How to place a test order on Shopify

Shopify's built-in test payment provider, called Bogus Gateway in older guides. It simulates approved, declined and failed transactions without moving money. The catch: you have to deactivate your real card provider before you can activate it, and while it's active every order is a test order, so real customers can't pay by card. Use a development store, a copy of your store, or a quiet window (Shopify Help: Test payment gateway).

1. 1

   Open your payment settings

   Shopify admin → Settings → Payments. If a credit card provider is active (Shopify Payments or a third-party provider), deactivate it first. Shopify won't activate the Test payment gateway while another card provider is active. You can reactivate your provider right after testing.

2. 2

   Activate the Test payment gateway

   In the Payments settings, look for the Test payment gateway (called Bogus Gateway in older guides) among the third-party payment providers and activate it. It needs a paid Shopify plan, development stores included. While it's active, every order is a test order and real card payments aren't possible.

3. 3

   Place an order like a customer

   Open your storefront, add a product to the cart, and go through checkout with any name and address. The purchase must be more than the equivalent of 1 USD. The Test payment gateway doesn't work with subscription products or POS.

4. 4

   Use the test card numbers

   Card number 1 simulates an approved transaction, 2 simulates a declined card, 3 simulates a gateway failure. Enter 'Test payment gateway' as the name on card, any future expiry date, and any 3-digit CVV.

5. 5

   Verify the order and any integrations

   Check Orders in the admin for the test order, then confirm your email notifications, fulfillment apps, and analytics events fired as expected.

6. 6

   Deactivate the Test payment gateway

   Go back to Settings → Payments, deactivate the Test payment gateway, and reactivate your real payment provider. Cancel the test order to keep reports clean.

Closer to production than the Test payment gateway because the payment runs through your Shopify Payments setup. Go to Settings → Payments → Shopify Payments → Manage and enable Test mode. While it's on, no real payments are captured. Customers can still complete checkout with Apple Pay or Google Pay, and those orders go through without anyone being charged. Shopify says not to turn on test mode in a production store, so use a development store or a copy of your store (Shopify Help: testing Shopify Payments).

Shopify doesn't document 3D Secure test cards for Shopify Payments test mode, so this method doesn't prove your 3D Secure flow, and a successful test-card payment doesn't prove live bank authorisation. Turn test mode off the moment you finish.

Buy the cheapest product with your own card, confirm everything end to end (order confirmation email, fulfillment app, conversion pixels, payout record), then cancel and refund it. Of the three methods, this is the only one that runs a real payment through your live payment setup.

Two costs to know: card processing fees are not returned when you refund (Shopify Help: refunds), and the order still lands in your reports, so tag it "test" and exclude it from analytics.

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