Aurelua
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Guide 3: Running Your Shop

The seller dashboard, day-to-day. How to take orders, ship, and get paid.

Logging in

Open aurelua.com/login on your phone. Sign in with the email + password you used when claiming.

You'll land on the Dashboard. This is your home base for everything.

Dashboard tour

The dashboard has six main sections, navigable from the bottom bar (mobile) or left side (desktop):

🏠 Dashboard

Your "today" view. Shows:

  • Available balance: money released to you, ready to cash out
  • Total revenue (last 30 days)
  • Total orders (lifetime)
  • Active products
  • Revenue chart (last 6 months) — only appears once you have sales
  • Recent orders — your last 5 orders, tap to see details

At the top: a banner with your store URL and a Copy button. Tap that. Paste it everywhere.

📦 Products

Your product catalogue. Each card shows: photo, name, price, stock, active/inactive status.

To add a new product, tap the + button. You'll be asked for:

  • Product name
  • Description
  • Price (in Rand)
  • Photo(s) — tap to upload from your phone
  • Stock quantity (set to 999 if unlimited)

To edit, tap any product card. To deactivate (instead of delete), toggle the active switch — buyers won't see it but your sales history is preserved.

🧾 Orders

The list of every order, ever. Filterable by status:

  • Awaiting payment: buyer placed the order, nothing paid yet
  • To ship: the buyer has paid, you can ship
  • Shipped: you've handed it to the courier
  • Delivered: the courier delivered it, or its delivery window passed
  • Completed: the buyer confirmed they received it
  • Cancelled: you'll see these too

Tap any order for full details: items, buyer details, shipping address, payment status, courier info.

📊 Analytics

Sales over time, top products, GMV trends. Most useful after your first 20+ orders.

💰 Payouts

Where your money lives. Shows:

  • Available to cash out: money released to you and not yet in your bank
  • Total earned: everything your sales have earned, including money still clearing from recent orders and money already paid out
  • Payout history: every transfer to your bank, with its status

Nothing is sent automatically. When there is money available, tap Cash Out Now, check the amount, and tap Confirm. See Getting paid: the payout flow further down for the fee and the checks that run.

⚙️ Settings

  • Brand profile: your brand name and how the store describes itself
  • Branding: logo and hero photo or video
  • Contact: the details buyers reach you on
  • Policies: your delivery and returns wording

Your bank details and identity verification are not in Settings. Bank details live on the Payout details page (from the dashboard checklist); identity verification starts from the banner on Payouts.

Taking your first order

Two flows depending on how the buyer pays.

Flow A: WhatsApp checkout with pay-link (most common)

  1. Buyer browses your store at aurelua.com/yourbrand. Adds items to cart.
  2. Buyer taps "Checkout via WhatsApp". WhatsApp opens with a pre-filled message addressed to your number, including:
    • Order number
    • List of items
    • Delivery address
    • A pay-link like pay.aurelua.com/x9F2k8 — this is the magic
  3. You receive the WhatsApp message. You can chat with the buyer to clarify anything (e.g., delivery time).
  4. Buyer taps the pay-link. A clean payment page opens showing the order total. They choose card or Instant EFT.
  5. Buyer is sent to Paystack. They pay by card, or pick their bank and approve the payment in their banking app.
  6. The order confirms itself. You get a Payment Received email with the items and the ship-to address. You do not need to mark anything.
  7. You see the order in your dashboard under Orders → To ship. Tap Mark shipped when you've handed it to the courier.
  8. Buyer confirms delivery from their order page or on WhatsApp. If they don't, the order is marked delivered once the courier window passes, and the money is released 7 days after that. Released money shows on Payouts as available to cash out. (If your identity and bank details are both verified, the money is released the moment the buyer pays. See Getting paid: the payout flow further down.)

Flow B: Manual EFT (the buyer pays straight to your bank)

Some buyers prefer paying directly. Here's how:

  1. Buyer browses, adds to cart, taps Checkout via WhatsApp.
  2. You agree the payment in the chat and send your bank details yourself. Aurelua does not put them in the message.
  3. Buyer pays directly via their banking app, sends you proof. Check your own banking app: the money must actually be in.
  4. You go to Orders → Awaiting payment, open the order, tap Mark as paid by EFT or cash.
  5. Order moves to To ship. Same as Flow A from here.

Two rules for that button. Only tap it for money that has already landed in your account. And if the buyer used the payment link instead, the order confirms itself, so there is nothing to tap. If the buyer started paying on the link in the last 30 minutes, Aurelua refuses the tap and tells you why on the order; wait for that payment to finish or fail.

Manual EFT skips Aurelua's payment processing. Pros: no Buyer Protection fee for the buyer. Cons: no Buyer Protection for the buyer, and Aurelua cannot see the money, so you are vouching that it arrived.

Common day-to-day actions

Marking a manual EFT or cash payment as paid

Open the order. Tap Mark as paid by EFT or cash. The order moves to To ship. You're committing that the money is actually in your account. If the buyer paid through the link, do nothing: the order confirms itself and you get a Payment Received email.

