Order Tracking
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Where your gift is, in short
- Enter your order number and the billing email you used at checkout in the form above to see your order’s current status.
- We email you each time your order moves to a new status. If the carrier gives us a tracking number, it is in your dispatch email.
- Your gift is made in 1-3 business days, then travels 7-14 business days to the US, Canada, Australia or New Zealand. Shipping is free.
- Photo gifts start once your photo has reached us at support@giftink.shop.
- Something looks wrong? Email us with your order number. We reply within 24 hours on business days.
Waiting for a gift that has to arrive before a particular day is its own kind of nervous. You have counted back from the anniversary, you have chosen the photo, and now there is nothing to do but watch the inbox. This page is here to make that wait calmer. It explains how to look up your order, what each status means, what you should do at each step, and what happens if a parcel is late or goes missing.
1. Finding your order number and billing email
The form at the top of this page needs two things.
- Order number: it appears on the thank-you page right after checkout and in the subject line and first lines of your order confirmation email from Gift Ink. It is a number only; you do not need to type a hash sign.
- Billing email: the email address you typed in the billing section at checkout. If you sent the gift to your partner’s address, it is still your email, not theirs, that unlocks the order.
Cannot find the confirmation email? Search your inbox for “Gift Ink”, and check spam, promotions and updates folders. If it is not there, the email address may have had a small typo at checkout. Write to support@giftink.shop from the address you meant to use, tell us your name, the date you ordered and what you bought, and we will find the order for you.
If you created an account when you checked out, you can also sign in to My Account and open your orders there.
2. What each status means
| Status | What it means | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Pending payment | The order was started, but payment has not been confirmed. | Check that the payment went through. If you are unsure, email us before ordering again so you are not charged twice. |
| On hold | We are waiting for something before we can start, most often your photo for a custom photo gift. | Email your photo with your order number in the subject line, or reply to our email if we asked for another one. |
| Processing | Your order is confirmed and being made. This takes 1-3 business days. | Nothing, unless you need a change: changes are possible within 24 hours of ordering. |
| Shipped (Completed) | Your parcel has left us and is with the carrier. | Look for the dispatch email. If it includes a tracking number, use it on the carrier’s site. |
| In transit | The carrier is moving your parcel. Delivery usually takes 7-14 business days. | Watch the carrier’s updates if you have tracking. Short pauses between scans are normal. |
| Out for delivery | The parcel is on the local delivery route. | Make sure someone can receive it, or that it can be left safely. |
| Delivered | The carrier reports the parcel as delivered. | Open it soon and check the print. If anything is wrong, tell us with a photo. |
| Delivery exception | The carrier hit a problem: an address issue, a missed delivery or a customs check. | Read the carrier’s message and email us with your order number so we can help. |
| Cancelled or Refunded | The order was cancelled within the change window, or refunded. | Your refund is sent within 7 days; see the Refund Policy. |
The statuses you see in the form above come from our store. Statuses such as “In transit” and “Out for delivery” come from the carrier and are shown on the carrier’s own tracking page, when a tracking number is available.
3. How long each step takes
A Gift Ink order has two parts. First we make your gift, which takes 1-3 business days from the moment we have everything we need: your order and, for a custom photo gift, your photo. Then the carrier delivers it, which takes 7-14 business days to the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Business days do not include weekends or public holidays.
| Step | Time | Starts when |
|---|---|---|
| Making your gift | 1-3 business days | Your order is confirmed and, for photo gifts, your photo has arrived |
| Delivery to US, CA, AU or NZ | 7-14 business days | Your parcel leaves us |
| In total | About 8-17 business days | From a complete order |
These are estimates, not guarantees. Around Valentine’s Day, the end of the year and other busy weeks, carriers can be slower. If you are ordering for a date, count back and give yourself three to four weeks. The Shipping & Delivery page explains the timings in detail.
