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  3. Manage Orders

Hold, Assign, and Cancel Orders

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ShipStation Content Team

Updated

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.

Put Orders On Hold

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.  

Hold Order Until Specified Date

To put an order on hold until a specified date:

  1. Select the order(s) you wish to put on hold in the Orders grid. 

  2. Click the Hold button.

    Orders grid, Action bar: Red box highlights Hold button.

  3. Select a date from the calendar pop-up.

    Shows date, year of one-month Calendar from Hold Until pop-up. Selected date highlighted in blue. Arrows to move forward & back in time

    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. 

  4. Click Hold Order(s).

    Close up of Hold pop-up. Shows Hold Order Until Date field and Calendar. Red box highlights Hold Order button

ShipStation will move the order into the On Hold status. Click On Hold in the left-hand sidebar to view these orders. 

Orders tab. ​On Hold​​ dropdown in the left-hand sidebar. Arrow points to count of On Hold orders & store

Ship an On Hold Order

To create a label for an order that is on hold:

  1. Go to the On Hold status and select the order(s).

  2. Click the Create + Print Label button.

    ORD_OnHold_CreateLabelBTN_MRK.png

ShipStation will update the order status to Shipped. You can locate the shipment record in the Shipments grid.

Manually Remove Order From Hold

To manually remove an order from being on hold:

  1. Go to the On Hold status and select the order(s). 

  2. Click the Remove Hold button.

    V3 On Hold status screen, Remove Hold button outlined in red.

  3. Click Yes, Remove Hold in the confirmation window.

    Remove Hold pop-up. Red box highlights: Yes, Remove Hold button

    ShipStation will then return the order to the Awaiting Shipment status if ready to ship or the Awaiting Payment status if unpaid. 

Quicksearch & Advanced Search - Remove Hold

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.

V3_ORD_RemoveHold_BTN_MRK.png

Notes about On Hold Orders

  • 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.

    Order Details screen closeup. Shows the Hold Until date at right of the order number.

  • 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.

  • 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.

Assign an Order

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.

To assign orders: 

  1. Go to the Orders grid and select the order(s) you would like to assign. 

  2. Click the Assign To drop-down menu and choose a user.

    Assign To action menu is open and arrow points to a username to select in the list.

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:

  1. Go to the Shipments tab and select the shipment.

  2. Click the Assign To drop-down menu and choose a user.

    Assign To action menu is open and arrow points to a username to select in the list.

    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.

    Order Details shipments action menu is open with the Assign Shipment option highlighted.

  3. Click Assign Shipment.

  4. Click the drop-down menu beside the currently assigned user to select which user to reassign those orders. Then click Update Assignment.

    Update Assignment popup with the user dropdown open, arrow points to another username.

Notes about Assigning Orders

  • Enable the Assigned To column to view order assignments directly in the grid. 

  • You can change assignments at anytime following the above procedure.

  • 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.

Cancel and Restore Orders

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.

Cancel only affects orders in ShipStation

When you cancel an order or fulfillment in ShipStation, it will not affect the status of the order within 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.

Cancel Orders

To cancel manual orders or move orders to the Cancelled status without affecting the order in the selling channel:

  1. Select the order(s) to cancel from the Order grid.

  2. Click Other Action and choose Cancel. 

    An alert will appear for confirmation.

  3. Click Confirm.

    GIF shows how to cancel an Order through the Order Details

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.

Restore Orders

Should you cancel an order by mistake, or need to return an order to the Awaiting Shipment status for any reason:

  1. Select the status of the order you wish to restore from the status sidebar.

  2. Select the order(s) to restore.

  3. Click Restore.

    V3_ORD_CancelledOrders_Restore_MRK.png

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.

Canceled Order Details popup. In Shipping section, red arrow points to Restore button.

Voiding Labels

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.

Hold, Assign, and Cancel Orders Legacy Layout

If you are using ShipStation's Legacy Layout, use these instructions to hold, assign, and cancel orders.

Put Orders On Hold

The Hold action puts orders into the On Hold status until a specified date. This is useful for pre-orders, orders with out of stock products, or delaying orders for any other reason.  

