Refund a Shopify order without a return
A customer reports a damaged item, keeps it, and wants the money back. A refund without a return sends the money back and never asks for the item to come home. This tutorial refunds the $24.00 Canvas Tote on order 1060 for Priya Nair, with no return created.
Written · Shopify admin, desktop steps · 5 minutes read
The worked example
| Customer | Priya Nair |
| Order | 1060 |
| 2 × Summit Hoodie, $45.00 | $90.00 |
| 1 × Canvas Tote, $24.00 | $24.00 |
| Order total | $114.00 |
| Refund, tote only | $24.00 |
| Kept on the order | $90.00 |
Download the refund record: refund-without-return.csv (90 bytes).
The lines for the refunded order. The two line totals add to the $114.00 order total in the slip above.
1Open the order
From your Shopify admin, go to Orders and click order 1060. The order holds two Summit Hoodies at $45.00 and one Canvas Tote at $24.00, for $114.00. The tote arrived damaged. The customer keeps the tote, so there is no return shipment to arrange.
2Click Refund
Click Refund on the order. The refund page shows the items, the quantities, and the refund amount. You can refund an entire order or only part of an order from the Orders page, and you can refund an order without creating a return.
3Set the tote quantity to refund
Enter the quantity of the items that you want to refund: 1 for the Canvas Tote, and 0 for the hoodies. Shopify calculates the refund amount from the item prices. The refund amount is $24.00.
4Leave Restock items deselected for the tote
Restock items is selected by default. For this refund, deselect Restock items for the tote: the customer is keeping the damaged tote, so there is nothing to put back in stock. If you leave it selected, your stock count gains a tote that does not exist.
5Add a reason and confirm
In the Reason for refund section, enter a reason, for example that the tote arrived damaged. The refund reason is a note for you and your staff, not a return reason, and it is not displayed to the customer. Leave Send a notification to the customer selected, then click Refund. The $24.00 goes back to the original payment method, and $90.00 stays kept on the order.
The arithmetic
| Line | Quantity | Unit price | Line total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summit Hoodie | 2 | $45.00 | $90.00 |
| Canvas Tote | 1 | $24.00 | $24.00 |
| Order total | $114.00 | ||
| Refund, tote only | $24.00 | ||
| Kept on the order | $90.00 |
The refund is $24.00 and the amount kept is $90.00. Together they are $114.00, the full order total.
Held at the counter
A refund cannot be reversed. You cannot cancel or reverse a refund after you initiate a refund from your Shopify admin. If you refund by mistake, you can create a new draft order and collect the payment again with the draft order. Check the amount before you click Refund.
After a refund, no return can be created. You can refund an order without creating a return, but you cannot create a return after a refund has been issued. If the customer later sends the item back, there is no return record for it, and no return reason recorded.
The refund reason is not a return reason. Text in the Reason for refund section is a note for you and your staff, not a return reason. Reports that group returned items by reason use only reasons from returns, so this refund will not appear in those reports.
Sources
- Refunding orders — Shopify's help pages: full and partial refunds, refunding without a return, restocking, and the rule that a refund cannot be reversed.