Marking an order shipped

Open the order. Tap Mark Shipped. You can optionally enter:

  • Courier name (e.g., Pargo, Aramex, Pep Paxi, your own driver)
  • Tracking number

The buyer gets a WhatsApp + email with the tracking info. Order status flips to Shipped.

Messaging a buyer

Every order has a Message Buyer on WhatsApp button. It opens WhatsApp with the buyer's number pre-filled and a context-aware first message ("Hi! About your order FLEUR-000012..."). Use this to clarify deliveries, send photos before shipping, or follow up on cancelled orders.

Refunding an order

There is no refund button yet. Email info@aurelua.com with the order number and what happened, and the Aurelua team will sort it out with you.

Adding a new product

Products → + → fill in name, description, price, photos, stock. Save. Live within 10 seconds.

Editing a price

Tap the product, change the price, save. Existing orders are not affected — only new orders use the new price.

Adjusting your store URL display name

Settings → Store → Display name. This is what shows up at the top of aurelua.com/yourbrand. Change anytime.

Getting paid: the payout flow

Aurelua works with Paystack to send money to your bank. Nothing is sent automatically: you cash out when you choose.

Two things to set up first, both from your dashboard:

  • Bank details, on the Payout details page (dashboard checklist, Add your bank details).
  • Identity verification, from the banner on Payouts (ID photo plus selfie, about a minute).

When money is released to you (card and Instant EFT payments through Aurelua):

  • If your identity is verified and your bank details are verified, the money is released the moment the buyer pays.
  • Otherwise it is held until the buyer confirms delivery, or until 7 days after the order is marked delivered, whichever comes first.
  • Released money shows on Payouts as Available to cash out.

Cashing out:

  1. On Payouts, tap Cash Out Now.
  2. Check the amount. A flat R10 payout fee covers the bank transfer. It is charged per cash out, not per order, and not at all if your available balance is R10 or less.
  3. Tap Confirm. Paystack sends the transfer to your bank, and the row appears in Payout history with its status.

Before money leaves, Aurelua checks that the bank account belongs to you. It runs once per set of bank details, not on every cash out, and nothing is deducted until it passes.

  • If the account cannot be confirmed as yours, the payout waits as Pending, nothing is deducted, and you see a message telling you what to check. Correct the details on the Payout details page, then cash out again.
  • If the check itself cannot run (for example Paystack is unreachable), the payout waits as Pending and nothing is deducted. Try again later; the team is alerted too.

For manual EFT or cash payments (buyer paid you directly):

  • The money never touches Aurelua. You already have it.
  • Aurelua just tracks the order status; you don't get an Aurelua payout because the money was always yours.

Failed payouts (account closed, transfer bounced) show as Failed in Payout history. Cash Out Now does not retry them. Correct your bank details on the Payout details page, then email info@aurelua.com with the order number and the team re-sends the transfer.

Sharing your store: best practices

Your store URL is your single most important marketing asset. Use it.

Where to put it:

  • ✅ Instagram bio (replaces Linktree)
  • ✅ WhatsApp profile description
  • ✅ TikTok bio
  • ✅ Facebook page about
  • ✅ Email signature
  • ✅ Every social media bio you have

Reply templates for DMs:

When someone asks "how much for X?" stop typing prices into DMs. Reply with:

"Hey! Easiest way is to tap aurelua.com/yourbrand — pricing is up there and you can check out with Instant EFT in your banking app. Lemme know if you need help 🌹"

When someone asks "do you ship to [city]?":

"Yes! Add to cart on aurelua.com/yourbrand and the delivery cost shows at checkout. Pargo pickup if you're not home — under R100 most areas."

Story posts:

  • "Tap link in bio" + a screenshot of your store URL
  • "New drop, link in bio" with a product photo
  • "DM = stress, link in bio = calm" 😄

Things to do in your first week

A checklist for the first 7 days:

  • Verify your identity from the Payouts page. It takes about a minute
  • Add your bank details from the dashboard checklist
  • Replace your IG bio link with aurelua.com/yourbrand
  • Send the link to 3 existing customers as a test ("hey, easier way to order")
  • Walk through the buyer flow yourself — add to cart, check out — to feel what your buyers feel
  • Add at least 6 products (the minimum for a good-looking grid)
  • Upload a logo + short bio in store settings
  • Pick a template that matches your brand vibe

When something goes wrong

Buyer paid through the link but the order still says "Awaiting payment" → Paystack's confirmation can be a minute or two behind. Refresh the page. If it is still not paid after 10 minutes, message us with the order number. Do not mark it paid yourself: a link payment confirms itself.

Buyer says they paid but you haven't seen anything → Ask them for proof of payment. If they paid you directly by EFT, check your own banking app first; once the money is in, tap Mark as paid by EFT or cash on the order. If they say they paid through the link, message us with the order number and we will check.

A product looks weird on the store page → Edit it. Re-upload the photo. The change is live in 10 seconds.

Need help fast → info@aurelua.com or +27 21 879 6453. We reply within 4 hours, usually faster.

You're running your shop

That's the whole loop. Generate → claim → share the link → orders come in → ship → get paid.

The rest is rhythm.

Next up: Guide 4 → FAQs