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Turn on Require approval on a price variant and buyers apply instead of buying. You see who applied and their answers to your questions, then approve or deny each request. A paid buyer’s card is saved when they apply and charged only if you approve them. Use it for anything where you choose who gets in: a cohort with limited seats, a coaching program, a community, or a high-ticket service.

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Turn on approvals

  1. Go to Products and open the product.
  2. Edit the price variant and open Advanced options.
  3. Tick Require approval (waitlist).
  4. Optionally pick a Checkout form to ask buyers questions when they apply. See checkout forms.
  5. Save.
You can also tick the option under Advanced options when you create a product.

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What buyers see

  • The product page button says Join waitlist, and there is no Add to cart button for that price variant.
  • At checkout they fill in your checkout form, if you picked one. For a paid price variant they enter their card, which is saved but not charged. For a free one they enter their name and email.
  • After applying they see “You’re on the waitlist” and get an email saying the same. For a paid price variant, both tell them they haven’t been charged.

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Get notified

When someone applies, you get an email with their name and answers, and a notification in Crevio. Their answers also show up as a submission in Forms. Turn this off under Settings > Notifications > Waitlist Requests.

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Review requests

Open Waitlist in the sidebar. It opens on Pending, newest first.
  • Filter by status (Pending, Approved, Denied, All) or by product.
  • Click View answers to read what someone wrote.
  • Click Approve or Deny on a row, or tick several rows and use Approve selected or Deny selected.
  • Approve all approves every pending request in the current view. Approvals run in the background, so refresh after a minute to see them finish.
  • Export CSV downloads the current view, with one column per question.
You can also ask Crevio to list, approve or deny requests for you. It asks before it approves or denies anyone.

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What approving does

Approving works like the buyer completing a normal purchase at that moment: The buyer gets the usual purchase confirmation email, and the purchase shows up under Orders.

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When a card is declined

If the saved card is declined when you approve, nobody is charged and the request is denied automatically. It shows as Card declined. The buyer gets an email explaining that the payment didn’t go through, with a link to apply again with another card.

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Denying a request

Denying emails the buyer that their request wasn’t accepted. Nothing is charged. A denied buyer can apply again.

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Limits

  • Approval products are checked out on their own. A buyer can’t put a price variant that needs approval in a cart with other products. This is by design: each approval charges one saved card for one request.
  • Card only. PayPal isn’t offered for price variants that need approval, because a PayPal payment can’t be saved and charged later.
  • No discount code box. Buyers can’t type a discount code when they apply. A discount attached to a checkout link still applies.
  • No shipping address. Crevio doesn’t ask for a shipping address when someone applies, so approvals don’t suit physical products you need to post. Collect the address yourself after approving, or sell those products without approval.
  • One pending request per buyer. Someone who already has a pending request for a price variant can’t apply for it again until you decide.
  • Requests don’t expire. A request stays pending until you approve or deny it. The longer you wait, the more likely a saved card has expired or been replaced and gets declined.
  • Sold out still lets people apply. When quantity available is 0, buyers can still apply, but you can’t approve anyone until you raise the quantity.
  • No approving existing owners. You can’t approve someone who already owns the product.

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Test it yourself

Sign in as an admin of your account and apply from your own product page. It’s a test request: no card is taken, it’s labelled Test in Waitlist, and approving it gives test access without charging anyone.