How do I create and use a manual order / API store?

A manual order / API store is a special type of Printful store that lets you publish products and place orders without connecting to an ecommerce platform or marketplace. You should use this store type if you're building a custom integration with the Printful API or want to make manual orders easier.

How to create a manual order / API store

Go to your Printful Dashboard.
Navigate to Stores.
Click Connect via API.

Connect via API button in the Stores tab.

This will create a new store in your account where you can publish and manage products, just like with any other Printful store.

Example of a manual order / API store in the Stores tab.

Will products appear publicly?

Products published to a manual order / API store won’t appear on any website automatically. They will only be visible publicly if you use the Printful API to:

retrieve product data from Printful with the API
display product data on your own website
build a custom storefront
programmatically manage product listings

Creating this store alone does not make your products visible to any customers.

If you're interested in building a custom integration, you can find our API documentation here: https://developers.printful.com/docs/.

How to place orders using a manual order / API store

You can submit orders to this store directly from your Dashboard:

Click New order in the top right of the Dashboard.
Select your store from the store list.
Choose from the products published to that store and complete the order.

Store selection when placing a new manual order.

This method is helpful if you prefer ordering from published products instead of using product templates.

When should I use this type of store?

A manual order / API store is useful if you:

place manual orders frequently and want to organize them under one store, or
are planning to build a custom website or custom workflow using the Printful API

You should not use this type of store if you want Printful to host a store for you that’s visible to buyers; for that, you can look into Quick Stores.

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