When are restock alerts sent?

All plansLast verified 11 November 2026View as Markdown

EZ Preorder & Back In Stock sends a restock alert when Shopify reports that a variant's available inventory at one of your locations has gone above 0. At that moment every shopper waiting on that variant gets one email, and their signup changes to Notified. Plan limits for back in stock alerts count Notify Me signups, not emails; only the Scale plan charges for emails, at $0.01 each after 3,000 per billing cycle.

Available on: Free, Core, Growth, Professional and Scale plans.
Where to find it: Alerts are sent automatically. Results show in EZ Preorder → Restock Alerts → Signups.

#What triggers a restock alert

A restock alert is triggered by any inventory change in Shopify that leaves a variant with more than 0 available at a location. That includes:

• Receiving stock or editing the quantity in Shopify admin.
• An inventory transfer arriving.
• A returned item being restocked.
• Another app, warehouse or inventory system updating the quantity.
• Entering a quantity above 0 for a variant on preorder with the Specific inventory level rule.

Each change is judged at the location where it happens. A change that leaves that location at 0 or below sends nothing. EZ Preorder does not check which locations sell online, so stock added at a retail location that does not fulfill online orders also sends the alerts, even if the variant is still sold out on your online store.

These do not send restock alerts: turning Continue selling when out of stock on or off, putting a variant on preorder with the Always or Sold out rule, adding a product to the restock list, and inventory changes that stay at 0 or below.

#How quickly restock alerts are sent

EZ Preorder sends restock alerts when Shopify reports the inventory change, not on a daily schedule. There is no setting to delay, schedule or batch them. The emails go out one after another, and the inventory is not reserved for the shoppers who were emailed: if you restock 1 unit and 20 shoppers are waiting, all 20 are emailed and the first to check out gets it.

#Which shoppers get the restock alert

A restock alert goes to every signup with the status Active for that exact variant:

• Shoppers in every market, whichever market they signed up from.
• Shoppers who signed up for a product you have since removed from the restock list, or whose product page no longer has the Notify Me block. To stop those emails, cancel the signups on the Signups tab.
• Each signup separately. A shopper who signed up twice for the same variant receives two emails.

Signups with the status Notified or Canceled are never emailed.

#One restock alert per signup

Each restock signup receives exactly one email. Right after the alerts go out, every emailed signup changes to Notified and its Alert Date is filled in. If the variant sells out again, those shoppers are not emailed a second time; they have to click Notify Me and sign up again.

Alerts are not retried. If an email cannot be sent to one shopper, that signup is still marked Notified.

#Restock alerts are per variant

Restock alerts in EZ Preorder are tracked per variant. A shopper who signed up for the Small size is emailed when Small comes back, not when Large does. For a product without variants, the alert goes out when the product itself is restocked.

#Restock alerts on products that are also on preorder

A variant on preorder with the Always or Sold out rule has Continue selling when out of stock on, so Shopify treats it as available and the Notify Me button does not show. No new signups come in for it. Shoppers who signed up before you started the preorder stay Active and are emailed the next time the variant's available inventory at a location goes above 0.

With the Specific inventory level rule, entering a preorder quantity above 0 changes the inventory, so waiting shoppers are emailed when you save the preorder. The email's button takes them to the product page, where they can preorder. See Preorder rules.

#What counts toward your restock alert limit

Restock alert limits in EZ Preorder count signups. Every signup that is accepted counts once, when it is collected: signups that are later canceled or notified, duplicate signups from the same shopper, and your own test signups all count. Alert emails do not count toward any plan's limit.

On the Scale plan, every restock alert email sent after the first 3,000 in a billing cycle costs $0.01. The charge appears on your Shopify bill as a usage charge called "Restock Alert Overage". Test emails are free. See Usage charges.

Stores still on the older Free plan, retired from the plan page, get 30 signups per billing cycle instead of 30 in total.

You can check your count on the EZ Preorder Dashboard: with Current billing cycle selected, the Restock Signups card shows your count against your limit, for example 212 / 250.

#What happens when you reach the restock signup limit

EZ Preorder warns you before and when you reach your restock signup limit:

1. At 85% of your limit, you get an email titled "Restock Alert Quota Warning - 85% Used".
2. The signup that reaches the limit is accepted. You then get an email titled "Restock Alert Quota Limit Reached".
3. The Notify Me button disappears from every product page on your store.
4. A shopper who already had the popup open and submits it sees "Something went wrong. Please try again." Their signup is not saved and does not count.
5. On Core, Growth and Professional, the Restock Alerts page shows a Plan limit reached banner with an Upgrade Plan button.

