How to Track Alteration Orders: Tickets, Stages and Pickup

Short answer: give every garment a numbered ticket with two parts. One part stays on the garment and the other goes to the customer. Write the same number in one list, with the work, the price and a ready date. Then move each job through four or five stages, from received to picked up. Last, decide in advance what happens to clothes nobody collects, and print that on the ticket.

An alteration shop works in a different way from a dressmaker. A dressmaker has a few big orders that last for weeks. An alteration shop has many small jobs that last for days. Hem these pants. Take in this dress. Replace this zipper. Shorten these sleeves.

The jobs are small, but they are easy to mix up. Two pairs of black pants look the same on a rack. A customer comes back a week later without the receipt. Another customer never comes back at all. Most alteration problems are not about sewing. They are about which garment belongs to whom, what was agreed, and when it will be ready.

This guide shows a simple system for tracking alteration orders. It works with paper tags and a notebook, a spreadsheet or an app. The examples, names and prices in it are illustrative. They are not real customers. If you make garments from scratch, see how to manage tailoring orders instead. It covers measurements and fittings in more depth.

1. Give every garment a ticket number

The ticket number is the heart of the system. Every garment gets one when it comes in, and the number never changes.

Use a two-part ticket. Numbered paper tags with a tear-off stub work well, or you can write the number by hand.

• The tag goes on the garment, with a safety pin or a loop of string. It stays there until pickup.
• The stub goes to the customer. It has the same number, the ready date and the price.
• The list has the same number again, with all the details of the job.

When a customer comes to collect, you ask for the number. You find the garment by the number, not by a description. “The black pants” can match five garments on your rack. Ticket 1047 matches one.

A customer may bring three garments. Give each garment its own ticket, or use one number with a letter for each piece: 1047-A, 1047-B and 1047-C. Then a jacket and its pants cannot get separated.

2. Write the job down at the counter

Write everything down while the customer is still in front of you. Details that you plan to write “later” are the ones that go missing.

Most alteration work is agreed at a pin fitting. The customer tries on the garment, and you pin and chalk the changes. Pins can fall out before you start. So write the changes in numbers on the ticket as well.

TICKET NO:
Customer name and phone:
Garment: type, color, brand or label:
Work, in numbers (e.g. "hem 1.5 in, keep original hem"):
Pinned at fitting: yes / no
Condition notes (stains, missing buttons, damage):
Price:
Paid: full / deposit of ___ / not yet
Date in:
Ready date:
Second fitting needed: yes / no, date:
Picked up on:

Two lines on this ticket protect you more than any other.

The work, in numbers. “Shorten” is not enough. “Hem 1.5 in, keep original hem” is clear to you and to anyone who helps you. It is also clear to the customer if there is a question later.

The condition notes. Look at the garment before you accept it. If there is a stain, a loose seam or a missing button, write it down and show the customer. Then nobody can say later that it happened in your shop.

3. Promise a ready date you can keep

Every ticket needs a ready date. Without one, a job can sit on the rack for days before anyone notices. Alteration software works the same way. In MTM’s alterations tool, a job counts as overdue only when its due date has passed and it is not marked complete. With no due date, nothing is ever late.

To set dates you can keep, time your common jobs for two or three weeks. Write down how long a hem, a waist, a zipper and a sleeve take you, including the time to press. Then add one or two days of buffer to every promise. Finishing early always feels better to a customer than finishing late.

Alteration work is often quick. On WISMO, the median completed order was finished 1.7 days after it was created. That is across 316 completed orders (order data, March–October 2026). That group leans toward fast jobs, so it is not a rule for alterations. But it shows how many small orders can pass through a shop in a single week.

Rush jobs. Some customers need a garment for a party this weekend. Decide your rush fee before you need it. Only accept a rush job when you can finish it without moving other customers’ dates. Before the holidays, many people want a suit or a dress fitted for a party. That is a good time to have a rush price ready. For bridal work, the wedding season guide shows how to plan fittings back from the wedding date.

4. Use a few simple stages

A stage tells you, and the customer, where each job is. Alteration shops need fewer stages than dressmakers. Four or five are usually enough:

1. Received. The garment is tagged and on your rack.
2. Altering. You have started the work.
3. Second fitting. Only for jobs that need one, such as a wedding dress.
4. Ready for pickup. The work is finished and pressed.
5. Picked up. The customer has the garment and has paid.

Keep the names short and use words your customer understands. Software for alteration shops uses similar stages. Orderry, for example, lists received, in work, ready and collected.

Move the job to the next stage the moment it changes. A stage that is two days out of date is worse than no stage, because you trust it.

5. Hang and store by ticket number

The rack is part of the system. If you cannot find a finished garment in 30 seconds, the customer waits, and you look disorganized.

