Janson Wang, CEO & Founder, ASG Dropshipping · 16 min read
Real warehouse photo. It does not show a specific order, supplier or Printful facility. When you sell Printful and your own stock in one Shopify store, a customer can buy a Printful tee and a hat you ship yourself in one checkout. Behind that single order, the items are assigned to different fulfillment locations, and your shipping setup decides what the customer is charged and told. Check it in two stages: a checkout preview, then real fulfillment on comparable past orders or a controlled order.
When one Shopify order contains Printful products and products from your own inventory or another supplier, Shopify creates fulfillment orders assigned to the relevant fulfillment locations, and each one updates its own status. That’s how Printful’s help center describes it. The right question is not whether the parcels can be merged. It is what the customer sees, pays and is told for each shipment.
When you combine Printful and your own stock, a checkout preview shows shipments, rates and any delivery estimate for the cart you test. It can’t verify fulfillment, so check what each fulfiller billed and reported on comparable past orders or a controlled order.
Illustrative diagram, not a platform screenshot. One Shopify order can hold several fulfillment orders. It is still one order to the customer. A single shipping charge at checkout does not mean a single parcel or a single delivery date. How shipping is combined depends first on which Shopify shipping system your store uses, then on its rate setup. A checkout preview can’t verify fulfillment. Check costs and statuses on completed comparable orders or a controlled order. One Order, Several Fulfillment Groups Shopify Combined Shipping at Checkout Check Real Fulfillment With a Controlled Order or Past Orders Printful Order Status: Three Meanings of “Fulfilled” Change or Cancel a Printful Order by Status What to Change, and When to Test Again Printful and Your Own Stock: Questions A mixed cart stays one order for your customer, but Shopify assigns each item to a fulfillment location, and each location reports its own progress. Before you test anything, write down which items go where.
Sellers do run stores like this. One described their shop this way:
“My shop sells Print on Demand products (tees, mugs, etc), using several different Print on Demand providers, and then I also sell my own handmade products from home.”
— u/takubananas — r/shopify — 2021-06-12
Printful’s explanation is short. Shopify creates fulfillment orders assigned to fulfillment locations; this guide calls them fulfillment groups. Printful products are assigned to the Printful location, and non-Printful items are assigned to their respective locations. Printful updates its items, and you or your other providers update the rest.
Illustrative example based on Printful’s help center, not a platform screenshot. The number of fulfillment groups varies by order. Shopify’s checkout rules explain why one order can turn into several shipments. Per Shopify’s split shipping guide , an order can split when it includes preorders, subscriptions, items shipping from different locations, or items from different shipping profiles.
There is a second layer inside the Printful side. Printful says not all products in an order are shipped together: some are packed separately to protect them, and some ship from a different fulfillment center. Its list of products that often ship separately includes mugs, posters and structured hats. That is Printful’s policy only.
Map a typical mixed cart before you look at checkout:
List every product in the cart. Include at least one Printful item and one item you or another supplier ship.Check each Printful variant’s location. Printful only receives orders assigned to its location in Shopify, according to its Shopify order processing guide .Mark any Printful item that often ships separately. Use Printful’s own list rather than assuming.Note which shipping setup each product falls under. Products that need different rates can end up in separate shipments.Checkout, fulfillment status and tracking require separate checks. What happens after parcels leave, including tracking numbers and shipping emails, is covered in our guide to multi-supplier Shopify tracking .
A checkout preview shows what a customer would see and pay for the cart and address you test, and you stop before payment. Preview the selected cart and destination with split shipping active and supported. Checkout shipment groups are not a guaranteed count of the parcels the providers will dispatch.
When an order splits, checkout shows how many shipments to expect. For each one, it can list the shipping method, an estimated delivery time, the rate and the number of items. If split details are absent, check checkout eligibility, local delivery and app compatibility before treating the order as one shipment. Shopify notes, for example, that checkout won’t display multiple shipments when local delivery is activated, and that some third-party fulfillment apps may not be compatible.
Illustrative example, not a platform screenshot. Checkout grouping does not guarantee the final parcel count. First, identify your shipping setup in Settings > Shipping and delivery. Shopify currently runs two shipping systems : stores organized in shipping profiles use the current system, and stores organized by market in a Shipping options section have been upgraded. Apply the profile-based rules only while your store uses shipping profiles, and the market-based rules after its upgrade.
