# Shipments and Tracking

Canonical URL: https://api-docs.test-printeers.com/guides/shipments-and-tracking

Understand how orders become shipments and what tracking information is available.

## Orders and Shipments

A **Shipment** represents a physical package sent by Printeers. How orders relate to shipments as well as the destination of the shipment depends on the requested shipment kind:

### Dropship Orders

For orders with shipment kind 'dropship', each order results in exactly one shipment sent directly to your customer. The relationship is one-to-one:

```
Order A → Shipment 1 → Customer A
Order B → Shipment 2 → Customer B
```

### Combined Orders

For orders with shipment kind 'combined', multiple orders going to the same address are consolidated into a single shipment:

```
Order A ─┐
Order B ─┼→ Shipment 1 → Your Warehouse
Order C ─┘
```

This is typically used when you handle final distribution yourself.

## Shipping Levels

Printeers offers three shipping levels, each with different tracking capabilities:

| Level | Tracking |
|-------|----------|
| Basic | No |
| Tracked | Yes |
| Express | Yes |

### Basic

The most economical option. No tracking information is available. You receive a shipment reference when the package is dispatched, but cannot track its journey.

### Tracked

Standard tracked shipping. Full tracking information is available, including:

- Carrier name and tracking number.
- Tracking URL for a white-label tracking page branded with your [Brand](https://api-docs.test-printeers.com/guides/organization-structure.md#brands). This page is available immediately, unlike carrier tracking which can take a while to update.
- Delivery confirmation when the package arrives.

### Express

Priority shipping with faster delivery times. Provides the same tracking information as Tracked shipping.

[More information on shipping levels, costs and delivery times.](https://printeers.com/shipping-delivery-times/)

## Retrieving Shipment Information

Get shipment details using the shipment reference:

```bash
curl -i https://api.test-printeers.com/v2/shipments/SHIPMENT_REFERENCE \
  -H "X-Printeers-Secret-Key: YOUR_SECRET_KEY"
```

The response includes:

- `reference`: The shipment reference (`Shipment_xxx...`).
- `orders`: List of orders included in this shipment.

For Tracked and Express shipments, you also receive:

- `carrier`: The shipping carrier name.
- `trackingNumber`: The carrier's tracking number.
- `trackingUrl`: Link to the white-label tracking page.