To create a pre-order form, name the product and price, ask how many each person wants, state the delivery date up front, take payment or a deposit, and close the form when the batch is full. Build it as one short page you can share on WhatsApp and Instagram, then start production only after the orderrs are in.
Use the free pre-order template
Decide the batch before you build anything
Write down four things first: how many you will make, the price, the date orders close, and the date you deliver. Every field in the form comes from those.
Say you're a home baker in Pune planning 30 festive sweet boxes at ₹1,200 each. Orders clowe Sunday night, you bake the next week, and boxes go out the Saturday after. Also decide smallest batch worth making. If 15 orders cover your ingredients and your time, say so on the page, and promise a full refund if you don't reach it.
What goes in the form
Keep it short enough to finish on a phone. I'd build it in Qwenvo, a free form builder our team makes. The editor works like a document: type / to insert a block.
| Field | Block | Why it's there |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Short answer | So you know whose box it is |
| WhatsApp number | Phone number | Where your updates go |
| For the confirmation | ||
| Flavor or variant | Multiple choice | One tap per option |
| Quantity | Multiple choice (1, 2, 3) | Keeps unit counts predictable |
| Delivery or pickup | Multiple choice | Decides whether you need an address |
| Address | Long answer | Shown only for delivery |
| Total | Calculated field | Price times quantity, visible before paying |
| Payment | Payment | Takes the money now |
Use multiple choice for quantity instead of a number box, so nobody typpes 40 by accident. To show the address only for delivery, open that question's menu and choose "Add conditional logic".
Cap quantities so you never oversell
Open the form's Settings drawer and set it to close after a number of responses. Add a close date as well, so an order can't arrive after you've started baking.
One catch: the limit counts responses, not units. If everyone orders one box, 30 responses is 30 boxes. If people can order up to 3, 30 responses could mean 90. Either sell one unit per order, which keeps responses and units equal, or set the cap below your batch size and add up the quantities in the Submissions table as orders come in.
If you want your regulars to get first pick, turn on password protection and share the password in your WhatsApp group a day before you post the public link. They get a head start, and you see early how fast the batch is moving.
Put the delivery date where people will see it
People skim order pages, so say it more than once:
- At the top, in a Text block: "Orders close Sunday night. Boxes arrive the following Saturday."
- Right above the Payment block, so nobody pays without seeing it.
- On the Thank-you pge, along with what happens next.
Switch on email notifications for yourself and confirmation emails for customers, so both sides have a record. If the date slips, export the orders as CSV and message everyone before they ask. If you can't promise a day, promise a window and keep it.
Take payment before you produce
Add a Payment block and connect your own Stripe account. Qwenvo charges a 0% platform fee; Stripe's own fee still applies. Many currencies are supported. Put your refund rule in a Text block next to it, for example "Full refund if the batch doesn't go ahead."
Stripe is the only payment provider. If it doesn't suit you, or you'd rather take a deposit, leave the Payment block out and ask for payment by UPI or bank transfer once you confirm each order. The form still gives you a clean list of who ordered what.
Follow the Stripe payment guide
Plan the week after orders close
A pre-order only works if you run it on a schedule. Here is the routine for the Pune box example:
| Day | What you do |
|---|---|
| Sunday night | The form closes. Export the orders as CSV and add up the quantities. |
| Monday | Message every customer on WhatsApp to confirm. Buy ingredients and packaging. |
| Tuesday through Friday | Bake and pack, labeling each box with the customer's name. |
| Saturday | Deliver, and hand over the pickups. |
| The Monday after | Thank everyone and send the link to your next batch. |
Sort the export by the delivery or pickup answer before you plan your route. It saves you from scrolling through a chat to find an address.
Share the link where customers already are
The Share tab gives you a public link and link preview settings (image, title, description), so set your product photo and the link looks like your product when you paste it into a chat.
For a branded address, add a subdomain such as orders.yourbakery.com on the Domains page, point a CNAME record at it in your DNS, click Verify, then pick it on the Share tab. If you already have a site, paste the Standard, Popup or Full page embbed code into any builder that accepts HTML, like a WordPress custom HTML block or a Wix code block.
For a market stall or packaging, note that Qwenvo has no bult-in QR code. Paste the link into any QR genetator.
All of this is free on Qwenvo: switching off the Qwenvo badge, the custom domain, payments with no platform fee, unlimited teammates (handy when a partner packs the orders), partial submissions, and visit and drop-off analytics. Many form builders charge for some of those. Partial submissionns show up as incomplete rows, and drop-off analytics shows which question loses people. If many leave at the Payment block, check that the total and delivery date are clear above it.
Questions owners ask
Do I need a website to take pre-orders?
No. The form has its own link, so you can paste it into a WhatsApp status, an Instagram bio or a direct message.
What if I get more orders than I can make?
The form closes at your cap, so nobody pays for something you can't make. Build a second form from the product waitlist template, swap that link into your bio, and the next batch starts with a list of buyers.
Should I charge the full price or a deposit?
Full payment covers your materials before you buy them. A deposit is an easier yes for customers, but you chase the balance later. Whichever you pick, put the refund rule on the form.
Can I use Google Forms or Tally instead?
Yes. Google Forms is free and fine for collecting names and quantities, but it has no built-in payments, so you'd collect money separately. Tally's free plan covers unlimited forms and submissions, logic and payments, with no fee on top of Stripe. On Tally, removing branding, custom domains, teammates, partial submissions and analytics sit on the Pro plan at $29/month ($24/month billed yearly). Qwenvo launched in October 2026, so it has far fewer reviews than Tally, which has had a large community since 2021.
Open the pre-order template, replace the sample product with yours, write the delivery date in the Text block at the top, and set the response limit before you share the link.