Here’s why the total alone can mislead you: the same two-shipment cart can be charged once or several times, depending on that system and your rate types.
Your setup What the customer is charged Split-checkout display, when supported Profile-based: flat rate, same shipping profile and location group, multiple locations needed The flat rate once for all locations Separate shipments, each with its own delivery estimate Profile-based: different location groups or different shipping profiles The rates are added together Separate shipments; the customer may choose a method per shipment Profile-based: weight-based, carrier-calculated or app rates A combined rate, not a single flat charge Depends on how the shipments split Market-based: flat or order-amount rates in the same shipping option The highest applicable rate, once; other shipments using that option show “Included” Separate shipments, each with its own delivery time Market-based: different shipping options, weight-based, carrier- or app-calculated, or app-provided rates Added together across options or shipments Separate shipments Market-based: preorders with ready-to-ship items Charged separately, even in the same shipping option Separate shipments
Sources: Shopify’s combined rates guide for profile-based stores, and its guide to shipping options by market for upgraded stores.
A few more rules shape what the customer sees:
The customer can’t choose how products are split. Shopify suggests reviewing your shipping and location settings if products that could ship together are being split.The cheapest option is selected by default. Depending on your setup, customers may be able to pick a different method for each shipment.Your store’s system matters for split shipping itself. Printful’s help center tells you to enable split shipping in Shopify. Shopify says split shipping is activated for every upgraded store, and the on/off setting no longer applies there.Read the delivery estimate carefully. Record whether checkout shows transit time, a delivery date or no estimate. Shopify notes that transit time excludes processing time. Confirm that any stated delivery date accounts for Printful fulfillment as well as transit. If no estimate appears, write down “none shown” rather than filling one in.
One seller who had set up their own shipping profile around Printful’s rates asked a question worth answering before launch:
“At the moment I have made a custom shipping profile adding Printful’s rate with a t-shirt added there – if someone orders it will Printful still make it and ship it?”
— u/wayanonforthis — r/shopify — 2025-02-17
A shipping profile alone does not confirm order routing. Check the Printful variant’s location assignment, product synchronization and order-import settings, then verify the matching order in Printful. The next section covers that.
Run the checkout preview like this:
Use a real mixed cart from your map, with at least one Printful item and one item from another location.Enter an address in your main market and stop at the shipping step.Record the number of shipments shown, plus the method, any delivery estimate and the rate for each.Compare what you see with the table above for your shipping system and rate setup.Repeat for one other market, if your rates differ by region.A checkout preview can’t tell you whether each fulfiller received its part, what it billed you, or how statuses changed. Check those on completed comparable orders, or on one controlled order taken as far as the stages you need to verify.
Start with completed mixed orders that used the same setup. They show what really happened, but only for the configuration in place at the time. Open one in Shopify, open the matching records from each fulfiller, and compare them.
If you have none, a controlled order is the alternative. Plan these points first:
Budget for real charges. A controlled order can incur actual product and shipping charges.Check how the order reaches Printful. In Shopify’s order processing settings, automatic fulfillment sends paid orders to Printful; with manual fulfillment, you click Request fulfillment. Printful also has an optional setting to import synced orders automatically. Its Shopify order processing guide explains both. Ask whether a test-mode payment is imported; don’t assume it is.Decide whether to hold it for review. Printful’s import order settings include manual confirmation, found under Dashboard > Settings > Store settings > Orders. Enable it before the test and verify that the imported order stays unconfirmed. Depending on the import settings, Printful documents this as Draft or Needs approval. The setting applies to all imported orders, so plan for your normal orders and restore it after the test.Know what it proves. A held or canceled order verifies only the stages it reached. It can’t verify dispatch or later status updates. To check those, use completed comparable orders, or let the controlled order reach the stages you intend to check.Ask your other supplier about its own charges and cancellation terms before you rely on them.Sellers have raised the cost side directly. One running several print-on-demand providers put it this way:
“For example, it’s easy to order 3 items from 3 locations (even within Printify), and I’m on the hook for the shipping costs for each item.”
— u/cwilson830 — r/shopify — 2023-02-12
In a Shopify Community thread from October 2024 , a seller selling Printful apparel and hats from a local maker reported paying shipping to two fulfillers without recovering the total at checkout. For a Shopify integration, Printful explains that the customer pays your store, and Printful bills you separately for product, shipping and tax.
