How do I know which orders are due to ship today?
An order is due today when the store's clock on it ends today. eBay counts handling time in business days from payment to the carrier scan, Shopify's open fulfillment orders are the ones still owed, and WooCommerce's processing list is paid and awaiting fulfilment. Sort by deadline, not by order date.
eBay: the clock ends at a carrier scan
eBay measures handling time in business days, and you choose whether Saturdays and Sundays count, depending on when you actually ship. It begins when you receive payment for the item and ends when your package is scanned by your shipping carrier, not when you print the label.
One-day handling is not 24 hours, it is the end of the next business day: paid Monday means scanned by Tuesday 11:59pm, and a purchase between Friday and Sunday means scanned by Monday 11:59pm. eBay recommends setting handling time at no more than 2 days.
Shopify: read the fulfillment order, not the order
One Shopify order can hold several fulfillment orders, one for each assigned location, and each is fulfilled on its own. The ones due are the ones with status OPEN. SCHEDULED and ON_HOLD are not yours yet, and neither responds to a bulk action. Release the hold, or change the fulfilment date on the order, before the order joins a batch.
WooCommerce: processing is the queue
WooCommerce defines processing as payment received, stock reduced, and the order awaiting fulfilment. That list is your work. On hold means the order is awaiting payment confirmation, pending payment means no payment has been made, and completed means the order has been fulfilled and is complete.
| Store | Due today | Leave alone |
|---|---|---|
| eBay | Paid orders whose handling time ends today, counted in business days | Orders the carrier has already scanned |
| Shopify | Fulfillment orders with status OPEN and no hold | SCHEDULED, ON_HOLD, CLOSED, CANCELED |
| WooCommerce | Orders in processing | pending payment, on-hold, completed, cancelled |
Turn three lists into one queue
Sort by deadline, not by order date. A one-day eBay order placed this morning outranks a three-day order from yesterday.
Put the scored deadline first. eBay's handling time feeds seller performance, so it is the one with a consequence attached to it.
Release Shopify holds before you batch, because held and scheduled fulfillment orders cannot be bulk processed.
Drop WooCommerce orders that are on hold or pending payment. They are not owed until payment is confirmed.
Re-check for cancellations immediately before you print, so no label is bought against an order that went away.
Weekends and holidays are not included in eBay's estimated delivery dates, so a Friday order is not automatically late by Monday. What decides it is whether your handling time included Saturdays and Sundays.
Key takeaways
- eBay's clock stops at the carrier scan, not at the printer.
- Shopify's unit of work is the fulfillment order, one per assigned location.
- WooCommerce processing is the queue. On hold and pending payment are not.
- Sort by deadline, and release holds before you batch.
One due-today queue across the stores you connect
eBay and Shopify orders land in The Workbench within minutes of payment, and WooCommerce orders arrive on the scheduled sync, each carrying its store, its status and what it is still owed.
You filter to what is due, price USPS and UPS across the batch, and print one merged PDF with the pick list and packing slips. The Workbench is part of Pro. eBay is available now; Shopify and WooCommerce connections are in early access.
Related questions
Only if you say so. Handling time is measured in business days and you can include Saturdays, Sundays, both or neither, depending on when you actually ship. eBay separately excludes weekends and holidays from estimated delivery dates, so the date the buyer sees moves with the calendar rather than with your settings.
On its scheduled fulfilment date. Until then it will not respond to a bulk action at all. To ship it early, open the individual order details page and change the fulfilment date, and it joins the open queue from there.
WooCommerce defines completed as fulfilled and complete, so the honest moment is when the parcel is handed over. Marking orders completed as you print makes the queue look clear while boxes are still sitting on the bench, and that is the usual reason a parcel goes two days with nobody chasing it.
Printing is not shipping. eBay's handling time ends at the carrier scan, so a label on a bench does not stop the clock. See Shipping label created, not yet in system for what that status means and when it turns into a problem.
Ours arrive within minutes of payment on eBay and Shopify, through the store's order webhooks, with a scheduled sync every 10 to 15 minutes behind them as a backstop. WooCommerce has no webhooks in our connection, so Woo orders come in on the scheduled sync only.