Question 1

What is Shipstry, and who is it for?

Accepted Answer

Shipstry is a weekly launch registry for real, maker-built products. It gives makers a reviewed launch page, community discovery, voting, and a lasting record after launch week. Anyone can browse; makers use it when they have a product people can try or evaluate now.

Question 2

Do I need an account to use Shipstry?

Accepted Answer

You can browse products and read product pages without an account. You need an account to ship a product, vote, comment, reply, or like comments.

Question 3

How do I sign in?

Accepted Answer

Shipstry currently supports Google sign-in and email one-time code sign-in. If this is your first login and your profile is missing a name, you may be asked to set one before continuing.

Question 4

What does it cost to launch?

Accepted Answer

Browsing, accounts, voting, and comments are free. Harbor is the free submission path with queue, quota, and scheduling limits. Voyage is a $9.90 one-time purchase per product for priority review and earlier eligible scheduling.

Question 5

When will my product go live?

Accepted Answer

Products launch in a Monday-to-Sunday ship week (UTC). Voyage can target the current week; Harbor is scheduled into an eligible future week, usually week +3 or week +1 when backlink verification unlocks that option. Voting and weekly ranking apply only during the assigned week.

Question 6

What is Fog Mode?

Accepted Answer

Fog Mode is Shipstry's daily blind-voting window from 13:00 to 19:00 UTC. During that period, vote counts and rank cues are hidden, and visitors see products in a different order so discovery depends less on crowd-following.

Question 7

What is Wakemark?

Accepted Answer

Wakemark is Shipstry's reputation system. It reflects long-term contribution, outcomes, and consistency, but it does not change voting weight or product ranking power.

Question 8

How can I contact the Shipstry team?

Accepted Answer

You can reach the team at hi@shipstry.com, or use the Feedback page if you want to send bugs, suggestions, or product ideas.

Question 9

What kinds of products can I submit?

Accepted Answer

Shipstry is designed for real maker-built products people can genuinely access, evaluate, or understand today. That includes apps, software, developer tools, AI products, utilities, productized platforms, and similar product-first releases.

Question 10

What usually is not a fit?

Accepted Answer

Usually not a fit: agencies, consultancies, freelancer services, portfolio sites, idea-only pages, thin waitlists, and listings built mainly for backlinks, traffic capture, or vanity launch metrics.

Question 11

Can I submit a private beta, open source project, or major relaunch?

Accepted Answer

Yes, sometimes. Private betas can be approved if the product clearly exists and people have a real way to request or get access. Open source products should have docs, screenshots, a demo, or another clear evaluation path. Relaunches are considered when there is a meaningful new release, rebuild, or major scope change.

Question 12

Do I need to be the founder or maker to submit?

Accepted Answer

No. Anyone can submit a product as long as the listing is honest and authorized by the maker. Makers themselves usually write the most accurate listings.

Question 13

How do I submit a product?

Accepted Answer

Create a draft, add the product details and launch link, then choose a plan and an eligible ship week. Paid plans go through checkout; Harbor goes through free-eligibility and backlink checks. After submission, the product stays pending until review is complete.

Question 14

Can I save drafts and come back later?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The submit flow supports drafts, and your draft can be reopened later from the submit flow or Dashboard. If a payment attempt is canceled, your draft stays saved so you can try again without starting over.

Question 15

What plans are available?

Accepted Answer

There are two submission plans. Harbor is the free path with queue and quota limits. Voyage is a one-time paid path with priority review and earlier eligible scheduling.

Question 16

Is pricing one-time or recurring?

Accepted Answer

Harbor is free. Voyage is a one-time $9.90 purchase for one product submission; it is not a subscription and does not renew.

Question 17

How does Harbor scheduling work?

Accepted Answer

Harbor is the free submission path. Standard Harbor usually starts at week +3, has a monthly limit of 1 free submission per user, and uses 20 standard free slots per week. Voyage can schedule this week; Harbor must wait for an eligible week.

Question 18

What does a verified backlink unlock on Harbor?

Accepted Answer

If your Harbor submission has a live Shipstry backlink and verification succeeds, Harbor unlocks week +1 scheduling, dofollow links, and access to 5 extra verified slots each week. Verified submissions use those slots first, then fall back to standard Harbor slots when available. If verification fails, you cannot use those verified Harbor benefits for submission.

Question 19

What backlinks do the plans include?

Accepted Answer

Approved products receive organic links under Shipstry's current link policy. Voyage does not sell ranking credit or guaranteed SEO authority; its paid benefit is priority review and earlier eligible scheduling.

Question 20

Can I submit more than one product?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Harbor is limited to 1 free submission per month. Voyage has no monthly quota, but every product requires its own $9.90 purchase.

Question 21

How long does review take?

Accepted Answer

Harbor uses a best-effort queue and can take several weeks during busy periods. Voyage includes priority review within 48 hours.

Question 22

What happens after I submit my product?

Accepted Answer

Submitted products enter pending review. Shipstry checks product reality, listing completeness, ownership, fit with the registry, duplicate risk, and trust or safety issues. If approved, the product goes live in the selected ship week.

Question 23

Can I edit my submission after I send it?

Accepted Answer

You can keep editing while the product is still pending. Once the product is approved and live, edits are no longer treated as normal draft changes, so you should contact the team for important corrections.

Question 24

Can I resubmit after a rejection?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Fix the issues cited in the rejection notice and submit again. There is no cooldown, but the same quality standards apply.

Question 25

Can I upgrade later?

Accepted Answer

A pending Harbor product can upgrade to Voyage from the Dashboard and pay the difference. Voyage is the highest submission tier.

Question 26

What is the refund policy?

Accepted Answer

A Voyage purchase may be refundable before review starts or when the product is rejected and never published. Once priority review has been delivered and the product is approved and published, it is generally not refundable. Historical placement purchases remain governed by the offer shown when they were purchased.

Question 27

How do voting and ranking work?

Accepted Answer

Signed-in users can upvote an approved product once during its active ship week. Products are ranked by votes for that week, with Gold, Silver, and Bronze weekly winners. Voting closes when the week ends.

Question 28

When can I vote on a product?

Accepted Answer

Voting is only active during a product's ship week, which runs Monday through Sunday in UTC. Before the week starts, voting has not started. After the week ends, voting is closed.

Question 29

What changes during Fog Mode?

Accepted Answer

During Fog Mode, rank positions and vote counts are hidden, and every visitor sees a different order for the current ship week. Product details, comments, and ship-week context stay visible, but momentum cues are reduced.

Question 30

How are weekly and monthly winners selected?

Accepted Answer

Weekly winners are the top products by votes in a ship week, awarded Gold, Silver, and Bronze. Monthly winners are chosen from the weekly winners for that month.

Question 31

Can I comment on products?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Signed-in users can leave comments on product pages, and top-level comments can also receive replies. Comments are intended to support real discussion between makers and the community.

Question 32

Can I like comments?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Signed-in users can like comments, and comment appreciation is one of the signals that can strengthen Wakemark over time.

Question 33

Can non-makers build Wakemark?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Wakemark is for makers and community members alike. Discovery, discussion, comment appreciation, and consistent participation can all contribute to it over time.

Question 34

Does Wakemark affect ranking or voting power?

Accepted Answer

No. Wakemark records earned reputation, but it does not change product ranking, does not increase vote weight, and does not buy leverage inside discovery.

Frequently asked questions

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