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How to check Shopify stock against ShipBob after Black Friday

Updated 19 October 2026 · 5 min read · ShelfTrue team

A big sale moves more orders in four days than most stores see in a month, and every one of them has to travel from Shopify to ShipBob and back. If your stock seemed to fall out of sync between Shopify and your 3PL over Black Friday and Cyber Monday, a short check once the rush is over shows which orders got stuck and which products are now wrong, before the next customer finds out.

When to check

Wait until the sale's orders have had time to reach ShipBob: the morning after the last sale day is a good time. Checking in the middle of the rush shows differences that are only orders on their way. Have Shopify admin and ShipBob open side by side.

Short on time? The after-sale checklist has the same steps on one printable page.

1. Orders first

A paid order that hasn't shipped is a customer waiting right now, so start here.

In Shopify admin, open Orders and filter on payment status Paid and fulfillment status Unfulfilled. Sort with the oldest first.
For each order paid more than a day ago, search ShipBob's orders for the Shopify order number. If ShipBob doesn't have it, it never arrived (how to find them and why it happens).
In ShipBob, look at the orders On hold and Exception, oldest first, and fix the reason each one gives (what each reason means).
In Shopify, look for orders whose fulfillment is On hold. A hold placed during the sale and never released keeps its stock set aside.

2. Undo what you changed for the sale

Continue selling when out of stock. If you turned it on to keep a bestseller selling, turn it off again on the product page unless you meant it for preorders.
Hand edits. A number typed into Shopify during the rush stays there until something changes it.
Apps and sales channels added for the sale. A preorder app, a pop-up till or a new channel can keep changing Shopify's number after the sale ends.

3. Compare the stock

In Shopify admin, go to Products › Inventory, click Export, pick the location ShipBob ships from, and choose All states.
From ShipBob, get the same products' fulfillable numbers.
Match the two lists by product code (SKU) and add a column: Shopify Available minus ShipBob Fulfillable (why these two numbers).
Sort by that column, then look at the rows in the order below.

What you see	What it means	What to do
Shopify Available below 0	Customers bought units nobody had. These orders are waiting for stock.	Decide for each order: wait for stock or refund, and tell the customer now (orders already oversold).
Shopify higher than ShipBob	Customers can still buy units ShipBob can't ship.	Lower Shopify to what ShipBob can ship, fastest sellers first.
Shopify 0, ShipBob has stock	Sold out in your store while the warehouse could ship it.	Find why, then put it back on sale (the usual reasons).
Off by 1 or 2 on a fast seller	Often orders still on their way.	Look again later before changing anything.

Why the numbers drift during a sale

Nothing has to break for Shopify and ShipBob to disagree after a sale. More orders means more of them sit between the two systems at any moment, more get held for an address or a payment, and more stock gets moved between ShipBob's warehouses to keep up. Most of these clear by themselves within a day. The six usual causes explain each one. The ones that don't clear are what this check finds.

Timing, or a real difference?

If a product is off by the same amount on two looks a few hours apart, after the orders in between have reached ShipBob, the difference is real. Open the product, click View adjustment history in the Inventory section, and read the Created by column to see which staff member, app or channel changed the number. Then correct Shopify, or ask ShipBob to recount if you think their number is the wrong one.

Returns

Returns from the sale start arriving in the weeks after it. A returned unit usually counts as stock again only after the warehouse has received and checked it, so a product can look short at ShipBob for a while and then come back. Do this check again a week or two later.

Related guides

ShelfTrue does this check for you, at least once an hour on paid plans, not only after a sale. Upload your warehouse's stock file and ShelfTrue compares it with Shopify. It tells you which products are at risk of overselling and which are sold out in Shopify while the warehouse has stock. Coming soon: connect ShipBob directly, and ShelfTrue will read its stock for you, allow for orders on the way and on hold, and list paid orders ShipBob never received. We can look, but never change anything at the warehouse.

Your first check is free.

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