DocsOrders & fulfillment

Tracking & delivery

What tracking data PrintPort provides, how the internal ship-by promise works, and how to set delivery expectations you can meet.

5 min read

When an order ships, PrintPort provides a tracking number, a link to the carrier’s own tracking page, and a Delivered flag that updates automatically. There is no scan-by-scan feed inside the app. This page describes exactly what tracking data you receive, what the internal ship-by promise means when an order runs late, and how to communicate accurate delivery expectations to your customers.

What tracking includes

Tracking in PrintPort is intentionally minimal. A shipped order carries three pieces of tracking data and nothing more:

Tracking numberper order: The carrier’s code for the package. It is also searchable: the Orders search box matches order number, customer, channel, item, and tracking number.
Carrier link: A link to the carrier’s own tracking page. Opening it launches that page in a new tab, where the carrier displays whatever checkpoints it has.
Delivered flag: PrintPort sets the order to Delivered when the carrier reports the package as delivered, even if the status was still reading “Shipped” moments before.

There is no in-app scan feed

PrintPort does not show a checkpoint-by-checkpoint history. There are no “in transit” or “out for delivery” states and no per-scan timestamps or locations inside the app. For that detail, open the carrier link; the carrier’s page is the live source. In PrintPort you see a number, a link, and a Delivered flag.

The tracking link appears in three places:

1
On the order row
Open Orders. On a shipped order’s row, the tracking number is a link. Selecting it opens the carrier’s page in a new tab.
2
In the order drawer
Open the order to reveal the drawer. The Shipping section shows the delivery address and a tracking link (a small truck icon) that opens the same carrier page.
3
Through search
Paste a tracking number into the search box to jump directly to that order.

A Shipped status is reliable

On marketplace orders the shipping label is purchased shortly before the box leaves, so a tracking number can exist early. PrintPort waits for real evidence, a ship timestamp or a carrier scan, before marking an order Shipped. When you see Shipped, the order has genuinely shipped.

The order journey

Each order drawer includes a Timeline, a short list of milestones rather than carrier scans. It records the real moments in the order’s life:

1
Placed
The sale arrived from your store.
2
Payment confirmed
Your card was charged the make cost and the order was confirmed.
3
Production started
The product entered the print queue and began being made.
4
Packed
The product was finished, any hardware was installed, and it was boxed.
5
Shipped
A label was purchased and the box left the warehouse via the carrier.
6
Delivered
The carrier reported the package delivered. If the order was refunded or cancelled, the Timeline ends at that point instead.

Only milestones that have actually occurred appear. The Timeline fills in as the order moves, so it never displays a step it cannot verify. Before an order ships, the Timeline also shows a ship-by line: the target date from the promise described below.

How orders ship

You do not choose a carrier, a speed, or any add-ons. PrintPort handles shipping the same way on every order:

Ships from Orange, California. Every box leaves PrintPort’s warehouse, not your address. The return address on the label is PrintPort’s.
Lowest USPS rate, automatically. PrintPort selects the cheapest USPS rate for the package. TikTok Shop orders are the exception: TikTok Shop rejects USPS labels bought outside TikTok Shipping, so they ship on the cheapest UPS rate, usually the same price. There is no carrier override and no shipping-speed picker in Orders.

Services this flow does not include

Shipping does not include signature confirmation, added insurance, or a guaranteed delivery date. There is no interface for any of these, so do not promise them to your customers. Once a package is with USPS, transit time belongs to USPS and is not something PrintPort controls or estimates.

The label is paid for differently depending on order type. On marketplace orders it bills to your connected Shippo account, separately from the card charge. On custom orders your buyer prepaid it. See How you get paid.

What counts as late

PrintPort holds itself to a 72-hour (3-day) ship-by promise, measured from when an order is placed to when it ships. This is an internal deadline about production speed. It is not a carrier delivery date and says nothing about when the package arrives. TikTok Shop orders are held to 48 hours, because TikTok requires a carrier scan within two business days; they ship on UPS.

In your Orders book, that window appears on the order row as one of three states:

The Orders page with Action required, In production, Late, Fulfilled, and All tabs, and order rows showing statuses like Payment declined, Refund requested, and Held for approval alongside their action buttons. — The Orders book groups late orders under their own Late tab, while row problems that require your attention surface under Action required with a one-tap action.

The three delivery-window states, derived from the internal 72-hour ship-by SLA.

Window state	What the row shows	Do you act?
On track	Ships <date> — comfortably inside the window	No
At risk	~<date> — nearing the deadline (around 50 hours in, ~70% of the window)	No
Late	Late — past the 72-hour promise; a Late tab appears so these are easy to find	Usually no

On track
What the row shows
Ships <date> — comfortably inside the window
Do you act?No
At risk
What the row shows
~<date> — nearing the deadline (around 50 hours in, ~70% of the window)
Do you act?No
Late
What the row shows
Late — past the 72-hour promise; a Late tab appears so these are easy to find
Do you act?Usually no

Late orders are rarely your responsibility

A late order almost never means you need to act. It signals that PrintPort is behind on its promise, and those orders are moved to the front of the queue. No reason for the delay is shown; you see the outcome, not the cause. The exception is an order stuck on something that is genuinely yours, such as a declined card or an unmatched product. Those surface separately under Action required with their own one-tap action. See Fix order problems.

Because the promise is measured to shipment, an order can be on track and still be a few days from your customer’s door. USPS transit happens after the ship-by clock stops.

Setting delivery expectations

Because there is no in-app scan feed and no signature or insurance on this flow, communicate only what you can reliably deliver. A fair framing:

Handling time: PrintPort aims to ship within about five days of the order. Present this as a target and add USPS transit on top.
Tracking: a USPS tracking number once the order ships, viewable on the carrier’s own page.
Do not promise a guaranteed arrival date, signature delivery, or insured or expedited shipping. None of these exist in this flow.

Lost, damaged, or wrong-address deliveries route to Support

If something goes wrong in transit, the order shows Delivery problem and the only action is Get help with this, which opens a Support ticket for that order. There is no self-serve reship, address correction, or insurance claim in the Orders page; a person handles it. See Refunds & replacements and Getting support.

Shipping updates reach you in two ways. Your Orders book refreshes live, so a shipped or delivered order updates on its own without a reload. In addition, order and shipping alerts are sent by email (on by default) and mobile push; the in-app bell today carries only Studio design-completion notices. Manage these in Notifications.

Next steps

Order statusesEvery status label, including Shipped, Delivered, and Delivery problem, and what each means.The Orders pageYour exception-first order book: the Action required, In production, Late, Fulfilled, and All tabs.Fix order problemsDeclined cards, unmatched SKUs, and where the one-tap actions live.Refunds & replacementsHow a refund or reship request is submitted and reviewed.How fulfillment worksThe full path from a sale to a shipped box.NotificationsThe bell, live updates, and email and push alerts.

What tracking includes#

The order journey#

How orders ship#

What counts as late#

Setting delivery expectations#