Before sending inventory to Manifest, you must create an inbound PO — also called a Shipping Plan — in your ShipHero client portal at shipsfor.us. This generates the box labels required for receiving compliance and provides Manifest's warehouse team with your expected inventory details. There are two ways to create a Shipping Plan: through the portal UI or via bulk Excel upload.
Before you start:
Your products must already exist in ShipHero with scannable, unique barcodes at the unit level. If your products are not yet barcoded, see Barcoding Your Products before creating your Shipping Plan.
Method 1: Create via the Portal UI
Most merchants create inbound POs directly in the ShipHero portal UI.
Log into your ShipHero client portal at shipsfor.us. Click Shipping Plans in the left-hand navigation. Click Create Shipping Plan. Select the Texas (San Marcos) warehouse location and click Continue.
Search for and select the SKUs you are sending. Enter the quantity for each SKU. If items are hazardous materials check the hazmat box — if not, leave it unchecked. Click Add Items, then Save and Continue.
Select your pack-out configuration. Single SKU per box or pallet is strongly preferred and required to avoid non-compliance fees. If you are sending freight or palletized shipments, treat "box" and "pallet" interchangeably throughout this process. If you are sending mixed SKUs per box, you must acknowledge the compliance warning before proceeding — note that mixed configurations will incur hourly labor charges at receiving.
Enter the number of units per box and the number of boxes for each SKU. The unit count must align exactly with the total quantity entered — a green checkmark will appear when the math is correct. Add any warehouse notes if needed, then click Continue.
On the final screen, generate and print your packing list by clicking Generate Packing List and Finish. This produces your box labels. Each printed label has two sides: the left side goes on the outside of the box for warehouse scanning, and the right side is the packing list that goes inside the box. If your pop-up blocker prevents the print dialog from opening, allow pop-ups for shipsfor.us and try again.
Enter your tracking number(s) in the Tracking Numbers section, including the carrier and tracking number. For freight shipments enter the PRO number or BOL number instead. Enter the expected delivery date in the Expected Date field.
Method 2: Create via Bulk Excel Upload
This method is recommended when sending large or complex shipments with multiple SKUs across many boxes.
See the .csv template at the bottom of this article.
In your ShipHero client portal, click Shipping Plans in the left-hand navigation. Click Upload Box Manifest. Download the Box Manifest CSV template, fill it in, and save it as a CSV file — it must be in CSV format, not Excel. The template requires the SKU, box number, and quantity per box for each line item. Select the correct warehouse and vendor for the shipment. Attach the completed CSV file and click Save.
Once the Shipping Plan is created via either method, open it and wait for the status to change from Processing to active before printing labels. Click the Print icon next to Shipping Plan Details to download your labels. Affix labels to the outside of each box or pallet in a visible location. Note that parcel shipping plans are limited to 200 boxes — if your shipment exceeds 200 boxes it must be split into multiple Shipping Plans.
After creating your Shipping Plan:
Your PO is now ready. Take note of your Shipping Plan/PO ID — you will need it when scheduling your delivery appointment in OpenDock. See How to Schedule a Receiving Appointment for next steps.
Each product must have a registered barcode before your PO is created — see Barcoding Your Products for format and size requirements.