--- title: "Take deposits on negotiated quotes: 50% down, balance Net 30 on Shopify" description: "Collect a deposit at checkout on negotiated quotes. Set a %, let the buyer counter it, and Shopify collects it on the converted draft order. Plus stores." url: "https://www.quotway.com/blog/take-deposits-on-negotiated-quotes" type: "blog post" category: "Quoting & negotiation" published: "2026-07-12" updated: "2026-07-12" locale: "en" source: "QuotWay - B2B Quote & Negotiation App for Shopify" --- # Take deposits on negotiated quotes: 50% down, balance Net 30 on Shopify "50% down, the balance on Net 30" is the default commercial structure for custom manufacturing, made-to-order, and high-value wholesale - and until recently there was no native way to run it on Shopify. That changed when Shopify added deposits on draft orders (Shopify Plus stores). QuotWay turns that checkout capability into what B2B actually needs: a negotiable deposit on the quote, agreed with the buyer, collected natively at checkout. ## Why deposits matter in B2B quoting A quote that closes without any cash committed isn't really closed. For made-to-order and high-value work, the deposit is the commitment device: it filters serious buyers, funds materials, and shares the risk of custom work that can't be resold. That's why "deposit required" is standard on paper quotes everywhere - and why running it through wire transfers and email has always felt like a workaround on Shopify. Shopify's 2026 API added the missing plumbing: a draft order can carry a deposit percentage, and Shopify checkout splits the payment natively - an amount due now, the balance due later. It's a Shopify Plus capability, and out of the box it's *static* - a fixed configuration, not a per-deal agreement. ## The deposit is a term of the deal - so it should be negotiable QuotWay treats the deposit like price: a term you negotiate, with a paper trail. 1. **Set it on the proposal.** In the proposal editor, the Deposit field sits next to payment terms. Ask for 30%, 50% - anything from 1-99%. A live estimate shows what's due now vs. the balance. 2. **Let the buyer counter it.** Buyers can counter the percentage from their portal - or propose no deposit at all - exactly like countering a price. Every round is versioned, so the agreed number has a history. 3. **Convert, and Shopify collects it.** When the accepted quote converts, the deposit rides the native draft order. Shopify checkout collects the due-now amount; the balance follows the quote's payment terms - [Net 30](/blog/how-to-offer-net-30-on-shopify), Net 60, due on fulfillment. No invoice gymnastics, no separate payment link, no spreadsheet reconciling who paid what. One record from "deposit required: 50%" to "deposit collected." ## Guardrails: floors, automation, and defaults A deposit policy is only a policy if the exceptions are controlled: - **Approval floor.** "Any proposal asking less than a 25% deposit - including none - needs a manager." One ready-made [approval](/features/approvals) template; a waived deposit can't slip out unnoticed. - **Automation.** "Quotes over $10,000 auto-send with a 50% deposit." [Auto-send rules](/features/automation) can require a deposit, so your biggest orders always come with cash committed. - **Defaults.** Set a shop default - apply a deposit above a chosen order value, or on any quote containing custom items - and every new proposal starts from your policy. ## How to word the deposit on the quote The mechanism is the easy half. What buyers argue about is the wording, and three things have to be on the document rather than in a covering note. **The amount, and what it is a percentage of.** "30% deposit" is ambiguous the moment freight or tax is in play. Say whether the percentage applies to the goods, to the goods plus freight, or to the whole total, and show the resulting figure in currency next to it. A buyer approving a deposit internally is approving a number, not a formula. **When it falls due.** On acceptance is the normal answer and the one worth stating explicitly, because the alternative readings - on despatch, on invoice, within so many days of acceptance - are all in common use and the buyer may assume a different one than you do. **What happens if they cancel.** This is the field most often left off, and the one that turns a cancelled order into an argument. Whether the deposit is refundable, partly refundable, or applied as a credit against a future order is your commercial decision; not saying which is the only wrong answer. Then the balance: state the term and what it runs from. "Balance Net 30 from invoice" is unambiguous. "Balance on completion" is not. A wording that carries all of it in two lines: ``` Deposit 30% of goods and freight (1,050.00), due on acceptance. Non-refundable after production starts. Balance 2,450.00, Net 30 from invoice date. ``` One boundary worth being plain about: how a deposit is invoiced, how it is treated for tax, and how it is set against the final invoice are accounting questions. They depend on your jurisdiction and your own arrangements, so they belong with your accountant rather than in a quoting app. What belongs on the quote is what the buyer is agreeing to. ## What buyers see The deposit is visible everywhere the money is: on the quote in their Shopify customer account, in the hosted [buyer portal](/features/buyer-portal), and on every PDF (proposal, order confirmation, pro-forma invoice) - always as "N% due at checkout," with the exact split computed by Shopify at conversion. No surprises at payment time, which is the point. ## Availability - the honest part Deposits on draft orders are a Shopify Plus platform capability - on non-Plus stores the feature doesn't appear in QuotWay at all, rather than dangling something your store can't use. In QuotWay it's available on Shopify Plus stores, from the Professional plan, and it works on every quote type: wholesale, DTC, and company-aware B2B. Everything else in QuotWay - including payment terms on any quote and full B2B quoting with Shopify Companies - works without Shopify Plus. ## Set it up on your store QuotWay is a B2B quote and negotiation app for Shopify, built by EFOLI, that makes the deposit part of the negotiation - set it on the proposal, let the buyer counter it, and let Shopify checkout collect it on the converted draft order. A practical way to start: - Add QuotWay and turn on deposits on a Shopify Plus store (Professional plan and up). - Set a deposit percentage on your next proposal, right next to payment terms, and let the buyer counter it. - Accept the quote, convert it to a Shopify draft order, and let Shopify checkout collect the due-now amount - the balance follows your payment terms. Deposits are available on Shopify Plus stores from the Professional plan ($79/mo); the full breakdown is on the [pricing page](/pricing), and the [convert-to-orders feature page](/features/convert-to-orders) shows how conversion works end to end. You can [add QuotWay on Shopify](/install) and run the quote-to-order loop before you commit. ## FAQ ### Can Shopify collect a deposit on a draft order? Yes - on Shopify Plus stores. A draft order can carry a deposit percentage (1-99%), and Shopify checkout collects the due-now amount natively, with the balance due later. QuotWay sets that deposit from the negotiated quote, so the percentage is agreed with the buyer instead of fixed in configuration. ### Can the buyer negotiate the deposit? In QuotWay, yes. The deposit is a quote term like price: buyers counter the percentage (or propose none) from their portal, every round is versioned, and the accepted number is what rides the draft order. Shopify's native deposit configuration is static per company location; QuotWay's is per-deal. ### Does the deposit work with payment terms like Net 30? Yes - that's the point. The deposit is collected at checkout and the balance follows the quote's payment terms, so "50% down, balance Net 30" runs natively: one draft order, one record, no side payments. ### What do I need to use it? A Shopify Plus store and QuotWay's Professional plan (or higher). On non-Plus stores the deposit controls don't appear; every other QuotWay feature works regardless of Plus. ## Sources The time-sensitive Shopify facts in this guide are verified against Shopify's official documentation: - [Shopify Help Center: Creating B2B orders using draft orders](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b/checkout-and-orders/draft-orders) - [Shopify Help Center: Setting up payment terms in B2B](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b/checkout-and-orders/payment-terms)