Fulfillment Hub USA – Why is this Shopify Order on “Payment Hold” if it was Paid by Money Order?

When a customer pays using a manual payment method like a Money Order, it’s normal to see the order on Payment Hold in ShipHero—even if the customer has already sent the payment.

This happens because:

• Shopify treats Money Orders (and other manual payments) as unpaid/pending until you confirm that you actually received the money. Shopify Help Center

• ShipHero reads that financial status from Shopify and, to protect your operation, places the order on Payment Hold until it is marked as paid.

The good news: once you mark the order as Paid in Shopify or clear the Payment Hold in ShipHero, the order will move forward normally through fulfillment.

How Shopify Handles Money Orders & Manual Payments

In Shopify, payment methods like Money Order, bank deposit, cash on delivery, or offline transfer are considered manual payments. Shopify Help Center+1

Key points:

• When a customer places an order using a manual payment method, the order usually appears as Pending / Unpaid in Shopify.

• Shopify expects you (or your team) to confirm that the money was actually received (e.g., you’ve received and deposited the Money Order).

• After you confirm payment, you must manually mark the order as paid in the Shopify admin.

Only after the order is marked as paid does its financial status become Paid, and that’s the status ShipHero relies on to release the order from Payment Hold.

How to Resolve the Payment Hold

If the customer has already sent or delivered the Money Order and you’ve confirmed payment, you can clear the Payment Hold through either Shopify or ShipHero.

Option 1: Mark the Order as Paid in Shopify (Recommended)

1. Go to Shopify Admin > Orders.

2. Open the order that was paid via Money Order (or other manual payment).

3. Confirm that you’ve actually received the funds.

4. Use Collect payment → Mark as paid (or the equivalent “Mark as paid” option in your Shopify admin). Shopify Help Center+1

Once you do this:

• Shopify updates the order’s payment status to Paid. Shopify Help Center

• ShipHero will sync this change and the order will no longer appear as being on Payment Hold due to non-payment.

Option 2: Remove the Payment Hold in ShipHero

If you’ve confirmed payment and you’re sure the order is legitimate, you can also:

• Open the order in ShipHero.

• Manually remove the Payment Hold status.

This tells ShipHero it’s safe to proceed with picking, packing, and shipping—even if you handle the accounting confirmation in Shopify separately.

Important:
Operationally, we recommend keeping Shopify and ShipHero in sync. Ideally, mark the order as paid in Shopify first (so your financial records and reports are accurate) and then remove the Payment Hold in ShipHero if needed.

When Should You Leave the Order on Payment Hold?

You should keep the order on Payment Hold in ShipHero if:

• The customer selected Money Order/manual payment, but you haven’t received the funds yet.

• There is any doubt about the validity of the payment.

• Your finance team hasn’t cleared the payment in Shopify.

In those cases, the hold is doing its job: it prevents inventory and shipping time from being used before you’re sure you’ll actually get paid.

Summary

• Why is it on Payment Hold?
  Because Shopify treats Money Orders as manual payments, and the order isn’t considered Paid until you manually confirm and mark it as such. ShipHero mirrors that status and places the order on Payment Hold to prevent premature fulfillment.

• How do you fix it?

  • Confirm you received the Money Order.

  • Mark the order as Paid in Shopify (Collect payment → Mark as paid).

  • ShipHero will update and you can remove the Payment Hold if needed.

For more details about manual payments in Shopify, you can review Shopify’s Manual payment methods guide. Shopify Help Center