# What is Try Before You Buy?

> STEP 1

Recustomer Try Before You Buy lets shoppers try products at home before deciding whether to buy them.
Nothing is charged at checkout. After the items arrive, the shopper chooses which items to keep and which to return within the trial period, and only the items they keep are charged automatically.

This page introduces the main features of Recustomer Try Before You Buy.

## 1. A Try Before You Buy button on your product pages

You can add a **Try Before You Buy button** to your product pages, separate from the usual "Add to cart" button. A badge below the button tells shoppers how long the trial period is, and tapping the icon on the badge opens a guide that explains how Try Before You Buy works. Shoppers can understand that they can try the item for free without leaving the product page.

![Left: the bottom of a product page, where a Try Before You Buy button reading Try at home now - ¥0 sits next to Add to cart, with a badge saying that payment comes after a free 7-day home trial. Right: the guide opened from the badge, listing four steps — order for ¥0, try it at home, returns and exchanges are fine, and pay only for what you keep.](images/01_tbyb-button-phone.png)

You configure the button label and the badge in [2-9. Add the Try Before You Buy button](./storefront.html).

## 2. Reliable payment collection through authorization and re-authorization

At checkout, only a credit card **authorization (a hold on the available credit)** is placed — no payment is taken.

- Recustomer renews the authorization automatically before it expires (**re-authorization**, patent pending)
- When a return is requested, the authorization keeps being renewed until the item is confirmed as received at the warehouse, so you can collect payment reliably
- After inspection at the warehouse, the amount less the returned items is captured automatically. If every item is returned without issue, the authorization is voided (no charge is made)

### Terms used in this guide

| Term | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| Authorization | A hold placed on the shopper's available credit for the order amount at the time of the order. No charge is made yet. The shopper's card statement may show it as "pending" or "temporary approval". |
| Re-authorization | Authorizations expire, so Recustomer automatically obtains a new one before the current one expires. During the trial period, re-authorization repeats to keep the hold in place. |
| Capture (payment confirmation) | Charging the amount from the credit that is being held. After the trial period ends, the amount less the returned items is captured and the charge to the shopper is confirmed. |
| Trial period | The period during which the shopper can try the items. Items requested for return within this period are excluded from the capture. You set the start date (delivery date, shipping date, or order date) and the number of days in [Trial policy settings](./trial-settings.html). |

※Depending on the card issuer, an authorization may keep showing as "pending" for some time

※It can take several days for a charge (capture) or a refund to appear on the card statement

## 3. End-to-end handling through returns after the trial

Try Before You Buy is a shopping experience built on the assumption that items will be returned, so it generates more returns than a regular sale. With Recustomer, everything that happens after a shopper decides to return an item is handled in the same system.

- Shoppers submit a return request before the trial deadline. **If you also use Recustomer Returns and Exchanges**, shoppers choose the items to return themselves and go through the same screens as a regular return, from answering the return reason to receiving the return shipping instructions
- On your side, you inspect the returned items in the admin dashboard. Based on the inspection result, only the items the shopper kept are charged automatically ([2. Reliable payment collection through authorization and re-authorization](#2-reliable-payment-collection-through-authorization-and-re-authorization))

Recustomer also sends shoppers notification emails automatically as the trial progresses. Because these emails tell shoppers the trial deadline and where to start a return, they prevent shoppers from missing the deadline and being charged unintentionally, as well as inquiries such as "when will I be charged?". For the types of emails that are sent and how to edit them, see [2-11. Trial notification emails](./notification-mail.html).