An order form without shop software

When you want this form

A full shop system is overkill when you sell three things. If your product list fits in a dropdown, a plain HTML form can collect the order: who wants it, what they want, how many, and where it goes. No cart, no checkout plugin, no monthly fee for software you barely use.

Form2Email emails you each order as it comes in, with the customer's address set as reply-to. You confirm the order and arrange payment yourself — an invoice, a payment link, or cash on pickup.

The form

Paste this into your page and replace your-token with the token from your endpoint (setup below):

<form action="https://form2email.terragohan.com/f/your-token" method="post">
  <label for="name">Name</label>
  <input id="name" name="name" required>

  <label for="email">Email</label>
  <input id="email" name="email" type="email" required>

  <label for="product">Product</label>
  <select id="product" name="product" required>
    <option value="sourdough-loaf">Sourdough loaf</option>
    <option value="rye-loaf">Rye loaf</option>
    <option value="cinnamon-rolls-4">Cinnamon rolls (box of 4)</option>
  </select>

  <label for="quantity">Quantity</label>
  <input id="quantity" name="quantity" type="number" min="1" value="1" required>

  <label for="address">Delivery address</label>
  <textarea id="address" name="address" rows="3" required></textarea>

  <label for="notes">Notes (allergies, pickup time, …)</label>
  <textarea id="notes" name="notes" rows="3"></textarea>

  <!-- optional: your own "what happens next" page after submit -->
  <input type="hidden" name="_redirect" value="https://yoursite.com/order-received">

  <button type="submit">Place order</button>
</form>

That's the whole integration. The form works with or without JavaScript, on any host that can serve an HTML page. Style the fields however you like — only the action, method="post", and the input name attributes matter to Form2Email.

Set it up

1. Create the endpoint

   Use the tool on the homepage — or POST https://form2email.terragohan.com/api/endpoints — with the email that receives submissions and the exact domain this form lives on.

2. Verify the email

   We send a verification link to the destination address — single-use, valid 24 hours. Nothing is accepted until a human clicks it. Add form2email@terragohan.com to your trusted senders.

3. Point the form at it

   Put your public URL in the form's action. Submissions are only accepted from the domain you registered — exact hostname match, subdomains need their own endpoint.

4. Keep it alive

   Endpoints stay active for 7 days after verification. Extend for free (+7 days, as often as you like) from your manage page — extending also revives an expired endpoint.

What lands in your inbox

Each submission becomes one email to your destination address:

• Reply-To is the customer's email, so hitting reply confirms the order with them directly.
• name and address appear in the body.
• product, quantity, notes, and any other fields you add are listed as additional fields.

With _redirect set, the customer's browser is sent to your page after a successful submit — a good place to explain when they'll hear from you and how payment works. Without it they get a small JSON response (Form2Email answers with a 303 redirect when _redirect is present, JSON otherwise).

Tips

• Keep the product list short enough for a <select> — a handful of options. If customers need to browse dozens of items, you want a shop, not a form.
• Confirm every order by replying to the email you receive — reply-to is already set to the customer. Since Form2Email never emails the customer itself, your reply is the only confirmation they get.
• Point _redirect at a page that explains what happens next: when you confirm, how long delivery takes, how payment works.
• Make the button say what happens: "Place order", not "Submit".
• Add form2email@terragohan.com to your contacts so the verification and order emails don't land in spam.

Limitations

• No payment processing. Form2Email emails you the order details and you handle payment separately — an invoice, a payment link, or in person. Never ask for card numbers in the form.
• Not suited to high-volume catalogs: no stock tracking, no cart, no order numbers beyond what you write yourself. If orders outgrow your inbox, it's time for real shop software.
• An order form is always-on, so remember the endpoint expires 7 days after verification — extend it for free from your manage page (extending also revives an expired endpoint), or ask the operator for a permanent endpoint.
• Submissions are accepted only from the exact domain you registered. If your site answers on both yoursite.com and www.yoursite.com, register the one your form is served from (or create one endpoint per hostname).
• No file attachments — file inputs are dropped. If customers need to send a reference photo, ask for a link instead.

Keep reading

• Quote request form — when the price depends on the job instead of a fixed product list.
• Contact form — the same pattern reduced to name, email, and message.
• How it works — the endpoint lifecycle and security model in detail.