After checkout you will see new orders briefly marked as On hold in your Shopify admin. This is expected behavior, and here is exactly how it works.
💡 In short: the order is held while the offer is open, then released automatically. By default Shopify releases it after 60 minutes at the latest. You can release holds earlier, after 1 to 59 minutes.
Why orders go on hold
While the upsell offer is open, the order is held so an accepted upsell can still be added to it before fulfillment starts. This is what makes the one-order, one-shipment flow possible.
When the hold is released
The hold is removed automatically as soon as one of these happens:
The customer accepts or declines the offer, or
the release timer runs out.
The order is then completed and released to fulfillment.
Setting the release timer
In Settings you choose how long an order may stay on hold after the offer was displayed:
| Option | Release after |
|---|---|
| Use Shopify's default (default) | 60 minutes |
| Release holds earlier | any value from 1 to 59 minutes (prefilled with 20) |
A short timer gets orders to your warehouse faster. A longer timer gives slow customers more time to decide. For most stores the default works well.
Why you still see an occasional 60-minute hold
If the customer simply closes the tab without accepting or declining, Shopify cannot end the offer session cleanly. With Shopify's default, such an order stays on hold for up to 60 minutes. If you set an earlier release, our release timer frees it after your configured minutes. No order stays on hold forever.
What this means for fulfillment
Fulfillment and shipping notifications start after the release, so the delay is minutes, not hours.
If your ERP or fulfillment system imports orders the moment they are created, it may pick up the pre-upsell state. Configure it to import released orders only. See ERP and fulfillment integrations (Billbee, JTL and more).
The release also triggers the app's Post-Purchase Flow Completed event in Shopify Flow, for checkouts where the customer closed the tab instead of finishing normally. See Shopify Flow triggers for upsells.
An order stays on hold much longer than your timer?
That should not happen. Contact us via support with the order number and we will check the specific order.
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