When you send a new order to Portless, our system automatically determines which facility fulfills it. Based on where your inventory lives, your warehouse type, and any routing rules configured during onboarding. Understanding this logic helps you anticipate shipping timelines, costs, and why an order may occasionally route differently than expected.
How Portless routes orders
Portless fulfills orders from facilities in China (Shenzhen) and Vietnam. Your order's fulfillment path is determined by the following factors, in order of priority:
Where your inventory is physically located. Orders can only ship from a facility where your inventory has been inbounded. If your stock is split across facilities, orders route to the location that has the item in stock.
Your warehouse type: bonded or non-bonded.
Non-bonded (used by ~90% of Portless merchants): Inventory is treated as local goods within China. Orders ship from mainland China airports. Lower storage, pick-and-pack, and shipping costs. Best for most DTC products.
Bonded (used for high-cost-of-goods products): Inventory is treated as already exported. Your factory claims a 13% VAT rebate. Orders must route through Hong Kong for air freight. Higher storage and pick-and-pack costs, but the VAT saving typically offsets this for products with a cost of goods above ~$40–50.
Your configured routing rules. During your implementation call, you specify how orders should be prioritized between warehouses or partners. For example, which facility is primary and which is backup. Portless uses this configuration to route orders automatically.
Your sourcing country. If your manufacturer is based in Vietnam, your inventory inbounds at Portless's Vietnam facility and ships from there. If your manufacturer is in China, your inventory inbounds at the China facility. Merchants who source from both countries may have inventory in both.
Common scenarios
Scenario 1: Order ships from a different facility than expected
What the merchant saw: A merchant sourcing from China noticed some orders showed a Vietnam origin in tracking.
Why it happened: The merchant had recently begun manufacturing a second product line in Vietnam and inbounded that SKU at the Vietnam facility. Orders containing that SKU were routed from Vietnam; orders with China-only SKUs continued routing from Shenzhen.
What to expect: Each SKU routes from the facility where it's stocked. If your catalog spans both China and Vietnam production, different SKUs will ship from different origins.
Scenario 2: Order split across two facilities
What the merchant saw: A customer's order for two items arrived in separate packages with different tracking numbers.
Why it happened: The two SKUs in the order were inbounded at different Portless facilities. One is in China, one is in Vietnam. Because Portless can only ship from the location where inventory physically exists, each item is shipped from its respective facility.
What to expect: Both packages will deliver to the customer. Tracking is provided for each shipment. If you want to consolidate, work with your Customer Success Manager (CSM) to align inventory to a single facility before launch.
Scenario 3: Order routed to backup warehouse after stockout
What the merchant saw: An order was fulfilled from a secondary 3PL partner rather than the primary Portless facility.
Why it happened: The SKU was out of stock at the primary Portless facility at the time the order came in. Based on the routing rules configured during onboarding, the order fell through to the merchant's backup 3PL partner.
What to expect: Routing rules are applied in the order you defined at setup. Check your current stock levels in the Portless portal to avoid unintended routing to backup partners.
Merchant FAQs
Q: How do I know which warehouse fulfilled a specific order?
A: You can view the fulfillment origin for any order in the Merchant Portal. Each order record shows the facility it was assigned to. If you need help locating this, contact support.
Q: Can I control which warehouse my orders ship from?
A: Yes, within the limits of your inventory location. You configure routing priority during your implementation call, specifying which warehouse is primary versus backup, and how orders should be split if you work with multiple facilities or 3PL partners. If you need to update these rules after go-live, contact your CSM.
Q: Why do I have both a bonded and a non-bonded option? Which should I use?
A: The right choice depends on your cost of goods (COG). Bonded warehousing allows your factory to claim a 13% VAT rebate, which lowers your unit cost. But bonded goods cost more to store, pick-and-pack, and ship (due to Hong Kong routing). For most DTC products, non-bonded is cheaper overall. Bonded generally makes financial sense when your COG exceeds roughly $40–50 per unit, where the 13% VAT saving outweighs the logistics premium. Your CSM can run the numbers for your specific SKUs.
Q: My manufacturer is in Vietnam. Does that mean I must use the Vietnam facility?
A: Yes, inventory ships to the Portless facility closest to where it's manufactured. If your manufacturer is in Vietnam, your inventory inbounds at the Vietnam facility, and orders are fulfilled from there. If you source from both China and Vietnam, your inventory will be split, and orders will route from the facility that holds the applicable SKU.
Q: What happens if a SKU goes out of stock at my primary facility?
A: If your routing rules include a backup facility or 3PL partner, orders for that SKU will fall through to the next option in your configured routing priority. If there is no backup, orders for that SKU will hold until stock is replenished. Monitor your inventory levels in the Merchant Portal to stay ahead of potential stockouts.
Things to keep in mind
Routing rules are set at onboarding and do not auto-update. If your sourcing strategy changes, you add a Vietnam supplier, change warehouse type, or bring on a new 3PL partner, contact your CSM to update your routing configuration. Stale routing rules are a common cause of unexpected fulfillment origins.
Split orders are expected behavior when SKUs span multiple facilities. There is currently no automatic consolidation of multi-SKU orders when items are stocked in different facilities. If this affects your customer experience, align inventory to a single facility for co-shipped SKUs.
Non-bonded goods are treated as local Chinese goods. This means Portless cannot provide export documentation for non-bonded inventory. If your factory requires export documentation to release goods, a bonded setup is required, or you will need to separately reimburse the 13% VAT your factory cannot otherwise recover.