Selling a whole, half, or quarter animal usually means taking a deposit up front to reserve the animal, then collecting the rest once it's been processed and you know the final weight. This article explains the two ways to set up a deposit on GrownBy and how to choose between them.

Which product type should I use for the deposit?

There are two ways to collect a deposit, and the right one depends on how you run your program.

  • Use a Digital Product if you don't have a set meat delivery date. Digital Products aren't tied to a location or schedule, so a customer can reserve their animal at any time and you sort out delivery later.
  • Use a Standard Product if you need to track inventory by size or buying option, or if you already have a delivery date and location for the meat.

Option 1: Deposit as a Digital Product

Use this when you don't yet have a delivery date and mainly want to collect reservations.

  1. Go to Products → Add new product → Standard or Digital Product, then choose Digital-Only Product.
  2. Give it a clear name (for example, "Whole Hog Deposit") and use the description to explain what the deposit reserves, the estimated final price range, and how and when you'll collect the balance.
  3. Set your Unit and add a Buying Option for each deposit you offer (for example, Whole, Half, Quarter), each with its deposit price.
  4. Set In Stock to a large number so the deposit stays available, then click Submit.

For a full walkthrough of Digital Product setup, see Digital Products.

Option 2: Deposit as a Standard Product

Use this when you need to limit how many animals (or sizes) you sell, or when you have a delivery date and location set.

  1. Go to Products → Add new product → Standard or Digital Product, then choose Standard Product.
  2. Under Units, uncheck Manage Stock Globally so you can track inventory separately for each size.
  3. Add a Buying Option for each size you sell (Whole, Half, Quarter), with the deposit price and the number in stock for each. GrownBy will count down the inventory as customers reserve.
  4. Set the product's schedule and availability if you have a delivery date, then click Submit.

Tracking inventory by buying option is the same approach used for cuts of meat — see Selling Meat on GrownBy Marketplace and All about Standard Products.

Collecting the remaining balance

Once the animal has been processed and you know the final hanging weight, you'll collect the rest of what the customer owes on top of their deposit.