Help center
Frequently asked questions
How TermForge collects a deposit, how it captures the balance, and what it never touches.
Getting started
What does TermForge do?
TermForge turns any product into a deposit sale. You set a percentage or fixed deposit; the buyer pays only that at checkout, and TermForge captures the remaining balance automatically later — when you fulfill the order, on a date you choose, or a set number of days after checkout. Every outstanding balance is tracked on the Balances tab.
How do I set it up?
Install the app, open Deposit plans and create one: pick a percentage or fixed deposit, choose when the balance should be charged, and apply it to all products, one product, or a collection. TermForge publishes it as a Shopify selling plan, so the deposit option appears on those products at checkout. There are no scripts to paste and no theme changes required.
What does my store need for this to work?
A payment gateway that lets Shopify keep the buyer's payment method on file for a later charge — Shopify Payments, PayPal Express or Adyen. Without one, Shopify cannot authorise a deferred balance, so TermForge will collect the deposit but tell you the balance has to be collected manually.
How the balance is collected
How is the balance charged?
TermForge asks Shopify to charge the payment method the buyer already authorised at checkout (a payment mandate). TermForge never sees or stores card details, and it never holds your money — the balance lands in your own gateway, exactly like any other order.
What happens if the balance charge fails?
TermForge retries on a schedule. If it still fails, it emails the buyer an invoice for the outstanding balance — sent by Shopify from your own store, with a secure checkout link — so they can pay with a different card. Every attempt is visible on the Balances tab, and you can trigger a charge or an invoice yourself at any time.
Can I charge the balance myself instead of waiting?
Yes. Every balance on the Balances tab has a "Charge now" action, and a failed one has "Retry". Nothing is charged behind your back — you can always see what is scheduled and what has been collected.
Plans & billing
What do the paid plans add?
Free covers the basics: one deposit plan, automatic balance capture and the Balances dashboard. Pro adds unlimited deposit plans plus the automatic dunning ladder (retries, then a Shopify-sent invoice so the buyer can pay with another card). Studio adds B2B tools: net payment terms (Net 15/30/45/60), draft-order deposits with an emailed invoice, and issuing store credit.
Can I upgrade, downgrade or cancel?
Yes — from the Plan screen in the app, at any time. Billing is handled by Shopify and appears on your normal Shopify invoice. Downgrading keeps your data and your existing balances; it only limits what you can create going forward.
Will I be charged while testing on a development store?
No. Shopify never bills development stores. On a dev store the plans show as $0 with a "free to test" note; the regular price applies once a real store subscribes.
Data & privacy
Does TermForge read my orders?
Yes — it has to. To know which orders were placed on a deposit plan and what balance is outstanding, TermForge requests the read_orders and write_orders scopes. That means it operates at Protected Customer Data Level 1. See our Protected customer data page for exactly what it accesses.
What does TermForge actually store?
Only what it needs to collect a balance: the Shopify order ID and order name, the amounts (total, deposit, balance, currency), the payment-mandate reference, and the balance status and dates. It does not store customer names, emails, phone numbers or shipping addresses in its own database, and it never stores card or bank details.
Is TermForge GDPR-compliant?
It honours Shopify's mandatory compliance webhooks (customers/data_request, customers/redact, shop/redact). Because it stores no customer personal data of its own, a customer request has nothing to return; a shop-redaction request deletes all of your shop's data.
Does TermForge use AI?
No. TermForge is deterministic — deposits, schedules and retries are rules, not predictions. Nothing you enter is sent to an AI model.
What happens when I uninstall?
Your access token is revoked immediately, and your shop's data is deleted when Shopify sends the shop-redaction request. Uninstalling does not touch your products or orders — but note that TermForge can no longer capture any outstanding balances, so collect them before you uninstall.
Still have a question?
Email gheorghe.beschea@overheat.agency — we aim to reply within one business day.