How Shipping Billing Works
Shipping labels are billed to your saved card automatically — nothing to load up front. Here's how thresholds, invoices, and payment issues work.
When you buy shipping labels through Orbit, there's nothing to load up front. Each label's cost is added to a running shipping balance, and we charge your saved card automatically once that balance reaches your billing threshold. Every charge comes with an itemised invoice.
You'll find all of this under Settings → Shipping carriers in your dashboard: your current balance, your threshold, your saved card, and every past charge and invoice.
The basics
Buy labels as normal. Each label's cost (and any carrier adjustment or void credit) is recorded on your shipping balance.
We charge your card automatically when the balance reaches your billing threshold — and periodically for smaller amounts, so the balance doesn't sit for weeks.
You get an invoice for every charge, itemising exactly which labels, adjustments, and credits it covers. Download PDFs any time from the Invoices tab.
Your billing threshold
Your threshold starts small and grows automatically as you build a history of successful payments — so established stores are charged less often, in larger amounts.
Brand-new accounts start by paying per label: the card is charged at the time of purchase and the label is released once the charge succeeds. After your first successful payments, labels release immediately and billing switches to the threshold model.
Your current threshold is always shown on the shipping billing panel.
Your saved card
You need a valid card saved on your account to buy labels. You can replace it at any time from the shipping billing panel — future charges use the new card.
Sometimes your bank asks you to confirm a payment (3-D Secure). When that happens, label purchasing is paused until the payment is confirmed: you'll see a banner with a Confirm payment button, or you can choose Pay another way to use a different card. Everything else — tracking, downloads, voiding labels — keeps working while a payment is pending.
If a payment fails
If a charge fails, label purchasing is paused straight away and you'll see exactly what's owed. We retry the card over the next few days and email you each time — but you don't have to wait: hit Pay now on the shipping billing panel, or update your card and then pay.
One thing worth knowing: if your bank is asking for confirmation, automatic retries against that card will keep failing — confirming the payment (or replacing the card) is the fix, not waiting for a retry.
As soon as a payment goes through, label purchasing resumes automatically.
Voids and credits
Void an unused label before it's been billed and the cost simply comes off your balance — you're never charged for it. Void a label after it's been billed and the amount is credited to your balance, where it's set against your next labels.
If you close your account with credit remaining, we refund it to the card that paid — see the Shipping Billing Terms for the details.
Carrier adjustments
If a carrier re-measures a parcel after collection and the weight or dimensions differ from what was declared, the difference is added to your shipping balance and collected with your other charges. You'll see the adjustment against the shipment in your dashboard.
Using your own carrier account
If you've connected your own carrier account, that carrier bills you directly under your agreement with them — Orbit shipping billing only applies to labels you buy from us.
Questions about a charge or invoice? Contact support@orbitcommerce.net — every invoice number and settlement is traceable on our side.
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