• Keep two areas. One rack holds work to do, sorted by ready date. A second rack holds finished work, sorted by ticket number.
• Move the garment when you change the stage. A job that is ready for pickup goes to the finished rack straight away.
• Bag finished work with the ticket on the outside. Then you can read the number without opening the bag.

6. Take payment and write it down

Decide when you take payment, and use the same rule for every customer.

Many shops take full payment for small jobs at drop-off. It removes the risk of a garment that nobody pays for. For big jobs, such as a wedding dress, many shops take a deposit at drop-off and the balance at pickup. Whatever you choose, write the amount on the ticket and in your list on the day you receive it.

Unpaid balances add up. On WISMO, 67 priced orders were part-paid. Of those, 48 were past their due date with a balance still outstanding (order data, March–October 2026). A note on each ticket makes it easy to ask for the balance at the counter. For help with deposits, see how much deposit to charge for custom orders.

7. Tell the customer it is ready

When a job is ready, tell the customer the same day. A short message is enough.

Many customers will also ask “is it ready yet?” before you message them. A tracking link answers that question without a phone call. On WISMO, customers who opened their tracking link opened it a median of 5 times before the order finished. That is across 262 orders from 96 sellers (order data, March–October 2026). Each open is a check that could have been a message to you. Our guide to what an order tracking link is explains how one works.

8. Plan for clothes nobody collects

Every alteration shop has a few garments that nobody collects. They take up space on your rack, and you may never be paid for the work. Plan for them before they happen.

Follow up first. Send a reminder one week after the ready date. Call after two weeks. Write the date of each reminder on the ticket, so you have a record.

Print your policy on the ticket. Say how long you keep finished work, and what happens after that. Customers who know the rule are more likely to collect on time.

Check your state’s law. In the US, some states have laws for unclaimed clothes. They are not all the same. Here are four examples:

• Ohio names alterations and repairs in its law. After 120 days, a business may sell the items to cover its charges or give them away. It must notify the owner first. After 180 days, no notice is needed. The business must also post two notices where it receives clothes.
• Massachusetts also names alterations and repairs. When a bill is unpaid for 90 days after the work is done, the business must send written notice first. The owner then has 30 days to pay. After that, the items may go to a charity or be sold.
• North Carolina has a similar law, but it covers laundries and dry cleaners. It does not name alterations.
• Arizona also has a lien law for dry cleaners and launderers. It does not name alterations either.

So the rules depend on your state and on what kind of business you are. This is general information, not legal advice. Before you sell or give away a customer’s garment, check your state’s law or ask a local lawyer. Outside the US, check the rules where you work.

A worked example

Here is one Saturday at a small alteration counter. The names and prices are illustrative.

On Monday morning, you check the list. Ticket 1045 is ready, so you message the customer. Ticket 1046 is due on Wednesday, so you start it today. Ticket 1048 has a second fitting next week, so you write the date on the ticket and tell the customer. The deposit on 1047 means you will ask for $35 at pickup.

This check takes five minutes. It finds a problem while you still have time to fix it.

How WISMO helps with alteration orders

You can run everything in this guide with paper tags and a notebook. WISMO is one way to keep the list on your phone. Our page on order management for tailors shows the app in more detail.

Each order in WISMO gets its own number, such as #1047. You can search by that number, and it shows on the customer’s tracking page and invoice. So you can write the WISMO number on your paper tag. An order can hold several items, such as a jacket and pants, with a price for each.

You name your own stages in Settings, such as Received, Altering, Second Fitting and Ready for Pickup. Each order has a due date, and the list sorts by due date, so late jobs come first. At 8 a.m. in your time zone, WISMO reminds you which orders are due tomorrow. You record each payment as unpaid, a deposit or paid, and you can see what is still owed at pickup. The Urgent tag marks rush jobs.

Each order also has a tracking link. You send it to your customer in WhatsApp, a text or an email. They open it in any browser, with no app and no login. They see the stage and the due date. When the stage changes to Ready for Pickup, the page shows it. WISMO does not send text messages for you. You still send the “ready” message yourself, or the customer checks the link.

On WISMO Pro, your customer also gets an email when the order moves to a new stage. You can add photos to your updates too.

Your first 30 orders are free. WISMO Pro is $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year. You can try Pro free for 7 days. If you run a bigger counter with staff, our comparison of apps for tailors covers point-of-sale systems that print tags.

Start with your next ticket

You do not need to change everything at once. Start with the next garment that comes in. Give it a number, write the work in numbers, and set a ready date. Do the same for every garment after that. In a week, you will have a list you trust, and fewer garments on your rack that nobody can name.