Decision guide
Each tool solves a different merchant problem. This comparison explains what every approach captures, what it leaves unknown, and when a conditional purchase request is the better fit.
Choose BuyWhen when a qualified shopper has one explicit, potentially resolvable buying condition and the merchant needs to qualify it, decide safely, return approved private terms to Shopify checkout, and preserve paid and refund evidence. Choose a narrower tool when saving, notification, preorder, price negotiation, research, or post-checkout follow-up is the complete job.
BuyWhen vs.
Saving products for later
The products a shopper wants to remember
The exact condition blocking purchase, feasibility, deadline, and merchant decision
Choose a wishlist when saving is the goal. Choose BuyWhen when the merchant may resolve one explicit blocker and needs an auditable response workflow.
BuyWhen vs.
Notifying a shopper when one unavailable SKU returns
Contact permission tied to an inventory event
Exact quantity, substitutions, broader conditions, merchant decision, and outcome proof
Choose a restock alert for a simple notification. Choose BuyWhen when variant, quantity, alternatives, timing, or another blocker must remain structured.
BuyWhen vs.
A defined future purchase path for inventory not yet available
A purchase commitment under stated preorder terms
Whether stock is actually the blocker when the merchant has not committed to a preorder
Choose a preorder when the future product and terms are defined. Choose BuyWhen to learn and qualify an unresolved condition without pretending it is an order.
BuyWhen vs.
Shopper-to-merchant price negotiation
A proposed price for a product
Non-price blockers such as stock, delivery, assurance, service, procurement, or a question
Choose a price-only tool when negotiation is the whole model. Choose BuyWhen when price is one controlled treatment inside a broader conditional-purchase workflow.
BuyWhen vs.
Collecting broad feedback or research answers
A shopper's response to merchant-defined questions
A guaranteed operational owner, feasibility checks, response terms, and checkout evidence
Choose a survey for research. Choose BuyWhen when the answer is an actionable buying condition that the merchant may qualify and resolve.
BuyWhen vs.
Following up after a shopper creates a cart or checkout
A known abandonment event and, sometimes, a recovery channel
Pre-cart shoppers and the explicit commercial reason the purchase could not proceed
Use checkout recovery for shoppers who reached checkout. Use BuyWhen when qualified demand stops earlier or needs one exact condition resolved first.
