diff --git a/doc/development/api/datasync.rst b/doc/development/api/datasync.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9ce4832520
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/development/api/datasync.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+.. highlight:: python
+   :linenothreshold: 5
+
+Data sync providers
+===================
+
+Pretix provides connectivity to many external services through plugins. A common requirement
+is unidirectionally sending (order, customer, ticket, ...) data into external systems.
+The transfer is usually triggered by signals provided by pretix core (e.g. order_created),
+but performed asynchronously.
+
+Such plugins should use the :class:`OutboundSyncProvider` API to utilize the queueing, retry and mapping mechanisms as well as the user interface for configuration and monitoring.
+
+An :class:`OutboundSyncProvider` for registering event participants in a mailing list could start
+like this, for example:
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+    class MyListSyncProvider(OutboundSyncProvider):
+        identifier = "my_list"
+        # ...
+
+
+
+The plugin must register listeners in `signals.py` for all signals that should to trigger a sync and
+within it has to call `MyListSyncProvider.enqueue_order` to enqueue the order for synchronization:
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+    @receiver(order_placed, dispatch_uid="mylist_order_placed")
+    def on_order_placed(sender, order, **kwargs):
+        MyListSyncProvider.enqueue_order(order, "order_placed")
+
+
+
+
+Furthermore, most of these plugins need to transfer data from some pretix objects (e.g. orders)
+into an external systems' data structures. Sometimes, there is only one reasonable way or the
+plugin author makes an opinionated decision what information from which objects should be
+transferred into which data structures in the external system.
+
+Otherwise, you can use a `PropertyMappingFormSet` to let the user set up a mapping from pretix model fields
+to external data fields. You could store the mapping information either in the Event settings, or in a separate
+data model. Your implementation of OutboundSyncProvider.mappings needs to provide a list of Mappings, with at least
+the properties defined in :class:`pretix.base.datasync.datasync.StaticMapping`.
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+    # class MyListSyncProvider, contd.
+        def mappings(self):
+            return [
+                StaticMapping(1, 'Order', 'Contact', 'email', 'email',
+                              self.event.settings.mylist_order_mapping))
+            ]
+
+
+Currently, we support Orders and OrderPositions as data sources, with the data fields defined in
+:func:`pretix.base.datasync.sourcefields.get_data_fields`.
+
+
+
diff --git a/doc/development/api/index.rst b/doc/development/api/index.rst
index eeb7ea445b..e891df35d1 100644
--- a/doc/development/api/index.rst
+++ b/doc/development/api/index.rst
@@ -18,5 +18,6 @@ Contents:
    customview
    cookieconsent
    auth
+   datasync
    general
    quality
diff --git a/src/pretix/base/datasync/datasync.py b/src/pretix/base/datasync/datasync.py
index 0fef2943b4..6aba0304ba 100644
--- a/src/pretix/base/datasync/datasync.py
+++ b/src/pretix/base/datasync/datasync.py
@@ -144,8 +144,19 @@ class OutboundSyncProvider:
     def display_name(cls):
         return str(cls.identifier)
 
+    """
+    Adds an order to the sync queue. May only be called on derived classes which define an "identifier" attribute.
+     
+    Should be called in the appropriate signal receivers, e.g.:
+        
+        @receiver(order_placed, dispatch_uid="mysync_order_placed")
+        def on_order_placed(sender, order, **kwargs):
+            MySyncProvider.enqueue_order(order, "order_placed")
+    """
     @classmethod
     def enqueue_order(cls, order, triggered_by, not_before=None):
+        if not hasattr(cls, 'identifier'):
+            raise TypeError('Call this method on a derived class that defines an "identifier" attribute.')
         OrderSyncQueue.objects.create(
             order=order,
             sync_provider=cls.identifier,
@@ -247,6 +258,30 @@ class OutboundSyncProvider:
             for m in property_mapping
         ]
 
+    """
+    This method is called for each object that needs to be created/updated in the external system -- which these are is
+    determined by the implementation of the `mapping` property.
+    
+    TODO: describe the parameters
+    
+    This method needs to be idempotent, i.e. calling it multiple times with the same input values should create
+    only a single object in the target system. 
+    
+    Subsequent calls with the same mapping and pk_value should update the existing object, instead of creating a new one.
+    In a SQL database, you might use an "INSERT OR UPDATE" or "UPSERT" statement; many REST APIs provide an equivalent API call.
+    """
+    def sync_object_with_properties(
+            self,
+            pk_field,
+            pk_value,
+            properties: list,
+            inputs: dict,
+            mapping,
+            mapped_objects: dict,
+            **kwargs,
+    ):
+        raise NotImplementedError()
+
     def sync_object(
             self,
             inputs: dict,
@@ -261,7 +296,14 @@ class OutboundSyncProvider:
         if not pk_value:
             return None
 
-        info = self.sync_object_with_properties(inputs, mapping, mapped_objects, pk_value, properties)
+        info = self.sync_object_with_properties(
+            pk_field=mapping.external_pk,
+            pk_value=pk_value,
+            properties=properties,
+            inputs=inputs,
+            mapping=mapping,
+            mapped_objects=mapped_objects,
+        )
         OrderSyncLink.objects.create(
             order=inputs.get(ORDER), order_position=inputs.get(ORDER_POSITION), sync_provider=self.identifier,
             external_object_type=info.get('object_type'),