4. Photo gifts: why “On hold” is normal
Our custom photo products have no upload button. You tick a box promising to email your photo, then send it to support@giftink.shop with your order number after checkout. Until the photo arrives, your order may sit in a waiting status. As soon as we have a photo we can print clearly, the making days begin. If a photo is too small or too blurred to print well, we email you to ask for another one before printing, and your order waits for your reply.
So if your date is close, send your photo straight away. The Photo Help page explains which photo prints well and how to send it.
5. About tracking numbers
When your parcel leaves us, we send a dispatch email. If the carrier gives us a tracking number, it is included in that email with the carrier’s name, and you can follow the parcel on the carrier’s website. Not every service provides step-by-step scans, and some parcels only show a few updates on the way. A tracking page that has not changed for a few days usually means the parcel is between scanning points, not that it is lost.
Parcels to Canada, Australia and New Zealand cross a border, and tracking may switch to the local postal service after the parcel arrives in the country. The tracking number sometimes changes at that point; the carrier’s page usually shows the new one.
6. If your parcel is late
Start by checking three things: the estimate (1-3 business days to make, plus 7-14 business days in transit, counting only business days), the shipping address in your confirmation email, and the carrier’s latest message if you have tracking. If your parcel is beyond the estimate, or the tracking shows a problem, email us with your order number. We will check with the carrier and tell you what we find, and we will work with you on a replacement or a refund if the parcel does not turn up. Please contact us and we will help; you will not be left waiting without an answer.
7. If the carrier says delivered, but nothing is there
- Check around the delivery spot: porches, mailboxes, a side door, the building’s mail room or reception.
- Ask neighbours and anyone else at the address, including your partner if the gift was sent to them.
- Wait until the end of the next business day; carriers sometimes mark a parcel delivered just before it arrives.
- Email us with your order number. We will look into it with the carrier and help you from there.
8. Wrong address or a surprise that went to the wrong home
Within 24 hours of ordering, we can change the delivery address before anything is made. See Cancel or Change an Order. After the parcel has left us, we may not be able to redirect it, but email us anyway and we will do what we can with the carrier. If you are sending the gift to your partner as a surprise, double-check their apartment number and postcode at checkout; it is the most common reason a parcel is held up.
9. When the gift arrives
Open it when you can, even if you plan to give it later, and check the print, the size and the words. If something is damaged or not what you ordered, email us with your order number and a photo of the problem; we reply within 24 hours on business days. Every gift can be returned within 60 days of delivery with a free return label, change of mind included, and refunds are sent within 7 days of the return reaching us. See Returns & Exchanges and the Refund Policy.
10. Several gifts in one order
If you ordered a shirt and a pillow together, or a matching pair, they may be made in different places and arrive in separate parcels on different days. Your dispatch emails will say what each parcel holds. One item arriving before the other is normal; if the second is beyond the estimate, contact us.
11. Import charges for Canada, Australia and New Zealand
Every Gift Ink order ships from the USA. For parcels to Canada, Australia and New Zealand, import duties, taxes or handling charges depend on the destination country and its rules, and the carrier may ask for them before delivering. If a carrier message asks you to pay something to release your parcel and you are unsure whether it is genuine, do not pay through a link in a text message. Email us first with your order number, and we will help you check.
12. Keeping the surprise
If the gift is going to your shared home, the dispatch and status emails go to the billing email only, never to the delivery address, so they will not spoil anything unless you share an inbox. Carriers may leave a notice or send a text message to the phone number on the shipping address, so if the surprise matters, think about whose number you enter at checkout.
13. What we need when you write to us
- Your order number.
- The name on the order, and the delivery country.
- What you see: the status in the form above, the carrier’s latest message, or a photo of the parcel if it arrived damaged.
- Your date, if the gift is for a particular day, so we can tell you honestly what to expect.
With those, we can usually answer in one reply. Write to support@giftink.shop, or use the Submit a Ticket page to pick the right subject line.
More help
The Help Center collects every support page in one place, and the FAQs answer the questions we hear most. You can also reach us through Contact Us.
Gift Ink, 2248 Rugby Row, Madison, WI 53726, US. We ship from the USA to the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.