Setting a limit is a Pro feature. Counting and enforcing one is not — both builds record claims and honour a cap that is already set, so moving to the free build never puts a sold-out link back on sale.
Claims, not units
This is the distinction worth getting right:- A limit caps how many times the preset is claimed. A total of 50 means 50 people can follow the link and buy.
- A quantity rule caps what one claim holds. A maximum of 3 means one person can take up to three of that item.
Which orders consume a slot
A slot is taken when an order enters one of the statuses you nominate, under Settings → Cart behavior → Order statuses that use up a purchase limit. The default is On hold, Processing and Completed. On hold is in the set because a bank-transfer order is a real commitment — leaving it out would let a limited run be oversold by everyone who pays by transfer.Slots come back
Recording is reversible. An order that leaves the counted statuses releases its slot, so a cancelled or refunded order does not permanently eat part of a limited run. This matters more than it sounds. Without it, a run of 50 with ten cancellations sells 40 and reports itself sold out.Renewal orders never consume a slot. A subscription renewing monthly would otherwise exhaust a capped preset by itself.
Sold out versus you already have one
The limit check counts what will survive, not what is in the cart right now. If a customer follows the link while already holding the last slot, they are told that preset is already in your cart — not sold out. The check asks whether one claim would fit on its own, which separates the two cases. Which of the two they meet also depends on your cart behaviour settings: an earlier copy counts against the cap only when the cart is left standing and duplicates are allowed.Per-customer caps and who counts as a customer
For signed-in customers, the user ID. For guests, a hashed fingerprint. A guest fingerprint is a best effort, not an identity. Someone determined to get around it can. A per-customer cap is there to keep an honest introductory offer to one per person, not to be a security boundary. Developers can change how a customer is recognised throughcartpresets_redemption_customer_key — see the hooks reference.
What a capped-out customer sees
Two separate messages, both editable:
Where they land afterwards is the same choice a schedule uses — the cart with a notice, or an address of your own.