diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index e7329d9cf1..d867113bd0 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@
     "postcss-loader": "^2.0.6",
     "prettier-eslint-cli": "^4.3.2",
     "prop-types": "^15.5.10",
-    "query-string": "^6.4.0",
+    "query-string": "^6.5.0",
     "raf": "^3.4.1",
     "ramda": "^0.26.1",
     "raven-js": "^3.26.4",
diff --git a/static/js/containers/pages/CheckoutPage.js b/static/js/containers/pages/CheckoutPage.js
index cbd3aceaf2..dc274876c9 100644
--- a/static/js/containers/pages/CheckoutPage.js
+++ b/static/js/containers/pages/CheckoutPage.js
@@ -2,15 +2,17 @@
 import React from "react"
 import * as R from "ramda"
 import { connect } from "react-redux"
-import { connectRequest, mutateAsync } from "redux-query"
+import { mutateAsync, requestAsync } from "redux-query"
 import { compose } from "redux"
+import queryString from "query-string"
 
 import queries from "../../lib/queries"
 import {
   calculateDiscount,
   calculatePrice,
   formatPrice,
-  formatRunTitle
+  formatRunTitle,
+  formatErrors
 } from "../../lib/ecommerce"
 import { createCyberSourceForm } from "../../lib/form"
 
@@ -64,6 +66,26 @@ export class CheckoutPage extends React.Component<Props, State> {
     errors:       null
   }
 
+  componentDidMount = async () => {
+    const {
+      fetchBasket,
+      location: { search }
+    } = this.props
+    const params = queryString.parse(search)
+    const productId = parseInt(params.product)
+    if (!productId) {
+      await fetchBasket()
+      return
+    }
+
+    await this.updateBasket({ items: [{ id: productId }] })
+
+    const couponCode = params.code
+    if (couponCode) {
+      await this.updateBasket({ coupons: [{ code: couponCode }] })
+    }
+  }
+
   handleErrors = async (responsePromise: Promise<*>) => {
     const response = await responsePromise
     if (response.body.errors) {
@@ -202,13 +224,14 @@ export class CheckoutPage extends React.Component<Props, State> {
     const { basket } = this.props
     const { couponCode, errors } = this.state
 
-    if (!basket) {
-      return null
-    }
-
-    const item = basket.items[0]
+    const item = basket && basket.items[0]
     if (!item) {
-      return <div>No item in basket</div>
+      return (
+        <div className="checkout-page">
+          No item in basket
+          {formatErrors(errors)}
+        </div>
+      )
     }
 
     const coupon = basket.coupons.find(coupon =>
@@ -259,7 +282,7 @@ export class CheckoutPage extends React.Component<Props, State> {
                     Apply
                   </button>
                 </div>
-                {errors ? <div className="error">Error: {errors}</div> : null}
+                {formatErrors(errors)}
               </form>
             </div>
           </div>
@@ -302,15 +325,14 @@ const mapStateToProps = state => ({
 })
 const mapDispatchToProps = dispatch => ({
   checkout:     () => dispatch(mutateAsync(queries.ecommerce.checkoutMutation())),
+  fetchBasket:  () => dispatch(requestAsync(queries.ecommerce.basketQuery())),
   updateBasket: payload =>
     dispatch(mutateAsync(queries.ecommerce.basketMutation(payload)))
 })
-const mapPropsToConfigs = () => [queries.ecommerce.basketQuery()]
 
 export default compose(
   connect(
     mapStateToProps,
     mapDispatchToProps
-  ),
-  connectRequest(mapPropsToConfigs)
+  )
 )(CheckoutPage)
diff --git a/static/js/lib/ecommerce.js b/static/js/lib/ecommerce.js
index 87c6271471..3e330f91ef 100644
--- a/static/js/lib/ecommerce.js
+++ b/static/js/lib/ecommerce.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 // @flow
+import React from "react"
 import Decimal from "decimal.js-light"
 import * as R from "ramda"
 import { equals } from "ramda"
@@ -57,6 +58,24 @@ const formatDateForRun = (dateString: ?string) =>
 export const formatRunTitle = (run: CourseRun) =>
   `${formatDateForRun(run.start_date)} - ${formatDateForRun(run.end_date)}`
 
+export const formatErrors = (errors: string | Object) => {
+  if (!errors) {
+    return null
+  }
+
+  let errorString
+  if (typeof errors === "object") {
+    if (errors.items) {
+      errorString = errors.items[0]
+    } else {
+      errorString = errors[0]
+    }
+  } else {
+    errorString = errors
+  }
+  return <div className="error">{errorString}</div>
+}
+
 export const isPromo = equals(COUPON_TYPE_PROMO)
 
 export const createProductMap = (
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index 3c09db0678..4ba614640a 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -7157,12 +7157,13 @@ query-string@^4.1.0:
     object-assign "^4.1.0"
     strict-uri-encode "^1.0.0"
 
-query-string@^6.4.0:
-  version "6.4.0"
-  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/query-string/-/query-string-6.4.0.tgz#1566c0cec3a2da2d82c222ed3f9e2a921dba5e6a"
-  integrity sha512-Werid2I41/tJTqOGPJ3cC3vwrIh/8ZupBQbp7BSsqXzr+pTin3aMJ/EZb8UEuk7ZO3VqQFvq2qck/ihc6wqIdw==
+query-string@^6.5.0:
+  version "6.5.0"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/query-string/-/query-string-6.5.0.tgz#2e1a70125af01f6f04573692d02c09302a1d8bfc"
+  integrity sha512-TYC4hDjZSvVxLMEucDMySkuAS9UIzSbAiYGyA9GWCjLKB8fQpviFbjd20fD7uejCDxZS+ftSdBKE6DS+xucJFg==
   dependencies:
     decode-uri-component "^0.2.0"
+    split-on-first "^1.0.0"
     strict-uri-encode "^2.0.0"
 
 querystring-es3@^0.2.0:
@@ -8324,6 +8325,11 @@ spdx-license-ids@^3.0.0:
   version "3.0.3"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/spdx-license-ids/-/spdx-license-ids-3.0.3.tgz#81c0ce8f21474756148bbb5f3bfc0f36bf15d76e"
 
+split-on-first@^1.0.0:
+  version "1.1.0"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/split-on-first/-/split-on-first-1.1.0.tgz#f610afeee3b12bce1d0c30425e76398b78249a5f"
+  integrity sha512-43ZssAJaMusuKWL8sKUBQXHWOpq8d6CfN/u1p4gUzfJkM05C8rxTmYrkIPTXapZpORA6LkkzcUulJ8FqA7Uudw==
+
 split-string@^3.0.1, split-string@^3.0.2:
   version "3.1.0"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/split-string/-/split-string-3.1.0.tgz#7cb09dda3a86585705c64b39a6466038682e8fe2"