Hold Order Until Specified Date

  1. Select the order(s) you wish to put on hold in the Orders grid. 

  2. Click the Hold button.

    Red arrow points to Hold button in Action menu. Calendar to select Hold date appears when activated.

  3. 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 Awaiting Shipment. 

  4. Click Confirm .

ShipStation will move the order out of the Awaiting Shipment status and into the On Hold status. Click On Hold in the left-hand sidebar to view these orders. 

V2_ORD_SB_OnHold_MRK.png

Hold for Specified Number of Days

You can use a Bulk Action to specify the number of days to hold an order, instead of a specific date.

  1. Select the Orders to put on hold from the Order Grid.

  2. Click Other Actions from the action menu.

    Orders tab. Action menu, with red box highlighting Other Actions dropdown

  3. Select Apply Bulk Actions.

    Orders page, Other Actions dropdown. Red box highlights Apply Bulk Action menu option.

  4. Select Hold the Order for... from the drop-down menu. 

    Bulk Apply Action pop-up: has radio buttons for selected orders or all orders, & menus for Actions to Apply. Green Confirm button at right

  5. Enter the number of days to hold the order for in the text field.

  6. Click Confirm.

Manually Remove Order From Hold

  1. Go to the On Hold status and select the order(s). 

  2. Click the Restore button.

  3. Click Confirm in the confirmation window.

    ShipStation will then return the order to the Awaiting Shipment status. 

Notes About On Hold Orders

  • 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. 

  • The On Hold tag will appear next to the order number in the Order Details screen.

    Order Details screen closeup. Shows the Hold Until date at right of the order number.

  • Use filters and create custom views for On Hold orders. 

  • You can continue to configure shipping and create labels for orders when they are in the On Hold status. 

  • 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.

  • Orders which are put On Hold will be updated to the Cancelled status if ShipStation receives a marketplace update which indicates the order was cancelled.

Assign an Order

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. 

You can assign an order with the Assign action button or with a bulk action.

To assign orders: 

  1. Go to the Orders grid and select the order(s) you'd like to assign. 

  2. Click the Assign drop-down menu and choose a user.

    Orders page Action bar. Red arrow points to Assign dropdown.

Any shipments created for an assigned order will automatically be assigned to the same user.

Assign From Bulk Action Menu

If you need to assign the user to more orders than your page view size, you can use a bulk action to assign the users to all orders in the current view.

First, use search or filters to locate all the orders you want to assign to the user.

  1. Click the Other Actions button and choose Apply Bulk Actions.

    Orders page, Other Actions dropdown. Red box highlights Apply Bulk Action menu option.

  2. Select Assign to a User from the first drop-down menu. 

  3. Select the appropriate user from the second drop-down menu.

  4. Click Confirm.

Notes About Assigned Orders

  • Enable the Assigned To column to view order assignments directly in the grid. 

  • Automate order assignments using Automation Rules so orders are assigned as soon as they import into ShipStation.

  • You can change assignments at anytime following the above procedure.

Cancel and Restore Orders

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.

Important

When you cancel an order in ShipStation, it will not affect the status of the order within your Selling Channel/Marketplace (with the Jet marketplace being the notable exception).

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.

Cancel Orders

To cancel manual orders or move orders to the Cancelled status without affecting the order in the selling channel:

  1. Select the order(s) to cancel from the Order grid.

  2. Click Other Action and choose Cancel. 

    Other Actions dropdown. Red box highlights Cancel option.

    An alert will appear asking for confirmation.

  3. Click Ok, Cancel Order(s).

This process cancels the order in ShipStation. View Cancelled orders by selecting Cancelled in the order status sidebar.

Restore Orders

Should you cancel an order by mistake, or need to return an order to the Awaiting Shipment status for any reason, do the following:

  1. Select the status of the order you wish to restore from the status sidebar.

  2. Select the order(s) to restore.

  3. Click Restore.

    Orders tab. Red box highlights Restore button for Cancelled orders

ShipStation will move the order back to the Awaiting Shipment status.

Voiding Labels

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.

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