# Lead times and delivery

Chapter 11 of the Atelier user guide.

Most furniture is made after it's ordered, so "when will it arrive?" matters as much as the price. Atelier works out each variant's state from its stock and your lead times, and says it the same way on the product page, on cards, in quick view and on cart lines.

## The four states

| State | When | Product page | Cards and cart lines |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Ready to ship** | Tracked stock above 0, or untracked with no lead-time metafields, and not tagged `made-to-order` | "**In stock.** Delivered in 1 to 2 weeks." with a green dot | "In stock, delivered in 2 weeks"; on cards, "Only 3 left" when tracked stock is 3 or fewer and the variant stops selling at zero |
| **Made to order** | Tagged `made-to-order`; or tracked, set to continue selling and at 0 or below; or untracked with a lead time in `custom.lead_time_min_weeks` or `custom.lead_time_max_weeks` | "**Made to order** in our Melbourne workshop. Ships in 8 to 12 weeks." with a clock | "Made to order, 8 to 12 weeks", and the "Made to order" badge |
| **Pre-order** | The section's pre-order opt-ins say so (chapter 6) | "**Pre-order.**" with your pre-order note, or "Ships from March 2027." from `custom.preorder_date` | Cart lines: the pre-order note or "Ships from March 2027". Cards can't see the section's opt-ins: they show the Pre-order badge and "Ships from March 2027" when the product has a `custom.preorder_date` and the variant is oversold or sold only through single-delivery purchase options; otherwise the stock line. |
| **Sold out** | The variant can't be bought | The Delivery block hides; the Back-in-stock request shows | "Sold out", or your `custom.restock_note` ("Back in January.") |

**Weeks** come from the variant's `custom.lead_time_min_weeks` and `custom.lead_time_max_weeks`, then the product's, then **Theme settings › Delivery and lead times** (8 to 12 weeks by default). Set only the minimum or only the maximum and the other comes from the theme settings; when both are the same the theme says "8 weeks".

**Delivery days** for ready-to-ship pieces come from the theme settings (7 to 14 days by default). Under a week they read in days; from a week they read in whole weeks.

> **Tip:** for pieces you build to order, the simplest setup is to tag them `made-to-order`. Use the lead-time metafields only for pieces whose lead time differs from your default.

## The Delivery block

In the buy box, under the options, the **Delivery** block shows:

1. **The status sentence** for the selected variant (the table above). The workshop name completes "Made to order in …"; leave **Workshop name** empty for "Made to order. Ships in 8 to 12 weeks."
2. **The timeline**, three steps on a dimension line: **Today** (Order placed), **8 to 12 weeks** (Made for you), or **2 days** (Packed for you) when ready to ship, and the delivery window under your **Delivery service name** ("White-glove delivery"). The window is worked out from today in the shopper's browser, so a cached page never shows old dates: "22 Dec to 26 Jan", with the year only when the window reaches into another year. For made to order it runs from the shortest lead time plus the fastest delivery to the longest lead time plus the slowest delivery. The timeline is hidden for pre-orders.
3. **The delivery note** from Theme settings ("We carry it to the room you choose, unwrap it and take the packaging away.").

| Setting | Default | What it does |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Show the delivery timeline | On | The three steps |
| Show delivery dates | On | Dates for the last step. Off shows weeks ("9 to 14 weeks"). |
| Show the delivery note | On | The note from Theme settings |

The block follows the variant: pick a variant that's in stock and it switches from made to order to ready to ship. With **Draw dimension lines in** on, the timeline's line draws itself in the first time it shows.

## Theme settings › Delivery and lead times

| Setting | Default | What it does |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Workshop name | "our Melbourne workshop" | Completes "Made to order in …" |
| Made to order: shortest lead time | 8 wk (1 to 26) | The default lead time |
| Made to order: longest lead time | 12 wk (1 to 52) | |
| Ready to ship: fastest delivery | 7 d (1 to 30) | Also added to the lead time for the made-to-order window |
| Ready to ship: slowest delivery | 14 d (1 to 60) | |
| Delivery service name | "White-glove delivery" | The timeline's last step and the cart meter ("free white-glove delivery") |
| Delivery note | "We carry it to the room you choose, …" | Under the timeline |
| Free delivery from | 0 | The cart drawer's meter: "You're $1,250 away from free white-glove delivery." then "White-glove delivery is included." 0 hides it. It shows only to shoppers paying in your store's currency. |

> **Important:** the timeline, the meter and the notes describe your delivery; they don't set shipping rates. Set your real rates in **Settings › Shipping and delivery**, and make every sentence true for your store.