Real warehouse photo. It does not show any order, supplier or Printful facility in this article. To find your own gap, compare three lines for one order:
Line Shipping shown at checkout Actual provider charge or postage If they differ, ask Printful part The rate shown for that shipment, which may read “Included” Printful’s shipping charge for its shipment or shipments Printful: how it charges items that ship separately Your own or other supplier’s part The rate shown for that shipment, which may read “Included” Your own postage, or the supplier’s charge Your supplier: how it bills shipping per order or per parcel Order total Total shipping collected Total shipping paid out Yourself: whether pricing or shipping settings need review
“Included” isn’t a zero supplier cost or a supplier payout. It’s a checkout label. Reconcile order-level totals using a consistent currency and tax basis.
For product types that Printful often ships separately, it recommends budgeting shipping on the assumption that they ship on their own, according to its guide on whether products ship together . That applies to Printful only.
A shipping shortfall may be intentional if product pricing covers it. The difference is a starting point for reviewing pricing and shipping settings, not proof that a specific rate is wrong.
In a mixed order, “Fulfilled” means different things depending on where you read it, and none of them confirms delivery. Check all three on a mixed order before you tell a customer anything.
One seller asked about it in 2020:
“But do I need to do anything else on Shopify Orders tab like changing the status from unfulfilled to fulfilled?”
— u/SWidisWondering — r/shopify — 2020-06-26
The current answer comes from Printful’s own documentation:
Where you look What “Fulfilled” means there Printful dashboard, order status The order has been printed and packaged, but it might not be shipped yet. Tracking becomes available within 24 hours of shipping, according to Printful’s order status guide . Shopify order, Printful’s fulfillment order Printful’s items show as Fulfilled with tracking once shipped, per Printful’s guide to mixed orders . Shopify order as a whole The order updates to Fulfilled once all fulfillment orders are completed. Items handled elsewhere stay unfulfilled until they’re processed there, per the same guide.
Illustrative diagram, not a platform screenshot. So a Printful order marked Fulfilled in its dashboard isn’t proof that anything has left the facility. The overall Shopify status summarizes fulfillment across the order. It does not confirm that every parcel has been delivered.
On a completed comparable order, or a controlled one, note when each status changed. If your other supplier updates Shopify through an app or by hand, check when its fulfillment order changes too.
If your other supplier uses Shopify’s email-based custom fulfillment, a fulfilled status can appear before anything ships. Our guide to manual fulfillment with custom suppliers covers that case.
Product edits and refundable cancellations generally stop when fulfillment starts. Address or shipping-method changes may remain available where the dashboard offers them, and partner-facility orders can be locked after submission. Check the order’s status before you promise a customer a change. These limits concern canceling an order for a refund; they don’t describe how Printful handles other refund requests, such as quality problems.
Some sellers want a pause before anything goes to production:
“However, I want to prevent the order from immediately getting sent out to Printful and wait for my review.”
— u/DasBeasto — r/shopify — 2021-02-09
Holding an imported order with manual confirmation, covered above, is different from stopping it from being imported. Once an order is submitted, Printful’s change and cancellation guide and order status guide describe what each status allows:
Waiting for Fulfillment. Change order is available, so you can edit products, the address or the shipping method. Changing a product resets the estimated fulfillment time. You can cancel for a full refund.Being Fulfilled. Products can’t be edited, and the order can no longer be canceled for a refund from the dashboard. Change address may still let you update the delivery address and shipping method.Fulfilled. The order can’t be edited or canceled. Once a package has shipped, Printful can’t change the address, reroute or recall it.Partially Fulfilled. Items that haven’t started fulfillment may still be cancelable; contact Printful Support. Addresses can’t be edited for shipments already dispatched.Illustrative diagram based on Printful’s help center. Applies to Printful only; not a platform screenshot. Three limits matter in a mixed order:
Partner facilities. If neither Change order nor Change address appears, the order may already be fulfilled or in production at a partner facility, where it can’t be edited after submission, including the address. Printful suggests asking Support whether an address update is still possible.Wrong design, size or color. If the order hasn’t shipped, ask Printful Support about stopping dispatch. Printful says that once fulfillment has started, stopping the order this way doesn’t come with a refund.Charges. Changes may lead to an extra charge or a partial refund.Cancellations also don’t move between systems automatically in both directions. A pre-fulfillment Shopify cancellation sends a request to Printful, which rejects it if fulfillment has already started, according to its Shopify order processing guide . Check the result in both order histories. Canceling in Printful does not by itself cancel or refund the customer’s Shopify order.
