Plans: All plans | Platforms: All platforms
Overview
Every shipment in Fulfillments sits in one of four submenus: Awaiting shipment, Shipped, On hold, or Canceled. The actions available to you change with the submenu, because a shipment that has not shipped yet supports different work from one that is already with the carrier.
You can run almost every action in two places:
From a list, on one shipment or on many at once
From a single shipment's details page, when one shipment needs individual attention
This article covers what each action does, when you can use it, and what happens afterward.
Actions available in each submenu
Select one or more shipments in a list to raise the action bar above the table. Actions that do not apply to that submenu do not appear.
Submenu | Actions in the action bar | UI |
Awaiting shipment | Create label, Print, Hold, Bulk update, and the overflow menu, which holds Mark as shipped, Combine shipments, Split shipment, Cancel shipments, Add tags, and Remove tags | 
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Shipped | Print label, Print packing slip, Void label, and Reship, | 
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On hold | Release hold, Print packing slip, Bulk update, and the overflow menu, which holds Cancel shipments, Add tags, and Remove tags | 
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Canceled | Restore, Add tags, and Remove tags | 
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Bulk update lets you change shared details across your selection in one pass: Ship date, Ship-from location, Total weight, Package, Carrier service, Hold reason, and your custom fields.
Selection rules
Two actions depend on how many shipments you can select:
Split shipment works on one shipment at a time. It appears dimmed when you select more than one.
Combine shipments needs at least two shipments.
Create and print labels
A. Buying shipping labels is the main path through Awaiting shipment, and you can complete it without leaving the list.
Open Awaiting shipment and select the Ready to ship tab. Every shipment on this tab has the information a label needs.
Select the shipments you want to process.
Select Create label, then choose one of the following:
Create and print label to buy the labels and open the print dialog
Create label to buy the labels without printing them yet
B. Each shipment needs 4 things before AfterShip Shipping can buy a label:
a ship-from location,
a ship-to location (complete recipient address),
a package with a weight, and
a carrier service with a rate.
C. Shipments that fail these checks are skipped in a bulk run, and the reason appears inline on the shipment details page.
If a carrier fails to return a rate, AfterShip Shipping shows only the rates it received. When the service you selected earlier is among the failures, the shipment falls back to the cheapest available rate and shows a notice so you can see what changed before you continue.
What happens after a label is purchased
The shipment moves to Shipped.
The tracking number is saved on the shipment.
The fulfillment and tracking details sync back to your store, so the source order updates are fulfilled.
The print label stays available on the Shipped list for reprints. When you print more than one label, you can merge the files into a single PDF or print each label individually, and you can select the option to print packing slips in the same run.
Hold and release a shipment
Use Hold when a shipment should not ship yet, but you do not want to cancel it. Only you can place a shipment on hold. The system never holds a shipment automatically.
Hold is available only before you buy a label, which means on the Awaiting shipment list or on an unlabeled shipment's details page.
To hold a shipment:
Select the shipments you want to pause, then select Hold.
Choose a Hold reason:
Inventory out of stock
Incorrect address
High risk of fraud
Awaiting payment
Other
If you choose Other, describe the situation in Reason details.
Confirm the hold.
The shipments move to the On hold submenu, and the reason appears both in the list and on each shipment's details page.
While a shipment is on hold you can still get rates and edit its details, which makes On hold a practical place to fix an address or wait on stock. You cannot buy a label until you release the hold.
To release a shipment, select Release hold from the On hold list or from the shipment's details page. The shipment returns to Awaiting shipment and the hold reason clears.
Holds stay inside AfterShip Shipping. Your store never sees the hold, so the source order is unaffected.
Cancel and restore a shipment
Cancel is available on Awaiting shipment and On hold. You can cancel a held shipment directly, without releasing the hold first.
Select the shipments you want to cancel, then select Cancel shipments.
Select the cancellation reason.
If you choose Other, describe the situation in Reason details.
Confirm in the dialog.
Canceled shipments keep all their data and move to the Canceled submenu with a cancel reason.
The reason records either that your team canceled the shipment or that the source order was canceled or refunded in your store.
To bring a shipment back, select it in Canceled and select Restore. It returns to Awaiting shipment with the carrier, service, and rate you selected earlier still in place. AfterShip Shipping does not re-rate the shipment until you change something that affects the rate.
Mark a shipment as Shipped
Use Mark as shipped when a shipment left your warehouse without a label bought in AfterShip Shipping, for example when you handed the parcel to a courier directly.
Select the shipments, then select Mark as shipped from the overflow menu.
For each shipment, add a Tracking number and a Carrier if you have them. Both are optional.
Confirm.
The shipment moves to Shipped with the label status Manually shipped. The ship date is set automatically to today in your organization's time zone, so the dialog does not ask for one.
The shipping details you enter here stay in AfterShip Shipping. They are not synced back to AfterShip Tracking or your store.
Void a label
Void label is available on Shipped for shipments with a purchased label.
Select the shipments, then select Void label.
Click Void to confirm.
AfterShip Shipping voids the label and requests a refund from the carrier when that carrier supports refunds.
The shipment returns to Awaiting shipment, and the fulfillment in your store is reverted so the order no longer shows as fulfilled.
Reship an order
Use Reship when a customer needs a replacement for something you already sent.
Select the shipment on the Shipped list, then select Reship.
Select the reship reason.
Click Reship to confirm.
AfterShip Shipping creates a new shipment that reuses the original order number, so you can process the replacement as normal work.
The original shipment stays in Shipped and picks up a Reshipped tag. Both shipments link back to the same original order, which keeps the history together when you or your support team review the order later.
Manage a shipment from the details page
Select any row to open a single shipment. Use the details page when a shipment needs individual attention rather than as your main workflow. Every action above is available here through More actions at the top right.
Submenu | What the details page gives you |
Awaiting shipment | Edit items and customs information, the package and weight, and both addresses. Compare rates and select Show all rates to see every result. Create and print label is the main button. More actions holds Print packing slip, Mark as shipped, Hold shipment, and Cancel shipment. |
Shipped | Review the label and tracking panel. Print label is the main button. More actions holds Print packing slip, Void label, and Reship. |
On hold | A banner shows the hold reason, and Release hold is the main button. |
Validation errors appear inline with a link to the field that needs attention, so a message such as an incomplete customs declaration takes you straight to the fix.
Three areas appear on every details page:
Timeline records each action taken on the shipment, so you can see who did what and when. You can also leave comments and mention teammates. Comments are visible only to members of your organization and never appear in anything your customer receives.
Tags let you label a shipment for your own workflows.
Custom fields hold up to three values you define. Both tags and custom fields work as list filters and as columns.
Things to Know
You cannot hold a shipment after it reaches Shipped. Void the label first if you need to stop it.
You can cancel a shipment from Awaiting shipment or On hold only.
Restore keeps the carrier, service, and rate you selected before the cancellation.
Holds are internal. They are never pushed to your store.
Comments on the timeline are internal and are excluded from customer-facing output.
Need Help?
If you have any questions, contact our support team through live chat or email us at [email protected].