Authorizations
An authorization is a temporary hold of a credit or debit card for a set amount of funds.
Adding an authorization helps ensure you will receive your funds from the customer at the end of their trial. By default, TryOnify does NOT place an authorization on the customer's card when they place an order.
Typically, authorizations are labeled as “pending” on the customer's transaction history or they will not have a date associated with the charge indicating that the charge has not yet been posted. This is similar to how transactions are handled at hotels and with rideshare apps.
Some customers may be confused by this if they are unfamiliar with authorizations. Upfront communication on the Product Detail Page, will help educate these customers.
How it works
When a customer places a new Try Before You Buy order, TryOnify immediately attempts to authorize the saved credit or debit card for the outstanding balance. If the authorization fails, the order is automatically cancelled and the customer is notified by the default Shopify order cancellation email.
Turning on authorizations
Open the TryOnify app Settings and look for the Payments section. You will see a checkbox labeled "Authorize new orders". Simply check the box and click "Save" at the top.
Rolling authorizations
The initial authorization period will differ depending on the card used and which Shopify plan you have. It may be as short as 3 - 7 days, while your trial may be longer than that. If your trial is longer, you may see orders with an "expired" payment state. The "expired" label is a warning that the authorization is no longer active and the funds are no longer on hold so it's possible that the customer's payment will fail.
In order to bridge the gap between the end of the 1st authorization and the end of the trial, TryOnify offers re-authorizations which re-authorizes the card when the 1st authorization is about to expire.
"Re-authorize transactions" can be toggled on and off for both Shopify Payments and PayPal individually. PayPal authorizations last 3 days so re-authorizations will occur every three days on PayPal if PayPal re-authorizations are turned on.
For more details on authorization periods, please see this Shopify help article.