At a glance
Pending Shipment (WAIT_SELLER_SEND_GOODS) counts every paid AliExpress order sitting in the WAIT_SELLER_SEND_GOODS state, meaning the buyer has paid and the parcel is waiting for the seller to dispatch it. This is the live fulfilment queue, and on AliExpress each of these orders carries its own ship-by deadline that, if missed, drives late-dispatch penalties, buyer-opened disputes, and shipping-axis DSR damage. For an owner or operations lead it is the workload pulse that answers a simple question several times a day, namely how many orders are waiting on us right now. It pairs withaex_late_shipments_cainiao_sla_risk, which surfaces the subset that is actually breaching deadline, and withaex_orders_day, which shows the inflow feeding this queue.
Calculation
Vortex IQ counts the AliExpress orders currently reported in the WAIT_SELLER_SEND_GOODS state, the marketplace’s own label for paid orders awaiting seller dispatch, and compares the live count against the trailing 30-day average to decide whether the queue is running hot. See the At a glance summary above for what the metric tracks and the worked example below for a typical reading.Worked example
A representative reading of Pending Shipment (WAIT_SELLER_SEND_GOODS) for a typical mid-volume cross-border AliExpress store. On 18 Mar 26 the card reads 96 orders pending shipment against a 30-day average of about 40, so the alert fires at more than twice the baseline. The operations lead opens the queue, finds that a warehouse staffing gap over the weekend left two days of orders unpicked, and prioritises the oldest orders first since those are nearest their ship deadline. After a catch-up shift the count settles back toward the low 40s by the next morning check. For deeper investigation, use Vortex Mind to trace upstream causes; for natural-language exploration, ask Ask Viq.Sibling cards merchants should reference together
Reconciling against AliExpress Seller Center
Where to look in AliExpress Seller Center: Open the Orders area and filter to the awaiting-shipment status; that filtered count is the Seller Center view of the same WAIT_SELLER_SEND_GOODS pool this card tracks. Why the Vortex IQ value may legitimately differ:
Cross-connector reconciliation: If you fulfil from a connected store, compare against your BigCommerce or Shopify open-order queue to confirm the same parcels are awaiting pick. For divergence investigations, use Vortex Mind.
Known limitations / merchant FAQs
Q: How often does Pending Shipment (WAIT_SELLER_SEND_GOODS) update? It refreshes in near real time, so an order clears from the count within the next sync once it moves out of the WAIT_SELLER_SEND_GOODS state. Q: Why does my AliExpress Seller Center show a different number? Short-term gaps usually come from state-change lag, an applied date or store filter in Seller Center, or a time-zone difference at the day boundary. Q: How does Pending Shipment (WAIT_SELLER_SEND_GOODS) relate to other fulfilment metrics? It is the full queue;aex_late_shipments_cainiao_sla_risk is the at-risk subset, aex_orders_day is the inflow, and aex_shipping_time_accuracy is the downstream delivery result.
Q: Can I customise the alert threshold?
Yes, alert thresholds are configurable per profile in the Alert Rules tab. Adjust to match your business baseline rather than relying on the generic default.