When a product restocks or a price drops, the purchase completes automatically. No email to click. No race to checkout. No missed revenue.
Notify-me apps, preorder apps, and deposit apps each get part of the way there. Here's exactly where they stop — and where AutoBuy keeps going.
Customers click AutoBuy directly on the product page. They set a max price and verify their card via a secure Shopify-hosted flow. No cart. No checkout. One card covers all their active AutoBuys.
AutoBuy monitors your inventory and prices in real time. The moment a product restocks or drops to a customer's target price, the queue processor fires — within seconds, before the public storefront even updates.
When a charge succeeds, Shopify creates a paid, unfulfilled order automatically. The customer gets an order confirmation. They can view, manage, or cancel any active AutoBuy right up until the moment the trigger fires.
The AutoBuy dashboard shows queue depth per product — your most direct signal of suppressed demand. Before your next restock lands, you already know how much of it is sold. Configure notifications, queue rules, and product eligibility from one place.
Both modes are independent. Merchants can enable one or both. Customers pick whichever fits what they're waiting for.
Inventory is locked for queue subscribers the moment a restock is detected — before public shoppers can buy. Processed in strict first come, first serve order.
Works while the product is in stock — no restock needed. All eligible subscribers are processed simultaneously in batches as soon as a price drop is detected.
Notify-me apps send an email and hope. Preorder apps take money now for products that don't exist. Deposit apps tie the charge to a date, not an event. AutoBuy does the one thing none of them do.
Restock fires → email sent → customer must click → navigate back → complete checkout. Each step loses people.
Customer pays now for a future item. Proactive, not reactive — only works when you know a product is coming.
Second charge is automatic — but fires on a calendar date set by merchant, not an inventory event.
Inventory event or price drop detected → queue fires → charge completes → order created. Zero customer action after enrollment.
The app only sends notifications. Payment only happens if the customer clicks through and buys themselves.
Customer pays immediately for a product that may not arrive for months. Money on the line creates cancellation anxiety.
Deposit collected immediately. Remainder charged on a date the merchant configures — regardless of whether the product is ready.
Card saved, not charged. The full amount is only charged when the restock or price drop actually happens. Customer bears zero financial risk while waiting.
Everyone gets the same email simultaneously. The customer who waited 6 months has the same chance as someone who signed up yesterday.
Selling before inventory exists means no scarcity to manage. But this only works when the merchant knows stock is coming.
Orders created at deposit time — so first to pay gets the spot. But still requires selling before stock arrives.
Position is assigned when customer enrolls. Never changes. Customer who signed up 3 months ago is always ahead of someone who signed up yesterday — guaranteed.
Stock is publicly available the moment it's added. The notification email goes out at the same time the storefront updates. The race is open.
Since an order exists, Shopify tracks committed inventory.
An order exists, so inventory is tracked from the deposit forward.
Inventory is reduced the moment a restock fires — before the storefront updates. Queue subscribers are unreachable by public shoppers while the queue processes.
These apps never charge anyone. The "failure" is the customer not converting from the notification email.
Payment collected at checkout — failure unlikely. For partial-pay, the remainder invoice may go unpaid and merchant follows up manually.
If the second charge fails, some apps retry automatically. Others require the merchant to chase the customer.
Failed charge → unit passes to next person in queue automatically → customer notified with a card update link → they keep their position for the next restock.
Alert fires regardless of what the restock price is. Customer may have wanted a lower price — the email doesn't know.
Customer agreed to the listed price when they ordered. No flexibility — full commitment at whatever price was shown.
Deposit is a fixed percentage or amount. Balance is the remainder. No threshold logic or conditions.
Restock: max price ceiling — skipped if price exceeds it. Price drop: target threshold — only fires when met. Both editable from account anytime before trigger fires.
AutoBuy uses Shopify's native payment infrastructure for secure card saving and automatic charges. No Stripe account, no third-party gateway, no PCI scope for your app. If you're on Shopify Payments, you're ready.
Early access merchants lock in the best pricing and help shape the product before public launch.