Remove a missing item from a return in Shopify
Sometimes the parcel comes back short: the customer sent 2 of 3 items, or one fell out in transit. You remove the missing item from the return and the order balance adjusts. This tutorial removes one $28.00 tee from a 3-item return.
Written · Shopify admin, desktop steps · 5 minutes read
The worked example
| Return created | 3 items, $101.00 |
| Arrived | 2 items, $73.00 |
| Missing | 1 tee, $28.00 |
| Refund after removal | $56.75 |
Download the record: missing-item-removal-record.csv (164 bytes).
A record of the removal in this tutorial. It is a record, not an import file: items are removed in the admin, not by CSV.
1Open the return
From your Shopify admin, go to Orders, click the order, and find the Return in progress section.
2Open the menu and click Remove return items
On the Return in progress card, click the menu, and then click Remove return items.
3Select the missing item
Select the tee that never arrived. Click Remove item, and then click Remove item again to confirm.
4Check the adjusted balance
After you remove a return item, your order balance is adjusted accordingly. The refund base is now $73.00, not $101.00, so reread the refund figure before you go further.
5Process and refund what arrived
Click Process return, select the 2 items that arrived, restock them, and issue the refund now: $56.75.
The arithmetic
Removing the missing tee changes every figure after it: the refund base, the restocking fee, and the final refund.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| 3 items on the return | $101.00 |
| Missing tee removed | $28.00 |
| Refund base after removal | $73.00 |
| Restocking fee, 10% of $73.00 | $7.30 |
| After the restocking fee | $65.70 |
| Return shipping fee | $8.95 |
| Refund | $56.75 |
101.00 less 28.00 is $73.00. Ten percent of 73.00 is $7.30, and 73.00 less 7.30 is $65.70. Then 65.70 less 8.95 is $56.75.
Held at the counter
Remove the missing item before you process anything. You cannot remove items that have already been refunded or restocked. The removal has to happen first, or the missing item stays in the refund.
Reread the refund figure after the removal. Removing the item adjusts the balance, so the refund you saw at creation is no longer the refund. Read the new figure before you click.
If the missing item turns up later, start a new return. A removed item is out of this return. Handle a late arrival as its own new return, with its own reason and fees.
Sources
- 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.