Once you start processing an order, the next step is to prepare it properly before it leaves you.

Good fulfilment starts here. The customer should receive exactly what they ordered, in the condition they expected, and packaged well enough to survive the journey.

Taking a few minutes to check the order carefully can prevent wrong items, damaged products, returns and unnecessary customer problems later.

Start with the order

Open the order in your Tambala seller dashboard before picking anything from your stock.

Check the product, quantity and any options the customer selected, such as size, colour, model or another variant.
If the order contains several products, check every item.

Use the Tambala order as your reference rather than relying on memory, a notification or a handwritten note.

The order tells you exactly what the customer paid for.

Pick the exact item the customer ordered

Find the product and compare it with the order.

If the customer ordered a black shirt in Medium, make sure you have the black shirt in Medium.
If they ordered two units, make sure you have two.
If the product has a particular model, flavour, size or specification, check that too.

Do not replace an item with something similar without the customer's agreement and the appropriate Tambala process.

A small difference to you may be the reason the customer chose that product in the first place.

Check the product before packing it

Inspect every item before it goes into the package.

Make sure it is clean, complete and in the condition shown in your listing.

Look for damage, cracks, stains, missing pieces, broken seals or anything else the customer would reasonably be unhappy to discover.

If the product is sold as new, it should still meet that expectation.
If it is sold as used, its condition should still match what you described.
Do not knowingly send a damaged or incomplete product because the order has already been paid.
If you discover that the item cannot be fulfilled properly, stop and use Solve Product Order Problems before sending it.

Keep each customer's order together

When you are preparing several orders, it becomes easy to mix things up.

Keep the products for each order together while you work.

Where useful, place the customer name or order number beside the items before you start packing.

Do not have several open packages with different customer products mixed across the same table if you can avoid it.

A wrong item placed in the wrong parcel can create problems for two customers at once.

As your order volume grows, a simple organised process becomes increasingly important.

Use packaging that suits the product

Packaging should protect the item until it reaches the customer.

It does not need to be expensive or decorative.

A customer collecting clothing directly from you may only need a clean, secure bag. A fragile item travelling through a courier may need a stronger box and protective material inside.

Think about what the package will go through after it leaves your hands.

It may be carried, stacked with other parcels, transported over rough roads or handled several times before reaching the customer.

Choose packaging that gives the product a reasonable level of protection for that journey.

Protect fragile items properly

If the product can break, crack, spill or become damaged through movement, give it extra protection.

Use appropriate padding and make sure the item cannot move around freely inside the package.

If several fragile items are packed together, protect them from hitting each other.

The outside of the box may look fine even when the product inside has been damaged, so think about what is happening inside the package as well.

Protect products from dirt and weather

Some products can be damaged by rain, moisture, dust or dirt even if they are not fragile.

Clothes, books, electronics and many other items may need an additional protective layer before being placed in the outer package.

Use clean packaging and make sure it closes properly.

The aim is simple: the product should arrive looking like something the customer would be happy to receive.

Include everything that belongs with the product

Before sealing the package, check whether anything else should be included.

This may be an accessory, cable, charger, instruction sheet, separate part or something else that was promised in the listing.

If the customer ordered several items, count them again before closing the package.

It is much easier to notice a missing part now than after the customer opens the order.

Be careful with extras

You may choose to add a thank-you card, small gift or another thoughtful extra.

That can be a nice touch, but it is not what makes fulfilment good.

The important things come first: the correct product, the correct quantity, good condition and secure packaging.

Do not spend more effort making a package look impressive than making sure the order itself is right.

Label the package clearly

Where the order will be delivered, sent through a courier or handed to Tambala, make sure the package can be matched to the correct order.

Use the order label or fulfilment information Tambala provides where available.

Check that the customer information and order number are correct before attaching anything to the parcel.

If you write the information by hand, make it clear and easy to read.

A well-packed parcel still fails if it is sent to the wrong customer.

Use only the customer information you need

Customer information should be used for fulfilling the order and nothing more.

If the delivery method requires the customer's name, phone number or address, use that information appropriately.

Do not put unnecessary personal information on the outside of the package or share it with people who are not involved in fulfilment.

Keep customer details within the business process they are needed for.

If a teammate prepares orders

If teammates help with fulfilment, everyone should follow the same basic process.

Do not have one person checking products carefully while another packs directly from memory.

A consistent routine makes it easier to train people, handle more orders and understand where a mistake happened if something goes wrong.

Give teammates the order access they need without sharing your owner account.

See Team & Access for how to manage teammate permissions.

When the order is ready

Once the product has been checked, packed and labelled, it is ready for the next stage.

Do not mark it as delivered, collected or handed to a courier before that has actually happened.

The next action depends on the fulfilment method the customer selected.

See Fulfil an Order for what to do next.

The important thing to remember

Before an order leaves you, ask:

Is this exactly what the customer ordered?

Is everything included?

Is the product in the condition I promised?

Will the packaging protect it until the customer receives it?

Is this parcel connected to the correct customer and fulfilment method?

Good packing does not need to be fancy.

It needs to be careful, accurate and suitable for the journey.

When the package is ready, continue with Fulfil an Order.

If you discover that something is missing, damaged or unavailable, use Solve Product Order Problems.

For the full order journey, return to Process a Product Order.