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Explaining the deposit in Shopify's order confirmation

Written 1 Oct 2026. The snippet below hasn't yet been pasted into a live store's template and sent; send yourself a test (step 4) before relying on it.

Shopify's own order confirmation email shows the deposit as an amount due later, for example "Total due Oct 09, 2026: £120.00". That line is Shopify's: it's in Shopify's email, sent from your store, and Holdback has no access to your notification templates. Read on its own it can look like a bill, so it's worth one short paragraph of your own beside it.

Holdback's first email to your customer already explains it (their card is saved for the deposit, and the deposit hasn't been taken), and that email arrives a minute or two after Shopify's. This paragraph means the explanation is there in Shopify's email too.

Which paragraph

Shopify's "total due" line is the deposit. Use the English or French deposit paragraph below for your store's language.

Adding it

In your Shopify admin, open Settings → Notifications → Customer notifications → Order confirmation.
Press Edit code.
Find where the order summary begins (in Shopify's standard template, the heading Order summary) and paste the paragraph below just above it.
Press Save, then Send test email to yourself, and read it the way your customer will.

``html About the amount due later: it's the deposit for your hire, not a bill, and it hasn't been taken. Your card is saved for it. If your hire comes back on time and in good order, the deposit is released and there's no more to pay. If a late fee you agreed to is taken, we'll email you the reason when it is. Any damage would come to you first as an estimate to approve. ``

In French, for a French-language store:

``html À propos du montant dû plus tard : il s'agit de la garantie de votre location, qui n'est pas prélevée, pas d'une facture. Votre carte est enregistrée pour cette garantie, qui n'a pas été prélevée. Si votre location revient à temps et en bon état, la garantie est libérée et votre location est réglée. Si des frais de retard que vous avez acceptés sont prélevés, nous vous en indiquerons le motif par e-mail à ce moment-là. Un éventuel dommage vous serait d'abord adressé sous forme d'estimation à approuver. ``

Worth knowing

It shows on every order confirmation. If your store also sells things without a deposit, those customers see the paragraph too. Shopify's template language can show it only when an order has a deposit on it, but we haven't tested a condition for that in Shopify's editor yet, so this page doesn't give one. If you'd like it, Shopify Support can help with the template.
The date in Shopify's line isn't a charge date for the deposit. It's the latest anything could be taken, and only if owed. Holdback releases a deposit the day before if no problem has been recorded, and emails you three days ahead. If your customer asks, the first Holdback email and their deposit page both explain it.
Keep the paragraph's promises true. If you change the words, don't promise anything your hire terms don't say.