When a customer buys one of your products, the order appears in your Tambala seller dashboard.

From there, your job is to make sure the payment is confirmed, check that you can fulfil what the customer ordered, prepare it properly and send it through the fulfilment method they selected.

Most product orders follow a simple journey: Order received → Payment confirmed → Processing → Prepared → Fulfilled → Customer receives it → Completed

Open the order

When a new order comes in, open Orders from your seller dashboard and select it.

The order page shows the information you need to fulfil the purchase.

Check what the customer bought, including the product, quantity and any selected options such as size, colour or model.

Also check the customer details, fulfilment method and payment status.

Do not rely only on the notification you received. The order itself should be your main source of information because it shows the latest status.

Check that the payment is confirmed

Before preparing anything, check the payment status.

If Tambala shows that the payment has been confirmed, you can continue with the order.

If the payment is still pending, wait.

If the payment failed or the order was refunded, do not fulfil it.

Do not accept a payment screenshot, WhatsApp message or customer's word as proof that an order has been paid. Use the payment information shown in Tambala.

If something does not look right, follow the support process rather than asking the customer to pay you outside Tambala.

Check that you have exactly what was ordered

Once payment is confirmed, make sure you can actually fulfil the order.

Look carefully at the product, quantity and any variants the customer chose.

For example, if the order is for:

Running Shoes — Black — Size 42 — Quantity 1

you need that exact product.

A Size 41 or a different colour is not the same order.
If everything is available and in the condition you promised, you can continue.
If something is out of stock, damaged or otherwise unavailable, do not quietly replace it with something else.

Use Solve Product Order Problems to decide what to do next.

Prepare the correct products

Find everything in the order and inspect it before packing.

Make sure the product is the correct size, colour, model or other option. Check the quantity and make sure the item is clean, complete and in the condition described in your listing.

If the customer ordered several products, check each one.

This is the best time to catch a mistake.

It is much easier to correct the wrong size while the product is still in your hands than after it has travelled to the customer.

Once everything is correct, pack the order safely.

For the full process, see Prepare and Pack an Order.

Check how the customer wants to receive it

The order will show the fulfilment method the customer selected at checkout.

Depending on the options available for your business, this may be:

Pickup from you.
Delivery by you or your driver.
A courier service.
A Tambala Pickup Point.
Tambala Market Delivery.

Follow the method shown on the order.

Do not change it simply because another option is easier for you.

If the fulfilment arrangement needs to change, communicate with the customer and follow the appropriate Tambala process so the order record stays accurate.

Send or prepare the order for collection

Once the package is ready, follow the steps for the fulfilment method the customer chose.

For a pickup order, make the package ready and tell the customer when they can collect it.

For seller delivery, send it to the address shown on the order.

For courier fulfilment, hand it to the correct courier and keep any useful tracking or handover information.

For Tambala Pickup Point or Tambala Market Delivery, follow the handover instructions shown for that order.

See Fulfil an Order for the full process for each method.

Keep the status up to date

As the order moves forward, update its status when each real step happens.

If the order is ready for collection, mark it ready.

If it has left for delivery, mark it accordingly.

When the customer has actually received or collected it, record that too.

Do not mark something Delivered while it is still with your driver.

Do not mark something Picked Up because the customer said they are coming later.

Accurate statuses help the customer understand what is happening and give you a useful record if there is a problem later.

If a teammate helps you process orders, they should follow the same rule.

Communicate when something changes

Most orders should not require constant messages.

The order status already helps the customer follow progress.

But if something happens that changes what the customer was expecting, tell them.

For example, if delivery will be delayed, a simple message may be enough:

Hello. We are preparing your order, but delivery has been delayed. We expect to send it tomorrow and will update you as soon as it is on the way.

Do not leave the customer wondering what happened.

Clear communication is especially important when a delay, address problem or stock issue affects the order.

When the customer receives the order

The final handover depends on the fulfilment method.

For pickup, confirm that you are giving the correct package to the correct customer.

For delivery, make sure the parcel reaches the right destination.

For courier or Tambala fulfilment, follow the delivery or collection status shown in Tambala.

Only record the order as received once the handover has actually happened.

After that, Tambala will move the order through the remaining completion process according to the current marketplace rules.

If something goes wrong

Sometimes an order cannot continue normally.

The product may be unavailable. The customer may ask to change the address. A courier may fail to reach them. The customer may say something is missing after delivery.

Do not try to solve every problem by changing statuses or making informal arrangements outside the platform.

Start by checking the order and understanding what actually happened.

Then use Solve Product Order Problems or the appropriate returns, refunds or support process.

Keeping the order record and communication clear makes these situations much easier to resolve.

If a teammate helps with orders

You can give a teammate access to process and fulfil customer orders without sharing your owner account.

Give them the permissions they need for the work they are responsible for and nothing unnecessary.

For example, someone preparing orders may need order-management access but does not automatically need access to your payouts or business settings.

See Team & Access for the full teammate and permissions guidance.

The important thing to remember

When an order comes in, the process should stay simple.

First, make sure Tambala has confirmed the payment.

Then make sure you have exactly what the customer ordered.

Prepare it carefully, follow the fulfilment method they selected and keep the order status accurate until the customer receives it.

A customer has already trusted you enough to place an order and pay.

Fulfilment is where you keep that promise.

Before sending the package, see Prepare and Pack an Order.

When it is ready to leave you, continue with Fulfil an Order.

If the order cannot continue normally, use Solve Product Order Problems.

For a quick explanation of each order stage, see Order Statuses Explained.