Havens Luxury Metals closes more custom orders faster with Downpay deposits
Downpay let Havens Luxury Metals replace a manual quote-and-invoice process with a direct Shopify checkout, so committed customers can easily place high-value orders without taking up sales team cycles.
It has been an absolute gamechanger for us to be able to get online orders without having to have the customer talk to our sales team every single time. Only through Downpay have we been able to do that.
— Alex Havens, Founder, Havens Luxury Metals
How Havens Luxury Metals secures online orders without the back-and-forth
For Havens Luxury Metals, orders for high-end metal products used to start the same way: a quote request, a response from the sales team, and separate invoices to collect payment.
Alex Havens, the founder, knew the company's deposit model was right for their made-to-order business. He just needed a way to collect payment through the company's Shopify store, without routing every customer through his sales team first, or requiring that they pay the full price upfront—a recipe for hesitation.
With the Shopify partial payments app Downpay, customers can now check out with a 50% deposit directly on Shopify, and Havens can collect the balance manually or automatically when the order is ready to ship.
Now customers can commit as soon as they're ready and the sales team can focus on tasks that only they can do.
Listen to how Alex explains it below, or read on for more.
Havens Luxury Metals' story
Havens Luxury Metals is a Florida-based metal fabricator specializing in high-end products for the home and garden such as custom sinks, range hoods, and outdoor fire features.
Alex Havens founded Havens Luxury Metals out of a belief in American craftsmanship and expression through metalwork, and their products carry price points that reflect the vision and skill behind them.
Every piece is made in the USA and sold direct through their Shopify store. Customers can configure their own specifications, including finish, dimensions, and many other options, and Havens builds to order.
The problem: Manual quote processes slowing down sales
Havens was already collecting payments in stages for custom products. Customers would request a quote, receive a price, and then make a 50% payment via invoice before production began.
The business, and its customers, fully appreciated the value of taking of deposits for high-value items with lead times.
The problem was the process around them. Getting a price for a custom size or a specific finish, let alone collecting it, required a lot of back-and-forth. And most of the customers going through that process had already decided to buy.
The friction wasn't in the buying decision. It was in the payment process that followed.
The Havens team faced a few specific pain points:
- Every custom order required sales team involvement: Even when the customer already knew what they wanted and was ready to pay.
- The gap between quote and checkout created drop-off: A customer who had to wait for a quote and then take a separate action to pay had one more opportunity to walk away.
- Offering full upfront payment was a hard sell: Collecting the full price of high-value products at checkout—the flow Shopify offers out of the box—created hesitation for items that wouldn't ship for weeks or months.
Havens needed a way to maintain the benefits of deposits but implement them directly in their Shopify online store.
The solution: Shopify Cart deposits through Downpay
Havens used Downpay, the Shopify deposit app, to create the self-serve deposit flow they wanted.
Customers visiting their online store can now:
- Choose custom options on made-to-order products and add products to their cart
- See calculated 50% deposit and balance payment amounts across all cart line items
- Choose to check out with the deposit purchase plan or by paying the full cost upfront
- Enter credit card details in Shopify checkout
- Have the deposit charged immediately
- Have the balance collected before fulfillment
Why Downpay was the right fit
- Shopify-native checkout: Deposit and balance collection happen within Shopify, no redirects or third-party payment flows.
- Card on file for balance capture: The customer's payment method is stored securely at checkout to be charged before fulfillment, automatically or manually.
- Product page or cart page deposit flows: Set up deposit payment options on product pages or in the cart. (Try interactive demo.)
- Flat monthly pricing: Downpay charges a monthly fee, rather than a large percentage of each high-value order like Buy Now, Pay Later.
- Integrated with Shopify Admin: The deposit and the balance are part of one order in the Shopify Admin, keeping it clean for the customer and accounting.
Results: More online orders, less sales team overhead
For Havens Luxury Metals, the core problem was structural: how do you sell custom, high-value, made-to-order products online without turning every sale into a manual process?
Shopify-native deposits—as implemented by Shopify alumni—solved it. A clean 50% at checkout, built directly into the Shopify buying experience, gave customers a way to commit and gave Havens a confirmed order before production began.
Customers now check out directly through the website. The Havens team collects the deposit at the point of commitment and the balance at fulfillment. The sales team's time goes to customers who genuinely need their involvement to commit to their dream pieces.
If you're anything like us, integrate Downpay into your store so you can get more orders at a higher price point.
— Alex Havens, Founder, Havens Luxury Metals
The takeaway
Havens Luxury Metals makes products that take time to fabricate and cost real money. Those two things used to mean every order needed a human in the loop.
A 50% deposit at checkout gives customers a lower-friction way to commit. It gives Havens a confirmed order and partial payment before production begins. And it lets the sales team focus on complex custom work rather than shepherding orders that were ready to close on their own.
Read more success stories and learn how Downpay helps high-AOV Shopify merchants move faster.