Packing an order: boxes and items that ship in their own box

Last reviewed: 2026-10-11

What this is

The packing station turns a picked tote into one or more parcels, ready for a rate and a label.

Open the order

1. Go to Fulfillment > Packing.
2. Scan the tote, or type its label and press Enter. Totes waiting to be packed are listed under Available Bins.

Choose a container and pack it

1. Click the box you are using. Its dimensions are shown on its card, and the box you used last is marked Last used.
2. Scan each item into it, or click Assign All. When nothing is left, the page reads Everything assigned. An item that is not on the order is not added, and the page names what is still to pack.
3. If the order needs a second parcel, click Add another and choose its container. The scan box says which parcel it is adding to, for example adding to Medium Box (2). To scan into a different parcel, click that parcel's name. Remove container takes away an empty parcel you do not need.
4. Click Ship on the parcel. With more than one parcel, click Ship All: each parcel goes through its weight and rates in turn and gets its own label.

Items that ship in their own box

A product marked to ship in its own container shows Own container in the Packaging column under Catalog > Products. When an order has one, the packing station also offers No packaging: the label goes on the product's own box.

• A No packaging parcel takes one unit of one product. Assign All puts one unit in it.
• For the next unit, click Add another and choose No packaging again, or pack the rest into a box.
• The parcel's dimensions and weight come from the product, so they are already filled in at the next step when the product has them.

After it ships, the parcel reads No packaging in Shipment Details.

Packaging that is not one of your boxes

If the parcel is going in something that is not on your container list, choose Custom in the container picker and say what it is: Box, Envelope or Polybag. The Weight step then says what the products alone weigh; add the packaging's weight to that.

• Box: at the Weight step, enter the weight and all three dimensions. Nothing is filled in for you, because CanShip has no numbers for a box it does not know.
• Envelope or Polybag: enter the weight. Dimensions are optional. Enter them only if there is a box inside.

If a carrier will not quote a parcel without dimensions, a notice above the rates names the carrier and says so. Go back and enter the dimensions to include it, or ship with another carrier.

After it ships, Shipment Details shows the packaging type beside Dimensions / Weight.

Confirm weight and dimensions

The Weight step shows the parcel's dimensions and its weight. A box from your container list arrives with that box's usual dimensions filled in. They are a starting point, not a measurement, so Confirm and Get Rates stays greyed out until you confirm them. The line under the button says what is still missing.

• If the products have weights, CanShip estimates the parcel's weight. Check it, tick These are this parcel's actual dimensions and weight, and click Confirm and Get Rates.
• If you change a number, the box ticks itself and its label names the ones you have not changed, for example "Length changed. Confirm the width, height and weight too." Check those before you go on.
• If a product has no weight, CanShip asks you to enter the package weight before you can go on.

In this package, at the top of the step, says how many items and units are in this parcel. Click it to list them: only this parcel's items are shown, with the lot and expiry where the stock has them. Packing slip beside it prints this parcel's slip. The same line is on the rates step.

The next step shows the rates.

Setting up your container list

The boxes the packing station offers come from Settings > Containers.

1. Click New Container.
2. Give it a name and choose its type: Box, Envelope or Polybag.
3. Enter its length, width and height. A box needs all three. An envelope or a polybag can be saved without them: leave all three blank and carriers rate on weight. Enter them if a rigid box goes inside.
4. Enter its Tare Weight, the weight of the empty container. CanShip adds it to the parcel's weight at the Weight step.
5. Click Create. The container is offered at the packing station from then on.

To change a container, click its row, edit the fields and click Save.

To stop offering a container, click its row and click Deactivate. It takes effect at once, without asking.

• The container leaves the list. Turn on Include inactive under Filters to see it again, marked Inactive.
• The packing station no longer offers it.
• Shipments already packed in it keep their dimensions and weight.