Can I use my earnings to fulfill orders on Shopify?

[PaulLee5122]

Hi,

I was wondering if I could use the money that I get paid on my shopify to fulfill my orders? Is that possible?

Would that mean fulfillment processes and delivery time is longer and delayed by any chance?

Because I heard that payouts are from 23-72 hours long. Would I be able to do this?

Thank you.

[Greta]

Hi there, @PaulLee5122!

Great question. There are a few different ways that businesses go about paying for and fulfilling orders. Some people will only start their business once they have enough money to pay for a large number of orders upfront, and like you mentioned, some people use the money they receive with each order to pay for the items their customer purchased. You can decide whichever method works best for you and your business!

You're correct in that you won't receive the funds from your Shopify payout instantly, so there would be a slight delay in your ability to fulfill your orders if you wanted to use those funds. If you're using Shopify Payments, you can check out this help document to see what the pay period (the amount of time between the day a customer places an order on your store, and the day the funds from that order are sent to your bank account) is for your country. If you're located in the US, you can sign up for Shopify Balance and receive your earnings in as little as one business day! If you're using a third-party payment processor, you'd want to get in touch with them to see what their pay period is. 

If you wanted to go this route, you should make it clear on your site that items won't be shipped right away, and that fulfillment could take a few days (or a week or another amount of time, whatever you're comfortable with). I recommend checking out our "How to create a shipping policy" Shopify blog post which includes templates and examples of what you should include. 

I hope this information helps! Please let me know if you have any more questions.