Order groups

Order groups

When you buy the same product several times in a short burst, from one shop or several, Seller Oracle puts those orders in a group. A group keeps one SKU for each product it holds, so the stock restocks one Amazon listing instead of starting a new one for each order. Marking one order's items listed or sent to prep marks the group's matching items too. Groups hold stock only: packaging, equipment and the other categories are never grouped.

How orders join a group

Seller Oracle groups an order when its order confirmation email arrives. The order joins the group of the order bought nearest in time to it, up to an hour either side, that:

• has an item with the same ASIN,
• is in the same currency,
• is stock, and isn't hidden or a draft,
• is from the same shop, if your SKUs include a retailer code, and has the same order date, if your SKUs include the order date (see SKU format).

With no such order, it starts a group of its own. The purchase time is when the confirmation email arrived. If that's more than a day from the order date, for example a confirmation you forwarded later, the order isn't grouped. Orders from other emails, orders you add by hand and receipts aren't grouped automatically either. Nor are orders Seller Oracle had already read before groups opened to every account on 8 October 2026. You can group any of these yourself with Group together.

Most orders from shops other than Amazon arrive without an ASIN, so each starts in a group of its own. When you give an item an ASIN, on Needs ASIN, the Orders list, the order page or the listing pop-up, its order moves into the group of its nearest matching order by the same rule, if it is alone in its group. If an order matches orders in two groups, those groups become one: the older group takes the other's orders.

A group of one order shows nothing on screen. A hidden order stays in its group, but it's left out of the group's counts and lists. An order you take out of a group is never grouped automatically again.

The "Group of N" tag

On the Orders list, orders in a group with at least one other order you can see show a Group of 3 tag under their products. The number counts the group's orders you can see, on any page of the list. Click or tap the tag to open the group's page.

On a computer, when two or more of a group's orders are on the page, a line down the left of the products joins them, with a dot on each, and the tag sits on the group's first order on the page. Two lines can run side by side where groups overlap. A third group shows its tag on each of its orders instead. On a phone, every grouped order shows the tag.

Group together

To group orders yourself, tick them on the Orders list and press Group together. It works in the Journey and Classic views. Tick at least 2 orders and no more than 50. A box asks first, and says "Items of the same product will share one SKU. Items already listed or at a prep centre keep theirs." Once they're grouped, the group's page opens with a message such as "Grouped 3 orders. 2 items changed SKU."

If the ticked orders include every order of a group you already have, they join that group, or the oldest such group if there are several. Otherwise they start a new one, so ticking only part of a group moves those orders out of it. A group left with no orders is deleted. Only stock can be grouped, and the Hidden and Drafts lists have no boxes to tick. Viewers can't group orders.

The group page

The tag, and View group on an order's page, open the group's page. Under the heading Group, a line sums it up, for example "Fri 2 Oct, 19:02 to 21:03 · 6 orders · 5 buyer accounts · 2 retailers". Buyer accounts are the mailboxes the orders' emails arrived in. Everyone on the account can open the page, and it shows only the orders you can see on the Orders list.

Products lists each product in the group with its ASIN, how many items there are, and its SKU. A product shows more than one SKU when an item that is listed or at a prep centre keeps its own. If the ASIN may not be the item you bought, the product shows Check ASIN, with It's right and Change ASIN (see Is it the right item?).

Orders lists the group's orders, earliest bought first, with when each was bought, its order number, its shop and mailbox, and each item's name, unit price and SKU.

Remove from group

To take orders out, tick them on the group page and press Remove from group. Their SKUs stay as they are, and the message says so, for example "Removed 1 order from the group. Its SKUs stay as they are." An order you remove is never grouped automatically again, but you can group it by hand with Group together. When no order is left in the group, it's deleted and you go back to the Orders list. Viewers can't remove orders.

On the order page

An order in a group with other orders you can see has a Group row in its details, for example "3 orders, Fri 2 Oct 19:02 to 19:22", with View group. Under the items, Other orders in this group lists up to 10 of the others, earliest bought first, with each one's status, unit prices and SKUs. A link takes you to the group page for the rest.

One SKU per product

In a group, the items of one product share one SKU. A product here is an ASIN in one currency, and also one order date or one shop when your SKUs include those. A new item takes its group's SKU for the product, whatever price it was bought at.

When you type a SKU for an item with an ASIN, on the order page or in the listing pop-up, the group's other items of that product take it too. On the order page the message says how many items changed, for example "SKU updated on 3 items in this group." Items that are listed or being listed on Amazon, sent to PrepBusiness or in a Source2Store file keep theirs, because that SKU is already at Amazon or a prep centre. If one of them has a different SKU, nothing changes and you see "Another order in this group has this product listed or at a prep centre under a different SKU, so it can't change here. Take this order out of the group to give it its own SKU." A blank SKU, or one typed on a hidden order or a draft, changes only that item, and items on hidden orders and drafts never take a SKU typed elsewhere.

When orders are grouped by hand, two groups become one, or an order moves into a group, each product settles on one SKU. The earliest item that is listed or at a prep centre decides it. Otherwise the earliest item's SKU does. A SKU that starts with a price is picked over one made before the item's price was known. Taking orders out of a group leaves their SKUs as they are.

Listing and prep across a group

Listing and prep marks carry between a group's items with the same ASIN and SKU, on orders that are open and not hidden. Items and orders that are cancelled, returned or refunded are left out, and so are hidden orders and drafts.

When you mark an item listed on Amazon, the group's other items with the same ASIN and SKU that aren't listed yet are marked listed too. Marking it not listed takes listed off them the same way. The message counts the other orders it changed, for example "Marked listed. Also changed on 2 other orders in its group.", and each of those orders' History says "Changed with another order in its group". When you list an item with List on Amazon, the others follow once Amazon accepts the listing. Items being listed, items Amazon rejected and orders where Amazon doesn't apply are left as they are.

Marking an item sent to prep, or not sent, works the same way for the group's other items with the same ASIN and SKU, including a second line of the product on the same order. Items in a Source2Store file and orders where prep doesn't apply are left as they are. When you make a Source2Store file from the Action Centre, the group's other waiting orders of the product go in it too. PrepBusiness exports stay one order at a time.

See Sending items to prep for marking an order's items one by one, and The same amount for a group's orders for filling in settled amounts across a group.