How to send a pay-by-link invoice
Anytime a sale has an unpaid balance — a layaway, a damage hold, a partial deposit, a price adjustment after the fact, or a buyer who walked out before tapping their card — ResaleOS can email the customer a Stripe-hosted checkout linkthey tap to pay. The sale stays open and tracked, the balance flips to $0 the moment they pay, and your reports never miss a beat. No extra app, no PayPal account, no "please Venmo me."
Prerequisites
Pay-by-link invoices ride on the same Stripe connection that powers your storefront and Stripe Terminal. The customer also needs an email on their account — the Send invoicebutton is disabled (with a clear reason) if either is missing. If you haven't hooked up Stripe yet, follow How to connect Stripe first — it takes about three minutes.
At POS — split the payment, email the rest
At checkout, ResaleOS lets you split the total across as many payment methods as you want: cash, card, store credit, and Invoice. Tap the Invoice tile, drop in the unpaid amount, and complete the sale. ResaleOS instantly emails the customer a Stripe-hosted checkout link for that exact balance — they pay on their phone, in their car, or three days later, whenever.
This is huge for layaways, deposits, and pickups: the customer can walk out the door owing money, and you don't have to chase them in. You can also use it for $0 down — set Invoice to the full amount, complete the sale, and the buyer pays from the email.
The sale stays Pending until the balance is settled
When you complete a sale with an outstanding invoice amount, ResaleOS marks it Pending (or Partially paidif you collected something up front). This status is more than cosmetic — it's wired into the rest of the system:
- Shipping isn't booked. The shipping page warns you the sale is unpaid; best practice is to wait until the balance lands before buying a label or dispatching a Lugg crew.
- Consignor credits don't release. Consignor payouts only move into payable status when the sale's payment status flips to paid.
- Reports filter it out. Pending sales are excluded from gross sales / accounting reports until paid, so your numbers reflect collected revenue.
- The activity feed flags it. An Invoice sent event appears on Home, and an Invoice paid event fires when the customer completes Stripe Checkout.
From an existing sale — invoice any unpaid balance
For sales that already exist (online orders, marketplace sales, manual sales, refunds-gone-wrong), open Sales → pick the order → scroll to the Payments card. Whenever totals don't fully match what's been paid, an amber Balance unpaid banner appears with two options: Collect (in-person, card or cash) and Send invoice (pay-by-link).
Confirm the recipient & message
The Tofield pre-fills with the customer's email. The Reply-to dropdown lets you choose Business (account email) or any of your store locations — outgoing replies route there. Add a custom message if you want; ResaleOS wraps it in your store branding (logo, footer, colors) automatically.
Send invoice
Customers receive a Stripe-hosted Checkout link. Tax and tip are preserved from the sale. Edit the email template at Settings → Notifications.
Customer pays — balance settles automatically
The customer gets a branded email with a Pay nowbutton. It opens a Stripe-hosted Checkout page: card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Stripe Link all work. The moment they pay, the sale's balance flips to $0, payment status flips to paid, consignor credits release, shipping unlocks, and your activity log records Invoice paid. No webhooks to wire up — we listen for you.
Common pay-by-link scenarios
Layaways & deposits
Customer pays a 30% deposit at POS today; weeks later they pick up and pay the remaining 70% from an invoice you emailed — no need to schedule a return visit.
Will-call & holds
Take a deposit on the spot, mark the item as held, email the balance. The sale stays Pending and the item stays off the shelf until the buyer pays.
Damage / cleaning fees
Furniture rentals or large-item deliveries that need a follow-up charge. Send the invoice with a one-line custom message instead of awkward Venmo requests.
After-the-fact upcharges
Charged tax wrong, customer no-showed pickup, shipping upgrade was needed — attach the difference to the existing sale and email a single payable link.
Shipping cost true-ups
Buyer requests white-glove or expedited shipping after the order. Quote the upgrade, add a line, send an invoice for the delta.
Quotes that turn into orders
Build a sale in Draft mode for a customer asking for a quote; email it as an invoice once they're ready to pay. No separate quote tool needed.
Across the product
- POS — the Invoice payment-method tile on the checkout pad.
- Sale detail — the Payments card, on every order with a balance, plus an Edit invoice button if you want to update the email and re-send.
- Consignor portal — consignors who buy from their own store see a Pay now button on the sale detail in their portal.
- Home activity log — events for Invoice sent and Invoice paid with the Stripe link.
- Reports → Payment Types — invoice payments appear as their own payment-method bucket alongside cash, card and store credit.
Frequently asked
What does it cost?
Standard Stripe online processing fees apply (currently 2.9% + 30¢ in the US). ResaleOS doesn't take a cut on top and there's no separate per-invoice fee.
Is this PCI-compliant?
Yes. The customer pays on a Stripe-hosted page — card data never touches your store or our servers. You inherit Stripe's PCI compliance and chargeback protection.
Can I customize the email?
Yes — at Settings → Notifications → Templatesyou edit the invoice email's subject, body, logo, and footer. The custom message field on the modal is added on top of the template per-send.
What if they don't pay?
The link doesn't expire automatically. Re-open the sale and click Send invoice again to email the same link, or click Edit invoice on a sale that already has one to update the email and re-send.
Can I ship before they pay?
Technically yes — ResaleOS won't hard-block label purchase — but we surface a clear unpaid warning on the shipping page, and best practice is to wait. Same for white-glove pickups: don't dispatch a Lugg crew until the invoice clears.
What status does the sale have?
Pending if nothing's been collected yet, Partially paid if you took some money up front. The moment Stripe captures the invoice, it flips to Paid and the rest of the workflow unlocks.
What about refunds?
Invoices are for collecting money, not issuing refunds. Process refunds from the same Payments card — partial or full, on the original card, store credit, or cash.
Will it show on consignor reports?
Only after payment. While the sale is Pending the consignor doesn't see it as a sold item; once the invoice clears the sale appears on their portal and their credit moves into the payable bucket.
Can I reverse a sent invoice?
Yes — open the sale, edit the payment allocation to remove the invoice line. The Stripe checkout link is voided so the customer can't pay it accidentally.
vs. Square Invoices, PayPal, Venmo
Other tools force you to create a brand-new invoice document, re-key the line items, and reconcile two systems when the customer pays. ResaleOS invoices live on the original sale— same line items, same tax, same consignor splits, same reporting bucket. Pay-by-link is a payment method, not a separate document. That's why "Pending → Paid" works seamlessly across shipping, payouts, and reports.
Stop chasing payments
Spin up a free trial and start sending invoices today, or book a 15-minute call and we'll walk through your specific layaway / hold / damage-fee workflow.