Instructions for canceling orders, assigning orders to a user on your ShipStation account, or put an order on hold.
When you manage orders, you may need to put some orders on hold, assign certain orders to specific users on your ShipStation account, or cancel the order in ShipStation to remove it from Awaiting Shipment or Awaiting Payment without shipping it.
The Hold action puts orders into the On Hold status until a specified date. This is useful for pre-orders, out of stock products, or delaying orders for any other reason.
To put an order on hold until a specified date:
-
Select the order(s) you wish to put on hold in the Orders grid.
-
Click the Hold button.
-
Select a date from the calendar pop-up.
ShipStation will keep the order in the On Hold status until this date, and then automatically move the order back to the Awaiting Shipment status.
-
Click Hold Order(s).
ShipStation will move the order into the On Hold status. Click On Hold in the left-hand sidebar to view these orders.
When you find an order in the On Hold status via Quicksearch or Advanced Search, you can use the Remove Hold button to quickly move them out of the On Hold status. Select the order(s) you want to move out of On Hold status and click Remove Hold.
-
You can continue to configure shipping and create labels for orders when they are in the On Hold status.
-
The On Hold tag will appear next to the order number in the Order Details screen.
-
Use Automation Rules to automate putting orders on hold. Review the Automation Rules article for details.
-
Add the Hold Until column to show the Hold Until date in the Orders grid.
-
Use filters and create custom views for On Hold orders.
-
Some stores, like Magento, can import orders directly into the On Hold status. Automation rules will not run on these orders until they move to the Awaiting Shipment status.
-
When Shopify imports orders into the On Hold status, the QTY is set to 0 until the status changes to Awaiting Shipment. If you have Automation rules using Order Subtotal, Order Total, Order Weight, or Total Quantity as criteria, this will cause the rules to not run on these orders.
-
Orders that are On Hold will be updated to the Cancelled status if ShipStation receives a marketplace update indicating the order was cancelled.
-
Orders that imported as Awaiting Payment and have not been paid will move to Awaiting Shipment when removed from On Hold status.
Use the Hold option in Order Details to place an individual shipment on hold until a specified date. This is useful when you need to ship part of an order right away, but part of the order will not be shipped until a future date, such as when an item is out of stock or pre-ordered. Learn how to split orders into multiple shipments.
Available in the New Order Details
Placing individual shipments On Hold is only available when using the new Order Details view.
To hold an individual shipment:
-
Open the Order Details screen by clicking the order number or by double-clicking the order record in the Orders Grid.
-
Select the shipment you wish to place on hold.
-
Click Set Date under Hold Until. Then, select the date from the calendar.
ShipStation will keep the shipment in the On Hold status until this date and then automatically move the shipment back to the Awaiting Shipment status. If needed, you can change the Hold Until date at any time.
To ship a shipment that has been placed on hold:
-
Open the Order Details screen by clicking the order number or by double-clicking the order record in the Orders Grid.
-
Select the shipment.
-
Configure the shipment. Then, click Create & Print Label.
To remove a shipment from the Hold status:
Assign orders to other users on your ShipStation account so your staff always knows what to work on. Used in conjunction with User Permissions, you can ensure all your staff knows what they should be working on as soon as they log in.
Use Automation to Assign Orders
Automation rules can also assign orders to your users as the orders import.
To learn how to automate the assign orders process, see our Automation Rules article.
Any shipments created for an assigned order will automatically be assigned to the same user.
To assign the shipments to a different user, do the following after the shipment has been created:
-
Go to the Shipments tab and select the shipment.
-
Click the Assign To drop-down menu and choose a user.
Alternately, open the Order Details screen and click the action menu for the shipment (shown in red in the image below) in the Shipping Sidebar.
-
Click Assign Shipment.
-
Click the drop-down menu beside the currently assigned user to select which user to reassign those orders. Then click Update Assignment.
-
Enable the Assigned To column to view order assignments directly in the grid.
-
You can change assignments at any time following the above procedure.
-
When you assign an order to one of your users, the Order Detail’s Shipment Activity will log and show that assignee. This lets you easily see if an order was reassigned from one user to another.
-
Automate order assignments using Automation Rules so orders are assigned as soon as they import into ShipStation.
-
Any shipment records created from an assigned order will automatically be assigned to the same user. However, you can change which user the shipment is assigned to at any time without affecting the order assignment.
You can cancel orders if you are not going to ship them and need them removed from the Awaiting Shipment status. You can also restore orders in ShipStation if they were canceled by mistake.
If you are trying to cancel a fulfillment request, see our Cancel fulfillment article for instructions.
To cancel manual orders or move orders to the Cancelled status without affecting the order in the selling channel:
This process cancels the order in ShipStation. View Cancelled orders by selecting Cancelled in the order status sidebar.
You can then void the label and request a refund of the postage cost from your carrier. The order will still be cancelled even if the label cannot be voided by the carrier.
Should you cancel an order by mistake, or need to return an order to the Awaiting Shipment status for any reason:
ShipStation will move the order back to the Awaiting Shipment status.
Alternatively, you can also open the Order Details screen for the cancelled order, then click the Restore button in the sidebar.
-
If you cancel an order or fulfillment in ShipStation, it won't change the order status on your Selling Channel or Fulfillment Provider.
-
To completely cancel an order, it is best practice to cancel it from the selling channel. ShipStation will update the order as Canceled the next time you import orders from that store. Once the system marks an order as canceled, it stops receiving updates from the marketplace.
-
If you do not wish to cancel the order, but instead just cancel the shipment, you can do so by voiding the label. Voiding the label will remove the shipment from the order and move the order back to the Awaiting Shipment status.