Some producers take orders any time. Others collect orders during an ordering window and fulfil them on a set day — common with roasters who roast to order rather than shipping from stock.

A window has an opening time, a cutoff, and a date your order will be ready. You place your order before the cutoff, the producer roasts or packs on the fulfilment day, and your coffee is ready by the ready-by date shown at checkout.

The producer's shop shows whether ordering is open now and, if not, when the next window opens. At checkout you'll see the ordering window your order belongs to, with its ready-on date, so you know what you're committing to before you place it.

You can still browse and build your cart — you just can't check out until the next window opens. Your cart keeps everything in it, so the usual approach is to fill it as you notice what's low and check out once ordering opens.

Your order rolls to the next window rather than disappearing. If you're in a genuine pinch, message the producer — many will squeeze in a late order if they haven't started roasting, but that's their call and not something the platform decides.

When more than one window is open, you'll pick which one at checkout. The ready-by dates differ, so check them if timing matters — a later window can mean fresher coffee, an earlier one gets it to you sooner.

If you're on a weekly rhythm, note your producer's cutoff and count stock the day before. Ordering to the cutoff rather than after it is the single easiest way to avoid running out mid-week.