> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.smartwpplugins.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Purchase limits

> Cap how many times a preset can be claimed, in total and per customer

export const Media = ({kind = 'Screenshot', children}) => <div style={{
  display: 'flex',
  flexDirection: 'column',
  alignItems: 'center',
  justifyContent: 'center',
  gap: '0.5rem',
  textAlign: 'center',
  padding: '2.75rem 1.5rem',
  margin: '1.5rem 0',
  border: '1.5px dashed #b4c0d4',
  borderRadius: '0.75rem',
  background: 'rgba(148, 163, 184, 0.07)'
}}>
    <span style={{
  fontSize: '1.5rem',
  lineHeight: 1
}}>
      {kind === 'Video' ? '▶️' : '🖼️'}
    </span>
    <span style={{
  fontSize: '0.75rem',
  fontWeight: 700,
  letterSpacing: '0.08em',
  textTransform: 'uppercase',
  color: '#64748b'
}}>
      {kind} pending
    </span>
    <span style={{
  fontSize: '0.875rem',
  color: '#64748b',
  maxWidth: '34rem'
}}>
      {children}
    </span>
  </div>;

export const Pro = () => <span style={{
  display: 'inline-flex',
  alignItems: 'center',
  verticalAlign: 'middle',
  fontSize: '0.68em',
  fontWeight: 700,
  letterSpacing: '0.07em',
  lineHeight: 1,
  padding: '0.32em 0.55em',
  borderRadius: '0.3em',
  background: '#f5b301',
  color: '#2b2000',
  marginLeft: '0.4em',
  textTransform: 'uppercase'
}}>
    Pro
  </span>;

<Info>
  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.
</Info>

A limit caps how many times the offer may be claimed. Set a total, a per-customer cap, or both.

<Media>The Availability card showing the total cap, the per-customer cap, and the usage meter</Media>

## 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.

They are different questions, and they multiply. A total of 50 with a quantity of 3 can move 150 units.

<Warning>
  The health panel warns when a cap of one sits beside an open quantity, because that combination usually means somebody meant units and typed claims.
</Warning>

## 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.

| Status          | In the default set |
| --------------- | ------------------ |
| Pending payment | No                 |
| On hold         | Yes                |
| Processing      | Yes                |
| Completed       | Yes                |
| Cancelled       | No                 |
| Refunded        | No                 |
| Failed          | No                 |

## 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.

<Note>
  Renewal orders never consume a slot. A subscription renewing monthly would otherwise exhaust a capped preset by itself.
</Note>

## 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](/cartpresets/links/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 through `cartpresets_redemption_customer_key` — see the [hooks reference](/cartpresets/developers/hooks-reference#identity-and-keys).

## What a capped-out customer sees

Two separate messages, both editable:

| Situation            | Shipped wording                                                        | Notice ID        |
| -------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------- |
| Total cap hit        | This preset has reached its purchase limit and is no longer available. | `limit_total`    |
| Per-customer cap hit | You have already claimed this preset the maximum of %d times.          | `limit_customer` |

Where they land afterwards is the same choice a [schedule](/cartpresets/building/scheduling) uses — the cart with a notice, or an address of your own.

## Settings reference

| Setting                      | Level  | Key                   | Default                        |
| ---------------------------- | ------ | --------------------- | ------------------------------ |
| Total limit                  | Preset | `max_total`           | Empty (no cap)                 |
| Per-customer limit           | Preset | `max_per`             | `0` (no cap)                   |
| Statuses that consume a slot | Store  | `redemption_statuses` | on-hold, processing, completed |