How to refund an order on Shopify (full, partial and store credit)

Refunding an order on Shopify takes about a minute once you know where everything is. The tricky parts are the choices along the way: how much to refund, whether to include shipping, whether to restock, and whether the money goes back to the card or into store credit. Refunds can't be undone, so it's worth knowing what each option does before you click the button.

The short version

In your Shopify admin, go to Orders and open the order. Click Refund, enter the quantity of each item you're refunding, add any shipping you want to refund, choose a refund method in the Summary, then click Refund.

Before you refund: create the return first

If the customer is sending items back, create a return before you refund. Shopify won't let you create a return for items you've already refunded, and a refund on its own doesn't record a return reason. That means no reason data later, and no clean record of what came back.

So the usual order is: create the return, wait for the items to arrive, then refund from the return. If you're just cancelling an order or refunding a goodwill amount, you can go straight to the refund. Our guide on how to do returns on Shopify covers the full process from request to refund. If you're sending the customer a label, here's how to create a Shopify return label.

How to refund a full order on Shopify

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Orders and click the order.
2. Click Refund.
3. Enter the quantity to refund for each item. For a full refund, that's every unit.
4. Leave Restock items ticked if the stock is going back on the shelf. Untick it if the items are damaged or you'd rather restock by hand. This option only appears for items you track inventory on.
5. In the Refund shipping section, select Shipping and enter the amount if you're refunding it.
6. Add a Reason for refund if you like. Only you and your staff see this.
7. In the Summary, pick a Refund method and check the Refund amount.
8. Leave Send a notification to the customer ticked so they get an email.
9. Click Refund.

On the Shopify app it's the same flow. Open the order, tap the menu icon, then tap Refund.

How to do a partial refund on Shopify

A partial refund is the same steps with smaller numbers. Enter the quantity for only the items you're refunding and leave the rest at 0. The order moves to Partially refunded, and you can issue more partial refunds later until you reach the order total.

If you need to refund part of an item's price, say for a small mark or a late delivery, click the item's price on the refund screen and add a discount. Watch out here. A discount on its own doesn't send any money. It creates a balance you then refund. Also, a discount applies to every unit of that line item, even if you're only refunding one of them.

How to refund shipping on Shopify

1. Go to Orders, click the order, then click Refund.
2. Leave the item quantities at 0.
3. In Refund shipping, select Shipping and enter the amount.
4. Click Refund.

You can't refund more than the customer paid for shipping. You also can't refund shipping on orders that used an order-level free shipping discount, because there's nothing to refund.

How to refund to store credit on Shopify

Store credit keeps the money in your store, which is why a lot of brands like to offer it. To use it:

1. Open the order and click Refund.
2. Choose the items and shipping as normal.
3. In the Summary, choose store credit from the Refund method menu. You can split the refund between store credit and the original payment method if you need to.
4. Set an expiry date if you want one. Check your local laws first, as some countries restrict when credit can expire.
5. Click Refund.

A few things to know about Shopify store credit. It only works with Shopify's new customer accounts, not the legacy ones. Customers spend it at checkout by signing in and turning on Apply store credit, and they have to use the whole balance in one go. It works on your online store, Shopify POS and Shop, but not on other sales channels.

You can also add store credit by hand from the customer's profile under Customers, which is handy for goodwill credit that isn't tied to a refund.

How to charge a restocking fee

If you've set a restocking fee in your return rules, Shopify adds it when you create the return. You can edit it per return or per item. If you're refunding without a return, lower the Refund amount in the Summary by the fee before you click Refund.

Things that catch stores out

• You can't cancel or reverse a refund once it's sent. If you refund by mistake, Shopify's advice is to create a draft order and collect payment again, which is an awkward email to send.
• Refunding to the original payment method after you've already given store credit doesn't remove the credit. That's how stores end up refunding twice. Reduce the customer's credit balance if that happens.
• When an order was paid with a gift card and a card, Shopify suggests a split and refunds the gift card first. You can change the split before you refund.
• In most setups you don't get the payment processing fees back on a refund, so a refund costs you a little more than the order value.
• Shopify sends the refund straight away, but the customer's bank decides when it appears. That gap is where most "where's my refund?" emails come from.
• Staff need the right order permissions to refund to the original payment method or to store credit.

When a returns app is worth it

Shopify's refund screen is fine when you're processing a handful of returns a week and someone on the team has time to check each one. It gets slow when refunds pile up waiting for parcels to arrive, and your inbox fills with customers asking where their money is.

A returns app takes the manual steps out. With Refundid, customers start a return in a branded portal, pick a refund, store credit or exchange, and the refund goes back into Shopify as a proper Shopify return, partial refunds and split payments included. You can restock to the right location as you process it. Store credit can be issued as Shopify store credit or a gift card, and you can add a bonus for customers who choose credit over a refund.

Refundid also offers instant refunds. The customer gets their money in seconds, before they've even sent the item back, and Refundid carries the risk. If the item never comes back, we recover the money from the customer, and you only pay for returns you approve. That takes the "where's my refund?" emails off your plate.

Not sure which app fits your store? We've compared the top Shopify returns apps. To see what Refundid does for Shopify stores, head to our Shopify returns page, or book a demo and we'll run a refund through it with you.