One Order, Every Step: From “Order Placed” to the Customer’s Door
The nine things that happen between a customer clicking buy and the parcel arriving — including exactly where your card is charged.
Somebody buys a printed planter from your shop at 2am. Nine things happen between that click and the parcel arriving, and you are involved in exactly one of them. Step through it below — including where your card is charged, and what the order says when something stalls.
One order, replayed
Step 1 of 9 · Your customer
They buy on your store, at your price. That payment is yours and never touches us.
#1042 · Etsy · Mon 2:04 am
Geometric planter, sage
Qty 1 · ships to Portland, OR
Money
Customer paid you. We see nothing yet.
What if…
The nine steps, in words
- 1
Your customer buys, on your store
They pay you, on your platform, at your price. We never see that payment, and your customer never hears from us. - 2
Shippo passes the order to us
Your store is connected to Shippo, and Shippo is connected to us. The order arrives with its items and the delivery address, and lands in your order book within minutes. - 3
The SKU finds your product
We match the order’s SKU to a live product in your catalogue. Matching ignores capitalisation and outer spaces, but every other character has to match. If nothing matches, the order waits as “No product match” rather than guessing. - 4
You approve it
In the default mode an order sits as “Held for approval” until you press Approve. Turn on automatic fulfilment and this step disappears; the rest is identical. - 5
Card, then label, then charge
Approving authorises your card for the make cost, buys the cheapest USPS label on your own Shippo account, and only then captures the charge. If the label fails, the hold is released and you pay nothing. - 6
It goes to the printers
The job is submitted to the farm, and every copy of every part gets its own print job. The order moves through Queued, Printing and Printed as they finish. - 7
Packing
Supports come off, hardware goes in — magnets, threaded inserts, screws — and the parts are checked before anything is boxed. The packing slip carries your business name and logo. - 8
It ships from Orange, California
The label goes on, tracking flows back, and the order shows Shipped. The return address is ours, not yours, and there is nothing of ours inside the box. - 9
Delivered
Tracking marks it delivered. If anything goes wrong after this point, the order has a “Get help with this” button that opens a support thread tied to it.
The money, in one line
Your customer pays you. You pay us for making it. Nothing flows the other way.
No escrowThere is no payout, wallet or balance. We never hold your customer’s money.
Where the money moves
Two payments happen in an order, in two different places, and keeping them separate is the thing most new sellers find surprising.
There is no payout, wallet or escrow. We never hold your customer's money.
| Payment | Who pays whom | When |
|---|---|---|
| The sale | Your customer pays you, on your store | At checkout, before we see anything |
| The make cost | You pay us: material + machine time | At label purchase, after you approve |
| The postage | You pay Shippo for the label | Billed on your own Shippo account |
- The saleWho pays whomYour customer pays you, on your storeWhenAt checkout, before we see anything
- The make costWho pays whomYou pay us: material + machine timeWhenAt label purchase, after you approve
- The postageWho pays whomYou pay Shippo for the labelWhenBilled on your own Shippo account
What we promise on time
We aim to ship every order within 3 business days of when it was placed. Orders that pass that window are marked Late and printed first. A bulk run of hundreds of parts is quoted its own date, because a hundred two-hour parts is 200 machine-hours and no promise survives that arithmetic.
On a listing, publish a delivery estimate rather than our ship target: your customer cares when it arrives. Add carrier transit — usually a few days domestically — to our window.
FAQ
Your customer buys on your store; the order reaches us through Shippo; we match its SKU to your product; you approve it (or it runs automatically); your card is authorised, the label is bought, and the charge captured; the parts print; they are packed with your branding on the slip; and it ships from Orange, California with tracking.
At label purchase, which happens when you approve the order — before printing, not after. It is a hold first, captured only once the label succeeds. If the label fails you pay nothing. The charge is the make cost: material plus machine time.
Not from us. The packing slip carries your business name and logo, there is nothing of ours in the box, and we never contact your buyer. The return address on the parcel is ours, because we are the ones posting it.
It waits. An order is not packed until every part in it has printed, so your customer gets one complete parcel rather than a partial delivery and an apology.
Yes. Turn on automatic fulfilment in Settings and orders go straight through the same sequence without waiting for you. Most sellers start with approval on and switch once they trust the flow.
You are in one step of nine.
Connect your store, and every order is matched, made, checked and shipped under your name. Turn on automatic fulfilment and you are in none.
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