ShipStation

Overview

ShipStation is a popular 3PL (third-party logistics) company used by many merchants. ShipStation does not read live edits, meaning order changes must be synced before ShipStation downloads the order.

How ShipStation Downloads Orders

ShipStation downloads orders when the payment status is "Paid" in Shopify.

Integration method required: Delayed Payment Capture Flow

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DELAYED_Order Editing_ Master Flow.flow
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How the Integration Works

Order Flow with Order Editing:

  1. Order created → Customer completes checkout

  2. Payment authorized → Payment status remains "Authorized" (not "Paid")

  3. Grace period active → Customer can edit their order (e.g., 30 minutes)

  4. ShipStation does not download → Order not visible because status isn't "Paid"

  5. Grace period ends → Editing window expires

  6. Payment captured → Order Editing captures the payment

  7. Status updates to "Paid" → Order now shows as paid in Shopify

  8. ShipStation downloads order → Order sent to ShipStation with all edits included

Setting Up ShipStation Integration

Step 1: Enable Payment Capture Setting in Shopify

Required for Delayed Payment Capture Flow

  1. Go to Shopify Admin > Settings > Payments

  2. Change Payment capture method from Automatically at checkout to Automatically after fulfillment

  3. Click Save

Why "Automatically after fulfillment"? This allows Shopify Flow to control when payments are captured, creating the editing window while still automating the capture process.

Step 2: Set Up Delayed Payment Capture Flow

  1. Navigate to Shopify Admin > Apps > Shopify Flow

  2. Create or import the Delayed Payment Capture Flow template

  3. Configure the Flow to match your editing deadline (e.g., 30 minutes)

  4. Activate the Flow

Required ShipStation Settings

Map Payment Statuses to Prevent Early Shipping

To ensure Order Editing and ShipStation integrate correctly, you need to configure ShipStation to NOT ship orders that are partially paid or authorized. This prevents orders in the editing window from being processed.

Settings to configure:

  1. Map "authorized" to Awaiting Payment

  2. Map "partially_paid" to Awaiting Payment

This ensures ShipStation won't attempt to ship orders until they're fully paid (after the editing period).

How to Configure Payment Status Mapping in ShipStation:

Step-by-Step Instructions:

  1. Open ShipStation

  2. Go to Settings

  3. Click Store Setup

  4. Select Edit Store Details (next to your Shopify store)

  5. Scroll to Order Status Mapping section

  6. Map "authorized" to "Awaiting Payment"

  7. Map "partially_paid" to "Awaiting Payment"

  8. Click Save

Reference: ShipStation Shopify Integration Guide

Testing Your Integration

Required Tests:

Before going live, test the following scenarios to ensure ShipStation integration works correctly:

Test 1: Removal of Products

  1. Place a test order with multiple items

  2. During editing window, remove one or more products

  3. Wait for editing period to expire

  4. Verify ShipStation receives order with correct items (removed products should not appear)

Test 2: Shipping Method Upgrades

  1. Place a test order with standard shipping

  2. During editing window, upgrade to express shipping

  3. Wait for editing period to expire

  4. Verify ShipStation shows the upgraded shipping method

General Test Flow:

  1. Place test order

  2. Check ShipStation immediately → Order should NOT appear

  3. Make edits during editing window

  4. Wait for editing period to expire

  5. Check ShipStation → Order should now appear with all edits

Important Settings Summary

In Shopify:

  • Payment capture: Automatically after fulfillment

  • Shopify Flow: Delayed Payment Capture Flow active

  • Editing Deadline: Configured in Order Editing Settings

In ShipStation:

  • Order Status Mapping:

  • "authorized" → Awaiting Payment

  • "partially_paid" → Awaiting Payment. Printing Settings: Hide 0 quantity items enabled. (Optional) Map Multiple Fulfillments enabled to hide duplicates

Common ShipStation Issues and Solutions

Issue 1: ShipStation Importing Removed Items

Problem: When a customer removes an item from their order, ShipStation still displays it on the packing slip as a "0 quantity" item.

Why this happens: ShipStation reads the original order data and shows removed items with zero quantity.

Solution: Hide zero quantity items in ShipStation printing settings.

How to Fix:

  1. Open ShipStation

  2. Go to Settings

This prevents removed items from appearing on packing slips and pick lists.

Reference: ShipStation Custom Packing Slips Guide

Issue 2: Packing Slip Showing Order Editing Tags

Problem: ShipStation packing slips display additional formatting or extra text on edited SKUs, showing tags or codes from Order Editing changes.

Example: SKU might show as "SHIRT-BLU-M [OE_EDITED]" instead of just "SHIRT-BLU-M"

Why this happens: ShipStation imports metadata and tags that Order Editing uses to track changes.

Solution: Contact Order Editing support to connect you with our ShipStation representative who can help remove these tags from packing slips.

How to Fix: Reach out to Order Editing support and mention you're seeing Order Editing tags on ShipStation packing slips. We'll connect you with our ShipStation representative to configure your account and remove these tags.

Visual Reference: Example of tags appearing on packing slips

Issue 3: Duplicate Order Numbers in ShipStation

Problem: Merchant sees multiple orders with the same order number in ShipStation.

Why this happens: When an order is edited, Shopify creates and sends an updated version of the order to ShipStation. It retains the same order number to ensure ShipStation recognizes and ships the correct order. The various "duplicates" are purely visual.

Impact: These duplicates will NOT affect fulfillment or how the order is processed. Everything flows through ShipStation as expected—only one order will actually ship.

Solution: Enable ShipStation's "Map Multiple Fulfillments" setting to hide visual duplicates.

How to Fix: Contact ShipStation Support and request they enable the "Map Multiple Fulfillments" setting for your account. This will consolidate duplicate order numbers into a single view.

Note: This is a ShipStation-side setting that only they can enable.

Issue 4: Orders Appearing in ShipStation Immediatelys

Problem: Orders download to ShipStation right after checkout, before editing window ends

Solutions:

  1. Verify payment capture is set to "Automatically after fulfillment" in Shopify

  2. Check that Shopify Flow is active and configured correctly

  3. Confirm "authorized" and "partially_paid" are mapped to "Awaiting Payment" in ShipStation

  4. Test with a new order to verify timing

Issue 5: Orders Not Appearing in ShipStation After Grace Period

Problem: Orders stuck and not downloading to ShipStation after editing window

Solutions:

  1. Check that payment is being captured (order status changes to "Paid")

  2. Verify Shopify Flow is triggering payment capture

  3. Confirm ShipStation is connected to Shopify properly

  4. Check ShipStation's order import settings

Issue 6: Edits Not Reflecting in ShipStations

Problem: Order downloads but changes made during editing don't show

Solutions:

  1. Verify edits were saved in Shopify before grace period ended

  2. Check that ShipStation imported the latest version of the order

  3. Look for duplicate orders in ShipStation—the most recent one should have correct data

  4. Contact ShipStation support if issue persists

FAQ?

How do we integrate?

What is Shopify Flow?

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