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How to find paid Shopify orders that never reached ShipBob
Updated 16 October 2026 · 5 min read · ShelfTrue team
A paid Shopify order that never reaches ShipBob never ships, and nothing tells you: Shopify shows it as unfulfilled, and ShipBob doesn't know it exists. If orders seem stuck between Shopify and your 3PL, here is how to find them, what ShipBob's status tells you, and the usual reasons an order never arrives.
Find the paid orders that haven't shipped
- In Shopify admin, open Orders.
- Add two filters: payment status Paid and fulfillment status Unfulfilled. Save the view so you can open it again in one click.
- Sort with the oldest first. An order paid more than a day ago that is still unfulfilled is the one to check.
- For each of those orders, search ShipBob's orders for the Shopify order number.
If ShipBob has the order, it arrived, and its status at ShipBob says why it hasn't shipped (next section). If ShipBob has no order with that number, it never arrived (the section after).
If ShipBob has the order: what its status means
| ShipBob status | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Processing | Being picked, packed or labelled. | Nothing yet. Check again tomorrow. |
| On hold | Not ready to ship, even if the stock is there. A reason is given, such as Invalid address. | Fix what the reason names. See what each hold reason means. |
| Exception | Can't ship as it is, for example because an item is out of stock or inactive. | Restock, or fix the product, then the order can go. |
| Fulfilled | Every shipment has left ShipBob. | If Shopify still shows the order unfulfilled after a day, ask ShipBob support. |
| Cancelled | It will not be shipped. | Check with the customer, and refund or send the order again. |
If ShipBob doesn't have the order: the usual reasons
The order is assigned to another location
Shopify assigns each online order to a location, based on your order routing settings and where the stock is. If the order went to a location ShipBob doesn't ship from, ShipBob never sees it. Open the order and look at which location it's assigned to. If it's wrong, check your order routing settings so new orders go to the right place.
The order is on hold in Shopify
You, a staff member or an app can put an order's fulfillment on hold, for example when an order is flagged as a fraud risk. Its status shows On hold, its stock stays set aside, and it can't be fulfilled until the hold is released. If the hold is no longer needed, open the order and click Release hold.
The payment isn't captured yet
Orders marked Authorized or Pending are not paid yet, and an authorized payment has to be captured before it expires. Depending on how your store is set up, these orders may not go to the warehouse until the payment is captured.
The connection to ShipBob stopped
If it's not one order but every order since a certain time, the link between your store and ShipBob may have stopped. Check that ShipBob is still connected to your store, then ask ShipBob support to bring in the missing orders.
How often to look
Once a day is enough for most stores. Look more often during a sale or a busy season, when a stuck order turns into an unhappy customer fastest.
Related guides
- Why Shopify stock doesn't match ShipBob (and how to find which products)
- Shopify oversold but ShipBob has none: what to check first
- Shopify says sold out but ShipBob has stock
- ShipBob orders on hold, and why they make stock numbers differ
- Available, on hand, fulfillable: which stock numbers to compare
- How to check Shopify stock against ShipBob after Black Friday
- Shopify inventory discrepancy: how to find it, fix it and keep it from coming back
- Shopify Available vs On hand vs Committed: which number to trust
- Cin7 Core and Shopify stock don't match: what to check
- Katana and Shopify stock don't match: what to check
- Mintsoft and Shopify stock don't match: what to check
- Inventory reconciliation for a Shopify store: a routine you can keep
- How to move Shopify inventory to a third-party warehouse, step by step
ShelfTrue does the stock part of this check for you. Upload your warehouse's stock file and ShelfTrue compares it with Shopify at least once an hour on paid plans. 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 list paid orders ShipBob hasn't received after 24 hours. We can look, but never change anything at the warehouse.
Your first check is free.
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