Ship a physical item
The shipping queue for physical items: the fan's address, carrier and tracking, delivery, and when the address is removed.
What it's for
Some clients sell physical items to fans, such as worn clothing or signed photos. A Physical item request carries what is needed to ship it: the item, its size, the fan's shipping address, the carrier, the tracking number, the dates and the shipping cost. A fan's home address is the most private thing the app holds, so only people whose role allows it can read it, every time someone opens it is written down, and it is removed on its own a set time after the item arrives.
The creator packs and posts the item herself. While it is To pack, she can open the fan's address in her portal. The parcel uses the agency's return address, never the creator's own.
Before you start
- You're signed in as an Administrator. (Your role needs See and manage shipping addresses, see Roles.)
- There is an approved Physical item request (see Submit a content request). For a test, use a made-up address such as "Sam Tester, 1 Test Street, Austin, TX 73301, US", never a real one.
- The client of that creator has Sells items ticked (see Clients), so it has an Items tab.
Steps
Open the shipping queue
Click Management → Clients, open the client and click the Items tab. Items are split into three tabs, each with its count:
- To pack: the request is approved (or In progress, Ready) and the item hasn't left yet.
- Shipped: the item was marked sent, but hasn't arrived yet.
- Delivered: the item arrived.
Requests still Submitted, and Declined or Cancelled ones, are not in the queue. The columns are Item (with "for" and the fan; click it to open the request), Creator, Ship to, Carrier and tracking (on Shipped and Delivered) and the date: the due date on To pack, the shipped or delivered date on the others. Ship to shows the address only as the fan's first name and city, for example "Sam · Austin, TX, US".
Read the Shipping card
On the request page, the Shipping card has a badge (To pack, Shipped or Delivered) and the item and size under its title. Its rows:
- Ship to: "Address on file · Sam · Austin, TX, US", No address yet, or "Address removed on" and the date.
- Carrier and tracking: the tracking number links to the carrier's own tracking page.
- Shipped · delivered: the two dates.
- Shipping cost: the amount and who paid it, for example "$12.50 · paid by Agency". Who paid is Fan (included in the price), Agency or Creator.
- Return address on the parcel: the agency's return address, while the item is To pack.
With no address yet, the card says "Add the fan's shipping address before marking this sent."
Show the full address
Click Show address. The full address appears, with "Your view of this address was logged." Each time you click it, the app writes down who looked and when (never the address itself). Click Hide address to hide it again.
Change the shipping details
Click Edit shipping. You can change the item, the size, the address, the Carrier (USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL or Other), the tracking number, Shipping cost (USD, optional) and Who pays shipping. The address is in a box called Shipping address. Click Save shipping: the message Shipping details saved. shows.
Mark it sent
When the creator has posted the item, the chatter (or you) clicks Mark sent on the request. The window Mark this item sent? asks for the Carrier and the Tracking number. The tracking number is required for every carrier except Other (Tracking number (optional)). The item moves to Shipped.
An item with no address can't be marked sent: the window says "There is no shipping address on file. Add it on the request page first." and its button is greyed out.
Mark it delivered
When the item has arrived, click Mark delivered on the Shipping card. A window asks Mark this item delivered?: "It moves to Delivered with today's date. The fan's address and the tracking number are removed 30 days later." Confirm: the message Marked delivered. shows. Only people whose role can see and manage shipping addresses have this button.
What you should see
- The Items tab shows To pack, Shipped and Delivered with their counts. Empty tabs say Nothing to pack, Nothing on its way or Nothing delivered yet.
- Lists show only "first name · city", never the street or the postal code.
- After Show address, the full address and "Your view of this address was logged."
- After Mark sent: the item on Shipped, with the carrier and a tracking link.
- After Mark delivered: the item on Delivered, with the delivered date.
If something is missing or wrong, a red message explains it:
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| Enter the recipient's name. | Fill in Recipient name. |
| Enter the street address. | Fill in Address line 1. |
| Enter the city. | Fill in City. |
| Enter the postal code. | Fill in Postal code. |
| Enter the 2-letter country code (e.g. US). | Type a code such as US, GB or CA in Country. |
| Choose a carrier. | Pick the carrier. |
| Enter the tracking number. | Type it, or pick Other if there is none. |
| Enter the shipping cost in USD with at most two decimals. | Type a number like 12.50. |
| Add the shipping address before marking it sent. | Add the address on the request page first. |
| Someone updated these shipping details. Reload and try again. | Someone changed them while you looked. Reload the page. |
When the address is removed
The fan's name, address lines, postal code and tracking number are removed on their own:
| What happened | Removed |
|---|---|
| The item was marked delivered | 30 days after the delivered date |
| The item was marked sent but never delivered | 60 days after the shipped date |
| The request was Declined or Cancelled | 30 days after that |
Ship to then says "Address removed on" and the date. The city, state, country, carrier, dates and cost stay, so the history still makes sense. A removed address can't be brought back.
Test checklist
Good to know
Made-up addresses only for now
Until sign-in codes are sent by email, the app must not hold real fans' addresses. Test with made-up ones only.
Who can see addresses
By default only Administrators can see and manage shipping addresses. On People → Roles, you can tick See and manage shipping addresses for another role, for example a "Shipping" role. Everyone else sees the first name and city only. The person who sent the request can add or replace the address while the item is To pack, but can't read it back.
Never in exports
Addresses never appear in exports, reports, emails, notifications or the request's History.