Start HereMerchant quickstart

Merchant quickstart

From login to your first published product. No coding required. For the full day-to-day reference, see the User Guides.

Screenshots in this guide are captured against your live admin during onboarding, so they match exactly what you see.

The path to your first sale. This page is the end-to-end narrative. If you prefer one focused page per step, follow the five-step path — each is short and links to the next: Add a product → Connect Stripe → Set shipping → Publish your storefront → Place a test order.

Before you start — what to gather

Hand these to the Orchard operator so your store can be provisioned:

  • Store name and a short slug (lowercase, no spaces — e.g. clearwater-filtration)
  • Business legal entity + EIN (needed for Stripe — start early, KYC takes time)
  • Support email and business address
  • A Stripe account under your business
  • Your storefront domain and access to its DNS
  • Logo, brand colors, product photography, and a launch product list
  • Names + emails of anyone who needs admin access, and what each should do

Step 1 — The operator provisions your store

Using the info above, the operator creates your store: your slug, domain record, admin login, an empty credential vault for your Stripe keys, and toggles on the features you asked for. You receive an admin login link and a temporary password. Nothing for you to click yet.

Step 2 — Log in

  1. Open admin.theorchard.dev and sign in with your email + temporary password.
  2. Set a new password. If prompted, set up TOTP (an authenticator app) — recommended for an account that can see orders and customers.
  3. You land on your dashboard (empty for now).

Step 3 — Connect Stripe (test mode first)

This is how you get paid.

  1. Go to Settings → Integrations.
  2. Find Stripe. Paste your test keys (sk_test_… and pk_test_…) from your Stripe dashboard (Stripe → Developers → API keys).
  3. Save. Orchard verifies the keys and registers the payment webhook automatically.

Leave live keys for go-live.

Step 4 — Create API keys for your developer

If a developer is building your storefront:

  1. Go to Settings → API Keys.
  2. Create a test secret key (sk_test_…) and test publishable key (pk_test_…).
  3. Copy each immediately — the secret is shown only once. Hand them over through a password manager, never plain-text email.

Step 5 — Invite your team

Settings → Users → Invite user → enter their email and pick a role (fulfillment, support, or a custom role with just the permissions they need). They get an email and set their own password + TOTP on first login.

Step 6 — Add your first product

For the first 10–20 products the admin UI is easiest (bulk import via API is available for larger catalogs).

  1. Products → New Product.
  2. Fill in name, price, description, images, availability, and SEO fields.
  3. For category-specific fields (serial number, warranty, spec-sheet PDF), use the custom product form the operator wires up for your store.
  4. Click Publish — it’s immediately live on your storefront.

Step 7 — Set a shipping rate

Checkout needs at least one delivery option to offer. Go to Settings → Shipping, click Add rate, and add a flat rate (e.g. Standard shipping, $6.00). Optional cart-subtotal bounds let you offer free shipping over a threshold. Full detail: Set shipping.

Step 8 — Place a test order

With Stripe in test mode, run a full practice order on your storefront. Use Stripe’s test card 4242 4242 4242 4242, any future expiry, any CVC. Then in admin: open the order under Orders, generate a shipping label (test), print the packing slip, mark it shipped, and confirm the shipment email fired.

If that worked end-to-end, your store is operationally ready — you’re just flipping from test to live.

Go-live checklist

  • Swap Stripe test keys for live keys (Settings → Integrations)
  • Create live API keys for your developer
  • Point your domain’s DNS at your storefront
  • Confirm your catalog is complete and published
  • Run one real, small order end-to-end (place, fulfill, refund)
  • Confirm team logins and order/shipment emails
  • Decide your launch moment — soft-launch first; there’s no rush

Next

Platform overviewAdd a product