send invoice, or duplicate it if you need a link to text. Pay Link isn’t on the Shopify App Store yet. Get early access and we’ll email you when it’s ready to try in your store.