Shoppers who signed up before the limit are still emailed when their variant is restocked. Both warning emails go to your store's account email, the address Shopify uses to contact you, from "EZ Preorder - Restock Alerts" at alerts@ezpreorder.com.

#When the restock signup limit resets

The restock signup limit resets differently on each plan:

• Core, Growth and Professional. Your signup count goes back to 0 when your 30-day billing cycle ends, and the Notify Me button comes back automatically.
• Any change to a paid plan. Upgrading, or moving between paid plans, resets the count to 0 straight away and turns the Notify Me button back on.
• Free. The 30 signups are a total for the life of your store and never reset. They include signups collected while you were on a paid plan, so if your store has collected 30 or more signups in total and you move to Free, the Notify Me button is hidden.
• Scale. Signups are unlimited. The count of alert emails used for the 3,000 allowance starts again each billing cycle.

See Plan limits and Change or cancel your plan.

#How restock revenue is attributed

Restock revenue in EZ Preorder credits orders to restock alert emails using the link in the email's button. That link carries the UTM tags utm_source=restock, utm_medium=email and utm_campaign=back_in_stock, plus an ID for the signup.

• About 15 minutes after any order is placed, EZ Preorder asks Shopify where the shopper's last visit before that order came from. If it came through a restock alert link, the order is credited to that signup.
• The whole order total counts, including other products, shipping and taxes, in your store's currency.
• An order is not credited if the shopper's last visit came another way, such as a Google search, typing your address, another email, or a different device from the one they clicked on.
• The amount is recorded when the order is placed. Later refunds and cancellations do not reduce it.

Credited orders add up in Restock revenue on the Overview tab (lifetime) and in Restock Revenue on the Dashboard (by period). Because the link uses standard UTM tags, you can also find these visits by the source "restock" in Shopify's own marketing reports. See How to track restock signups and revenue.

#Limitations

• You cannot send, resend, schedule or delay restock alerts by hand. They go out only when inventory comes back.
• Restock alerts do not hold stock for the shoppers who were emailed.
• Failed emails are not retried, and their signups still show Notified.
• Duplicate signups from the same shopper are not merged.
• Alerts do not take the location into account, so stock added at a location that does not sell online still sends them.

#Troubleshooting

A shopper says they never got the restock alert. Find their signup on the Signups tab. If it is Active, the variant has not had stock above 0 at any location since they signed up. If it is Notified, check the Alert Date and ask them to look in their spam folder for an email from alerts@ezpreorder.com. If it is Canceled, the signup was canceled and they need to sign up again.

Alerts went out, but the product is still sold out on my store. Stock was added at a location that does not fulfill online orders, or the quantity was raised and then lowered again. Restock alerts react to any location reaching more than 0 available.

Alerts went out when I set up a preorder. You used the Specific inventory level rule and entered a quantity above 0. That counts as a restock.

Shoppers are still emailed for a product I removed from the restock list. Removing a product hides the Notify Me button but keeps existing signups. Cancel them on the Signups tab.

The Notify Me button disappeared from all products at once. You reached your plan's signup limit. Upgrade, or on Core, Growth and Professional wait for your billing cycle to end. See The Notify Me button is not showing.

#Frequently asked questions

#Do restock alerts count toward my plan limit?

No. Plan limits count signups, not alert emails. Only the Scale plan charges for emails, at $0.01 each after 3,000 in a billing cycle.

#Does a canceled signup still count toward my limit?

Yes. Each signup counts once when it is collected. Canceling it later does not give the allowance back.

#Are restock alerts sent if I restock only one unit?

Yes. Every shopper waiting on that variant is emailed, however small the restock. The first shopper to check out gets the stock.

#Can I choose when restock alerts are sent?

No. Alerts go out automatically when the inventory change reaches EZ Preorder. To hold them back, keep the inventory at 0 until you are ready, or cancel the signups you do not want emailed.

#When does the Free plan's restock limit reset?

Never. The Free plan includes 30 restock signups in total for your store. Upgrade to Core or above for a limit that resets every billing cycle.

#Related articles

• What are restock alerts and how do they work?: the whole restock alert flow.
• How to track restock signups and revenue: statuses, export and the Overview tab.
• Plan limits: every limit by plan and when counters reset.
• Usage charges: how Scale overage charges are billed.
• Preorder rules: how each rule affects inventory and Continue selling.
• How to customize the restock alert email: what the alert email says.