Create a return shipping label in Shopify
When you create a return, you choose how the customer sends the parcel back. The simplest path is a label created in Shopify, which reaches the customer by email with the return confirmation. This tutorial creates a label for a return of two Trail Crew Tees, $56.00, to a customer in Canada.
Written · Shopify admin, desktop steps · 5 minutes read
The worked example
| Returning | 2 Trail Crew Tees, $56.00 |
| Customer country | Canada |
| Label | Created in Shopify |
| Return shipping fee | $8.95 |
| Refund after the fee | $47.05 |
Download the record: return-label-record.csv (165 bytes).
A record of the return label in this tutorial. It is a record, not an import file: labels are created in the admin, not by CSV.
1Start the return
From your Shopify admin, go to Orders, click the order, then click Return. Enter a quantity of 2 for the tees and select a return reason.
2Pick Create a return label in Shopify
In the Return shipping options section, select Create a return label in Shopify. This option is available only if you have a location in the same country as your customer's shipping address, and that country is the United States or Canada.
3If the label choice is missing, upload one
Select Upload a return label instead. You can upload a PDF, PNG, or JPEG file for your return label, or add a return label URL. You can also enter a tracking number and a shipping carrier.
4Or pick No shipping required
Select No shipping required to create a return without any return shipping information, for a return where no parcel is coming back.
5Create the return and check the email
Click Create return. A confirmation email is sent to your customer, and if you created or uploaded a return label, it is also included in the email.
The arithmetic
The label itself has no price in this tutorial: the cost the customer sees is the return shipping fee from your return rules, $8.95, taken off the refund.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| 2 Trail Crew Tees | $56.00 |
| Return shipping fee | $8.95 |
| Refund after the fee | $47.05 |
Two tees at $28.00 each are $56.00. The refund is the returned value less the return shipping fee.
Held at the counter
The Shopify label is US and Canada only. You need a location in the same country as the customer's shipping address, and that country must be the United States or Canada. For any other country, upload a label or let the customer arrange shipping.
A return with a label cannot be cancelled. You can cancel a return only when it has no return label, among other conditions. Do not create the label until the return is certain.
Check an uploaded label before you send it. An uploaded label can be a PDF, PNG, or JPEG, or a URL. Open the file yourself first: a broken link or a cropped label leaves the customer unable to post the parcel.
Sources
- Creating returns and exchanges — Shopify's help pages: the create-return steps, the return shipping options, the fee-edit rules, the exchange-item rules, and the category-specific return reasons.
- Processing and managing returns — Shopify's help pages: the process-return steps, the restock choice, the refund-shipping section, the refund-method choices, and the cancel / remove / close rules.