Our sandbox accounts allow you to test your integration with realistic, production-like data. Think of it as a practice run—everything works like the real thing, but no actual shipments are made.
Our sandbox accounts are separate environments and data cannot be transferred over to production.
1

Create sandbox account

  • Sign up for our Sandbox environment, here.
  • Validate your email address to activate your account.
2

Add a test payment method

Add a test payment method so when you create new orders the orders do not go OnHold due to payment failure.
  1. Navigate to Finances > Payment Methods in the ShipBob dashboard
  2. Click Link Credit Card.
  3. Enter the following details:
    • Card Number: 4242 4242 4242 4242
    • CVC: Any 3-digit number
    • Expiration Date: Any future MM/YY
    • Zip Code: Any valid zip code
  4. Click Add Credit Card.
Credit card entry formPayment Methods Overview
3

Get API key

ShipBob verifies a user’s request by using a Bearer token in the header. We call this a Personal Access Token.On the ShipBob dashboard, go to Integrations > API Tokens. Click Generate New Token. Copy this token as we will use in next step.
4

Make your first API request

Use your PAT token to make a request to the GET Channels endpoint. You will need the channel ID to create products, orders and returns with the ShipBob API.
GET https://sandbox-api.shipbob.com/2025-07/channel
5

Create product

Below is a sample request to create a product:
Make sure to pass the shipbob_channel_id in the header.
{
  "name": "Light Roast Coffee",
  "type_id": 1,
  "variants": [
    {
      "name": "Light Roast Coffee",
      "sku": "LIGHT-ROAST",
      "packaging_requirement_id": 1,
      "packaging_material_type_id": 1
    }
  ]
}
6

Create Order

Below is a sample request to create a order:
Make sure to pass the shipbob_channel_id in the header.
{
  "shipping_method": "Standard",
  "recipient": {
    "name": "John Doe",
    "address": {
      "address1": "100 Nowhere Blvd",
      "address2": "Suite 100",
      "city": "Gotham City",
      "state": "NJ",
      "country": "US",
      "zip_code": "07093"
    },
    "email": "john@example.com",
    "phone_number": "555-555-5555"
  },
  "products": [
    {
      "reference_id": "LIGHT-ROAST",
      "name": "Light Roast Coffee",
      "quantity": 1,
    }
  ],
  "reference_id": "840343901234", // the reference_id can be the same as the order_number
  "order_number": "1001",
  "type": "DTC",
}
You can also test making this request in our API Playground here.
7

Add inventory

If you want to add test inventory quantities to your products please email techspecialists@shipbob.com with your request and the email tied to your Sandbox account.
8

Add packaging preferences (optional)

Set these up in the ShipBob dashboard under Products > [Your Product] > Packaging Preferences.
If you are using the 1.0/product endpoint you have to do this manually for each product in your sandbox account.

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✅ Next Steps

Ready to test fulfillment workflows? Check out our Sandbox Simulations guide to simulate order shipping and delivery events in your sandbox environment.