Refunding orders is a common occurrence in e-commerce. Thankfully, Shopify makes it easy to process refunds efficiently, ensuring a smooth and positive experience for both you and your customers.  

In this guide, we’ll break down the refund process on Shopify, focusing on how to refund orders processed through Shopify Payments, as well as providing instructions for both full and partial refunds, and even how to handle refunds using Shopify POS.

Let’s get started!

Refunding An Order On Shopify: Step-by-step

Here’s a breakdown of how refunds work on Shopify:

• Same payment method and currency: Refunds always go back to the original payment method and currency the customer used. No switching to different cards or bank accounts.
• Currency conversion: If the currency needs to be converted for the refund, the current exchange rate is used, not the rate at the time of purchase. You’re charged a currency conversion fee when the payment is converted, not when a refund is issued.
• No refund of fees: Currency conversion fees and credit card fees aren’t returned to you when you issue a refund.
• Manual conversion rate: If you use a manual conversion rate, refunds are still calculated based on the current exchange rate.

Refund An Entire Order

You can give a full refund for everything in an order. When refunding, you can manually edit the Refund total to keep a restocking fee if necessary. You can also add a refund for any shipping costs the customer paid.

Here’s how to refund an entire order on Shopify:

Step 1: From your Shopify admin, go to Orders. Click the order you want to refund.

Step 2: Click Refund

Step 3: 

• Enter the number of items you want to refund.
• Uncheck Restock items if you prefer to restock manually. If needed, enter the shipping amount you want to refund in the Refund shipping field.
• For orders with duties and import taxes, choose whether to refund Duties and import tax on refunded items and Additional fees: Customs clearance.
• Add a reason for the refund (this won’t be shown to the customer).
• If you don’t want to notify the customer, uncheck Send a notification to the customer.

Step 4: Click Refund to process the refund.

Refund Part Of An Order

You can also issue partial refunds for specific items in an order. You can keep issuing partial refunds until you’ve reached the original order amount. Once you issue a partial refund, the order status will update to Partially refunded.

If a customer used a gift card and another payment method, partial refunds are applied to the gift card first until the gift card reaches the full amount available for refund. The remaining refund amount goes to the other payment method.

You can adjust the refund amounts manually for each payment method up to the amount available for each method.

Follow these steps to issue the refund for part of an order:

Step 1: From your Shopify admin, go to Orders. Click the order you want to refund.

Step 2: Click Refund

Step 3: 

• Enter the quantity of the items you want to refund. Products with a quantity set to 0 aren’t refunded.
• If you prefer to restock items manually, uncheck Restock items. (This is selected by default if you track inventory.)
• Enter the shipping amount you want to refund (optional).
• If applicable, choose whether to refund Duties and import taxes.
• You can add a reason for the refund (optional, not shown to the customer).
• If you don’t want to notify the customer, uncheck Send a notification to the customer.

Step 4: Click Refund to process the partial refund.

Refund An Order Using Shopify POS

Important Notes:

• Staff members need the Refund orders permission to process returns or refunds.
• You can only refund up to the amount the customer paid using each payment method.
• Orders paid with a custom payment method can only be refunded using that same method.

Follow these steps to refund an order on Shopify POS:

Step 1: Open the Shopify POS app and tap Orders.

Step 2: Find and tap the order with the item being returned.

Step 3: Tap Return.

Step 4: Use the + and – buttons to enter the quantity of each item being returned. Then tap Next.

Step 5: Click on the items in the order. If you don’t want to restock the item, tap Restock at this location, turn off the restock option, and tap Save.

Step 6: Scroll down and choose these option

• Select a reason for the return.
• Tap Refund tips if you want to refund any tips given.
• Tap Refund shipping to refund the shipping cost.
• If you want to issue a gift card instead of a cash refund, enable Refund to gift card. (Make sure your gift card product is available on the POS sales channel for this option.)
• If the customer used multiple payment methods, you can split the refund between them. Tap Edit under Amount to Refund and enter the amount for each payment method.

Step 7: Tap Refund to process the return or refund.

Step 8: (Optional) Give the customer a receipt. Tap Done.

Refunding An Order With Shopify Payments

When you issue a refund using Shopify Payments, the money is deducted from your next payout. The refund will be marked as “Pending” for up to two business days while the funds are returned to your customer. 

It can take up to 10 business days for the refund to reach their bank account. Refunds usually go out with your next scheduled payout.

Bottom Line

Now that you know how to refund an order on both Shopify online store and Shopify POS, you can streamline your operations and ensure a smooth experience for both you and your customers.

FAQs

Can I refund an order after it’s been fulfilled? 

Yes, you can refund fulfilled orders, but the process might involve additional steps like contacting your fulfillment provider or arranging for the return of the product.

How long does it take for a refund to be processed? 

The refund processing time depends on the original payment method and the customer’s bank. It can take anywhere from a few days to several weeks.

Can I issue a partial refund for an order? 

Yes, you can refund specific items or a portion of the order value if needed.  

What if I need to refund an order paid with a gift card? 

Shopify allows you to refund the amount back to the original gift card or issue a new gift card for the refund amount.

How can I track the status of a refund?

You can view the refund status on the order details page. It will typically show as “Pending” until it’s processed by the payment provider, and then it will change to “Refunded.”

What if a customer requests a refund after the return window has closed?

You can choose to handle such requests on a case-by-case basis, considering factors like the reason for the return and your overall customer service policies.

What if I need to refund an order that was paid with a discount code?

Shopify will automatically adjust the refund amount to account for any discounts applied to the order.

Related Posts:

• How to Cancel an Order on Shopify: A Step-By-Step Guide
• How to Refund Part of an Order on Shopify
• How to refund shipping on Shopify