Your own items, or another supplier’s, follow different rules. Check both sides separately before you answer a customer who wants to change one item in a mixed order.
What you find in the preview and the fulfillment check points to one of three fixes: your shipping setup, how you describe delivery, or what you’ve agreed with each fulfiller. Make the change, then repeat the checks that the change affects.
Shipping setup. If the checkout total differs from what you pay out in a way your pricing doesn’t intend, review your shipping system’s rate setup, location settings and product groupings.Delivery wording. If one shipment arrives much later than another, describe delivery per shipment on product pages and in order emails. Make sure any date includes processing as well as transit.Fulfiller agreements. If a provider bills differently from what you assumed, get its rules on separate shipments, shipping charges and cancellations in writing.Catalog changes can force shipping changes. One seller planning print sizes across shipping profiles described the hurdle like this:
“The problem im facing now is how to create the different sizes in the shipping profiles.”
— u/Tyler_Miles_Lockett — r/shopify — 2025-11-02
Illustrative diagram, not a platform screenshot. Repeat the checks when one of these changes:
You add a supplier or a fulfillment location: rerun the checkout preview and the fulfillment check.You change shipping profiles, location groups, rate types or shipping options: rerun the checkout preview.Your store moves to shipping options by market: rerun the checkout preview. Split shipping and combined rates work differently after the upgrade.You change routing, product locations or Printful import settings: repeat the affected fulfillment check, not just the checkout preview.You add a Printful product that often ships separately: rerun the checkout preview and review its shipping cost.A single flat rate across a location group is not a reason to skip the check. It changes what the customer pays, not how many parcels they receive or when each one arrives.
Real warehouse photo. It does not show any order in this article and is not a Printful facility.
How is shipping split when one order ships from Printful and another supplier? At checkout, Shopify charges the customer according to your shipping system and rate setup. Depending on that setup, it charges once, combines rates, or adds them together. Printful bills you separately, so compare the two on a completed or controlled order.
What happens when an order contains Printful and non-Printful products? According to Printful, Shopify creates fulfillment orders assigned to each relevant fulfillment location. Printful updates its items, and you or your other supplier update the rest. The overall order shows Fulfilled once all fulfillment orders are completed, which does not confirm delivery.
Why does one Printful order arrive in several packages? Printful packs some products separately to protect them and ships others from different fulfillment centers. Shopify can also split an order across locations or shipping setups. Check Printful’s list of products that often ship separately.
Can I cancel just one item in a mixed order? On the Printful side, an order waiting for fulfillment can still be changed or canceled for a full refund. Once fulfillment starts, product edits and refundable cancellations generally stop. In a partially fulfilled order, ask Printful Support about items that haven’t started. Your other supplier’s rules apply to its items.
ASG provides print-on-demand (POD) services. Share a product list, target markets and a redacted summary of your shipping setup to discuss whether ASG could support your requirements. Any service scope must be confirmed separately.
Unless separately agreed, working with ASG doesn’t automatically shift these to ASG: the manufacturer’s or importer’s role, legal or tax advice, responsibility for your platform account, decisions about which products to sell in which markets, and carrier or customs outcomes.
Planning to sell print-on-demand alongside your own stock? Send a product list, your target markets and a short summary of your current shipping setup.
Contact ASG
Start with a representative mixed cart of Printful and your own stock. Record the checkout result, verify the matching fulfillment records, and repeat the relevant check after a change.
Want to discuss a mixed print-on-demand setup? Share your products, markets and shipping setup summary, and we can discuss whether ASG’s POD services fit your requirements.
Contact ASG
Janson Wang is CEO and founder of ASG Dropshipping.
Shopify and Printful pages describe each company’s own platform and policies, which can change. Reddit and Shopify Community posts are individual sellers’ historical questions from the dates shown, used to illustrate the problem, not to state current rules or measure demand.
Shopify
Printful
Seller questions (historical)
This article contains no ASG operating figures. The ASG service fact used here is that ASG provides POD services. The consultation invitation does not confirm suitability for a particular setup. The article makes no claim about combining parcels across fulfillers, delivery times, prices or minimum order quantities, and it does not describe any order ASG has tested. Platform behavior is attributed to Shopify or Printful.
