If your updates seem slow, partially applied, or “stuck” in progress, this guide will help you identify what’s happening, what to do next, and how to prevent similar issues in the future.
How do I...
- Recognize normal sync behavior
- Identify and resolve common reasons for delays
- Know what to do if updates are slow or stuck
- Prevent future sync delays
1. Recognize normal sync behavior
When you make updates in Vela, they are sent to your shop as soon as you select Publish, Sync, or Save (for profile updates).
From there, your marketplace/platform determines how quickly each change is processed and reflected in your shop.
If your updates seem slow, partially applied, or “stuck” in progress, don’t worry — most of the time, this means your connected marketplace is still processing your changes in the background.
Every marketplace (Etsy, Shopify, eBay, and others) controls how quickly third-party apps like Vela can send and publish updates. These built-in rate limits are designed to protect platform performance, and occasionally they can delay large or complex syncs.
When a sync is progressing normally, you may notice:
- “Preparing to sync” or “Syncing” messages that last several minutes or hours for very large updates.
- Some listings updating before others.
- Updates appearing in Vela but not yet appearing in your shop.
All of these can be normal signs that your marketplace is processing updates in the background. It does not necessarily mean anything has gone wrong.
2. Identify and resolve common reasons for delays
Several normal conditions can make updates take longer to complete:
- Large batches of listings. When you edit hundreds of listings at once, your marketplace may temporarily slow down incoming updates.
- High variation counts. Listings with many variations contain more data and take longer to sync.
- Multiple bulk actions in a row. Sending new updates before the previous batch finishes can extend overall processing time.
- Marketplace rate limits. Each marketplace sets a limit on how many updates can be processed within a 24-hour period.
Once these limits are reached, your updates continue processing and typically finish once the limit resets.
3. What to do if updates are slow or stuck
If your updates appear paused or incomplete, try the following steps in order:
- Wait 24 hours.
Large updates and rate limits usually resolve automatically within a day. Allow time for the marketplace to finish processing in the background. - Refresh your shop.
After waiting, click Refresh Shop from your main listings page in Vela. This reloads the latest data from your connected platform, enabling you to identify and re-sync any incomplete updates. - Retry smaller batches.
If some listings remain unchanged after a full 24 hours, re-apply your updates — this time keeping the batch to 500 listings or fewer. Smaller groups almost always sync cleanly. Before the 24-hour mark, you may hit the same rate limit if you update even a smaller batch of listings. - Check your Profiles.
If you’re using Profiles, check these common fixes to resolve connection issues.
If you’ve waited 24 hours, retried smaller batches, and still notice discrepancies, contact Vela Support with your shop name, number of listings affected - and whether some or all of the listings in the update were affected - and when your last update occurred. This information helps us determine whether a technical issue needs review.
4. Prevent future sync delays
Once your updates have finished syncing, you can avoid future slowdowns by adjusting how you plan large edits:
- Keep each batch under 500 listings whenever possible.
- For complex listings with many variations, break them into smaller Profiles or update them separately.
- Space large updates across several days using Schedule.
- Avoid sending another large sync until the first one has fully completed.
These habits help your updates flow continuously without hitting marketplace thresholds.