Skip to content
Guides
/
/
Manage Purchase Orders
Last updated

Manage Purchase Orders

Purchase orders help you manage inventory replenishment from suppliers. Create orders, track deliveries, and automatically update inventory when products arrive.

Available Operations

ShipStation provides comprehensive purchase order management through the following endpoints:

Retrieve Purchase Orders

  • List & Get Purchase Orders - Retrieve all purchase orders with filtering, or get details for a specific order
    • GET /v2/purchase_orders - List purchase orders with pagination
    • GET /v2/purchase_orders/{purchase_order_id} - Get detailed information

Create & Update Orders

  • Create Purchase Orders - Create new orders to suppliers

    • POST /v2/purchase_orders - Create a purchase order with products

  • Update Purchase Orders - Modify orders and change status

    • PUT /v2/purchase_orders/{purchase_order_id} - Update all order details (draft status only)
    • POST /v2/purchase_orders/{purchase_order_id}/shipping_details - Update shipping details (open status only)
    • POST /v2/purchase_orders/{purchase_order_id}/status - Update order status

Receive Products

  • Receive Products - Record product receipts and update inventory
    • POST /v2/purchase_orders/{purchase_order_id}/receives - Receive products from an order
  • Purchase Order Documents - Generate PDF documents for purchase orders
    • GET /v2/purchase_orders/{purchase_order_id}/documents/order_summary - Print order summary
    • GET /v2/purchase_orders/{purchase_order_id}/documents/received_summary - Print received products summary

Purchase Order Lifecycle

Purchase orders follow a specific workflow:

  1. Create - Set up a new purchase order with products and supplier information
  2. Order - Mark as open when sent to supplier
  3. Receive - Record product receipts as they arrive. Automatically marked as received when all products are in
  4. Complete - Marked as closed when the purchase order has been fully processed.

Status Flow

StatusDescriptionNext Steps
draftInitial state after creationReview and finalize details, then mark as open when sent to supplier and awaiting delivery
openOrder finalized and readyWait for shipment, then use receive endpoint to record arrivals
receivingPartially receivedContinue receiving remaining products
receivedAll products receivedMark as closed when no further action needed
cancelledOrder cancelledNo further action possible

Key Features

Automatic Inventory Updates

When you receive products through the /receives endpoint:

  • Inventory levels automatically increase at the specified location
  • Purchase order status updates based on receipt completion

Flexible Product Management

  • Order multiple products in a single purchase order
  • Track costs, supplier SKUs
  • Support for lot numbers and expiration dates
  • Handle rejected or damaged items

Supplier Integration

  • Link to suppliers via supplier_id
  • Track carrier and tracking information
  • Add custom reference numbers

Getting Started

Prerequisites

Before creating purchase orders, you should:

  1. Set up your suppliers with contact information
  2. Configure your inventory warehouses
  3. Create inventory locations where products will be received

Basic Workflow

  1. Create a Supplier

    POST /v2/suppliers
{
  "supplier_name": "Acme Widgets Inc",
  "supplier_email": "orders@acmewidgets.com"
}

  2. Create a Purchase Order

    POST /v2/purchase_orders
{
  "supplier_id": "se-567",
  "products": [
    { "sku": "WIDGET-001", "quantity": 100, "cost": 9.99 }
  ]
}

  3. Mark as Ordered

    POST /v2/purchase_orders/se-234/status
{
  "status": "open"
}

  4. Receive Products

    POST /v2/purchase_orders/se-234/receives
{
  "product_receives": [
    {
      "sku": "WIDGET-001",
      "inventory_location_id": "se-12345",
      "received_quantity": 100
    }
  ]
}

  5. Close Purchase Order

    POST /v2/purchase_orders/se-234/status
{
  "status": "closed"
}
Previous page
Next page