Open the draft order and read it as the customer will: line items and quantities, unit prices, discounts, shipping, taxes and the market currency. Compare each figure against what you agreed, fix the draft, then send the invoice link. A draft order is a quote until it is paid; when paid it becomes a regular order on your Orders page.
That single habit prevents most invoice disputes. Shopify draft orders exist so you can process phone, email and in-person sales, add products, apply discounts and send an invoice with a secure checkout link (Shopify Help: Draft orders and invoices). The link is only as good as the draft behind it.
What is a Shopify draft order quote, exactly?
A draft order is an order you build on the customer's behalf before payment. It becomes a regular order on your Orders page when it is paid.
Shopify's own documentation describes three ways to take payment on a draft: send an invoice with a secure checkout link, process a credit card manually, or mark the order as paid when money has already arrived. Discounts can apply to specific items or the whole order. Once paid, the draft becomes a regular order on your Orders page.
Two details matter for quoting:
- If you use international sales tools, local currency and pricing come from the market associated with the order.
- Draft orders created on or after 1 April 2025 are automatically deleted after one year of inactivity, and any edit resets that timer.
These are configuration facts you should verify in your own store before promising a price.
The five-line check before you send the invoice link
Work through the draft in this order. Each line is a place where a quote commonly drifts from what was agreed.
1. Products and quantities
Read the line items against the customer's message or your notes. Confirm the variant, not just the product name: size, colour, pack size and any bundle. A draft built from a search result can silently hold the wrong variant.
2. Unit prices and custom prices
Draft orders let you sell at custom prices, including negotiated wholesale rates. If you edited a price, check that the edit landed on the right line and that the line total recalculates as expected. If you did not edit it, confirm the catalogue price is the one you quoted.
3. Discounts
Discounts can be applied to specific items or the entire order. Decide which you intended and check the draft shows that, not both. Stacking an order-level and a line-level discount by accident is one of the easiest ways to send a link that is cheaper than you planned.
4. Shipping
Shipping is where quotes most often break. Check whether the draft carries a shipping charge, a free-shipping rule or nothing at all. If you promised a delivery cost in an email, the draft should match it. If the draft shows no shipping and you intend to charge, add it before sending, not after.
5. Taxes and market currency
Tax treatment depends on your store settings and the market associated with the order. If the draft is in a different currency from the one you quoted in, stop and reconcile the two before sending the link.
A reusable worksheet
Copy this into your notes app and fill it in for every quote you send.
| Check | What to confirm | Done |
|---|---|---|
| Customer | Name, email, market | |
| Lines | Variant, quantity, unit price | |
| Custom price | Intended? Applied to the right line? | |
| Discount | Item-level or order-level, not both by accident | |
| Shipping | Charge matches what you promised | |
| Taxes | Consistent with store settings and market | |
| Currency | Same currency you quoted in | |
| Link | Sent to the right email address |
Example (hypothetical): A retailer quotes a customer by email for three items at a negotiated price, with shipping included. The draft is built from the catalogue, so it carries the standard price and a shipping charge. The worksheet catches both before the link goes out. The corrected draft shows the agreed price and no shipping line. No figures here are real; they illustrate the check only.
What to do when the draft and the agreement disagree
Fix the draft, not the email. Editing the draft resets the one-year inactivity timer, so corrections are safe. If the disagreement is about tax or currency, resolve it before sending anything, because the customer will see the checkout total, not your email.
If you are unsure how your store calculates tax for a given market, verify it in your own store before sending the invoice link.
What happens after the customer pays?
When a draft order is paid, it becomes a regular order on your Orders page. From that point it follows your normal order workflow. The quote stage is over, so any later change is an order edit or a refund conversation, not a draft edit.
If you sell to businesses, Shopify documents separate B2B features for using draft orders, and Shopify POS Pro users can save carts as draft orders to complete later. Check those pages if your quote involves wholesale terms or an in-person sale.
Where this fits with your other checks
A quote that surprises the customer at checkout is the same failure mode as a basket that reveals delivery costs too late. The cart abandonment fee check uses the same principle: find the moment the number changes and fix it there. If your store also runs on WordPress for content, the priority page audit applies the same discipline of checking one page properly rather than trusting a score.
Common mistakes
- Sending the link before reading the draft as the customer will.
- Assuming the draft's currency matches the currency you quoted in.
- Applying both an item discount and an order discount unintentionally.
- Assuming a draft order is a final order before it is paid.
- Forgetting that an untouched draft is deleted after a year of inactivity.
Follow-up questions
Can I change a draft order after sending the invoice link?
Yes, you can edit the draft, but the customer may already have opened the old link. If the change affects the total, tell the customer directly and resend the link rather than relying on them to notice.
Does a draft order count as a sale in my reports?
No. It becomes a regular order only when it is paid. Until then it is a quote, so treat any reporting on it as pipeline, not revenue.
