Question 1

What is Shipstry?

Accepted Answer

Shipstry is a weekly registry for maker-built products. Products enter a defined ship week, go through review, and stay part of a browsable record after the week ends instead of disappearing into a fast-moving feed.

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

Is Shipstry free to use?

Accepted Answer

Browsing, account creation, voting, and commenting are free. For makers, Harbor is the free submission path, while Voyage and Flagship are paid plans with faster review and stronger visibility benefits.

Question 5

What is a ship week?

Accepted Answer

A ship week is a Monday-to-Sunday shipping window in UTC. Products are scheduled into a specific ship week, voting happens during that week, and weekly winners are determined from that window.

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

You should be the founder, maker, team member, or another clearly authorized representative. Shipstry reviews for maker ownership and honest representation, not just whether the page looks polished.

Question 13

How does the submission flow work?

Accepted Answer

Submission happens in two stages. First, you complete the product details and save or update a draft. Then you choose a plan and ship week, and submit the draft for review. Paid plans go through checkout; Harbor goes through free-eligibility checks.

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 three plans: Harbor, Voyage, and Flagship. Harbor is the free path with queue and quota limits. Voyage is a one-time paid plan with faster review and stronger backlink benefits. Flagship is a paid plan with featured placement charged by featured day.

Question 16

Is pricing one-time or recurring?

Accepted Answer

Pricing is one-time. Harbor is free, Voyage is a one-time purchase, and Flagship charges by the number of featured days you choose. There are no recurring subscription charges for paid plans.

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. Paid plans can schedule this week, while Harbor has to 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

Harbor includes 3 backlinks: 1 on the product page and 2 on the maker profile. Standard Harbor starts as nofollow, while verified Harbor unlocks dofollow. Voyage and Flagship include 4 dofollow backlinks, including a product-card backlink across listing pages.

Question 20

Can I submit more than one product?

Accepted Answer

Yes, but the limits depend on plan. Harbor is limited to 1 free submission per month. Voyage and Flagship do not have that monthly cap, but each product still needs its own submission and purchase.

Question 21

How long does review take?

Accepted Answer

Harbor review is positioned as slower and can take up to several weeks. Voyage and Flagship are prioritized, with review targeted within 24 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 upgrade later?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Products can be upgraded later from the Dashboard, and you pay the price difference when moving to a higher plan. Flagship products can also purchase additional featured days later.

Question 25

What is the refund policy?

Accepted Answer

Refunds are available only in specific cases. Generally, you may be eligible if your product has not been reviewed yet, if it was rejected during review, or if featured placement has not started. Once a product is approved and published, or featured placement has begun, it is not eligible for refund.

Question 26

How does voting work?

Accepted Answer

You can upvote approved products during their active ship week. Each account can vote once per product, and the product's vote count updates through the shared vote system used across the site.

Question 27

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 28

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 29

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 30

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 31

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 32

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 33

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.

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