# Setting up Seed before your first seeding wave

Source: https://www.seedinfluencers.com/help/setting-up-before-your-first-seeding-wave
Updated: 2026-09-24

The settings worth getting right before you send gift links to a batch of creators, not after.

## The goal

The first time you send a gift link to a real batch of creators, not a test, not one friendly DM, but a genuine wave of 10, 30, 100. Is the moment every setup gap turns into real cleanup: mis-shipped sizes, replies you never see, duplicate orders from a link that got reshared. Getting a handful of settings right before that wave goes out is a lot cheaper than fixing it after.

## How most brands do it

Most brands finish the onboarding wizard, see a working gift link, and treat that as "done." They send the link to their whole creator list the same day. What usually breaks first: a creator replies to the confirmation email asking a question, and it lands in a support inbox nobody's watching, because reply-to was never set. Or the same link gets posted in a creator group chat and three people order from the same address before anyone notices, because double-order protection got left as-is without anyone checking what it actually does. Or orders start landing as live Shopify orders nobody reviewed, because the draft/live switch was never looked at. None of these are catastrophic on their own, but stacked together on the first real wave, they eat a whole afternoon.

## How experienced teams do it

Teams running gifting as a repeatable channel treat the settings pass as part of setup, not an afterthought. A 10-minute checklist they run once before the first wave, not something they discover by getting burned. They point creator-email replies at an inbox a human actually checks, so "can I get a different size" doesn't disappear. They decide deliberately whether orders should land as drafts they approve or complete automatically. drafts if they want a review step before anything ships, automatic if the flow is trusted and speed matters more. They leave double-order protection on unless they have a specific reason not to, since the downside of catching a real duplicate by mistake is a two-minute review, and the downside of missing one is real product shipped twice. And they decide on a plan before the wave, not mid-send. Running out of orders partway through a batch is a worse experience for creators than picking the right plan up front.

## Do it in Seed

1. Match your brand, see [How to make your gift page look like your brand](https://www.seedinfluencers.com/help/make-your-gift-page-look-like-your-brand) if you haven't already.
2. Go to [Settings](https://www.seedinfluencers.com/help/settings-emails) → **Emails** and set a **Reply-To address** you actually check. This is where every creator reply lands.
3. Go to [Settings](https://www.seedinfluencers.com/help/settings-shopify) → **Shopify** and decide on **Keep orders in draft**. Turn it on if you want to review each order before it ships; leave it off if you're ready to let orders complete automatically.
4. While you're there, set an **Internal order note** if your fulfillment team needs context on every gift order, and decide whether to **Include billing address** or **Add shipping method** based on how your 3PL or warehouse expects orders to look.
5. Go to [Settings](https://www.seedinfluencers.com/help/settings-protections) → **Protections** and confirm **Prevent double orders** is on, unless you have a specific reason to let repeat addresses through unreviewed.
6. Check [Plans & billing](https://www.seedinfluencers.com/help/plans-and-billing) against how many creators you're about to gift. Pick a plan with enough headroom for the whole wave, not just today's send.

## Expert checklist

- Reply-To is set to an inbox someone actually checks.
- You made a deliberate call on Keep orders in draft, not left at whatever it defaulted to.
- Prevent double orders is on, unless you have a specific reason to turn it off.
- Your plan's order limit covers the whole wave you're about to send, not just the first day.
- Your brand look is finished, not partial, before the link goes out.
- Internal order note and shipping-method settings match what your fulfillment team expects.

> **Tip:** None of this is a one-time chore. Revisit it whenever your fulfillment process, team, or volume changes meaningfully.