Handle a return

A return is how items come back to you from a customer. This article takes one from start to finish: approving or rejecting it, receiving the parcel, refunding the items and closing it — and creating a return yourself when your customer asks by message or phone. Returns are on Starter and up.

Where return requests appear

Every return belongs to an order and lives in the Return requests card on that order’s Operations tab. A return reaches the card in one of two ways, shown at the top of the return:

From customer — your customer submitted the request from your storefront. We also tell you: the bell at the top of the console shows Return requested on order …, and an email goes to your store’s contact email.
Created by support — you or your team created it on the customer’s behalf. See Create a return on behalf of a customer.

How customers ask from your storefront

On your storefront, each order’s page has a Returns section. It lists every return on the order with its reference, its status and its items, in the same words as the emails we send. On an order that reached the customer — delivered, completed, already partly returned, or partly refunded after it was delivered — and still has items left to send back, the section offers a Request a return button:

The customer selects Request a return.
They tick each item they are sending back and, when more than one unit is left, choose how many.
They type a Reason for the return. When your Returns policy page is published, a Read the returns policy link sits beside the form.
They select Send request. A green line confirms it, with the return’s reference to quote if they contact you.

It works for a customer signed in to their account, and for a guest who opened the order from the link in their order email. The form offers only what you would accept: units already refunded or already in a return are not offered. If the same items were sent back from another tab or device first, sending shows That is more than is left to return of this item. This page now shows what is left., and the form refreshes to what can still be returned. The section does not show on a plan without returns.

You can still create a return yourself when a customer messages, calls or writes to you on WhatsApp.

To find orders with a return waiting on you, open Orders, open More views and choose Return requested. It lists orders whose return is new, approved and awaiting shipment, or received. A return you mark In transit leaves this view until you mark it received; it still shows under Needs attention, with every other open return. See what needs attention.

The orders list filtered to Return requested, showing three orders with Process as their next action — Each order’s stage says where its return is. Process opens the order’s returns.

On the order itself, a return that has not been received yet shows a Return requested badge under the customer’s name and as the last step of the progress bar. Under Next step, Process opens the Operations tab.

An order page with Return in progress as its stage and Process as the next step — A return is waiting on your decision. Process takes you to it.

Each return in the card shows its reference (such as RMA-ORD-20261004-62191C-7EB95F), its status, the Return reason, any note, and the items with their quantities. Quote the reference when you talk to your customer; it is the one in their emails and on their order page. Use the reference on the return card: the order’s Activity timeline shows a shorter code for the same return on its Return requested line.

Return statuses

Status	What it means	Buttons you see
New	The return was just created and nobody has decided yet.	Approve return, Mark in transit, Mark received, Reject return
Awaiting shipment	Approved; the customer still has to send the items.	Mark in transit, Mark received, Reject return
In transit	The parcel is on its way back to you.	Mark received, Reject return
Received	The items are back with you.	Refund return, Complete return
Refunded	The money for the items went back to the customer.	Complete return
Completed	The return is closed.	None
Rejected	You turned the return down.	None
Cancelled	The return was called off before it arrived.	None

A return only moves forward. Once it is Completed, Rejected or Cancelled, it cannot be reopened.

Approve or reject a return

Changing a return needs the Update order status permission. Refund return gives money back, so it also needs Refund orders, as every refund does: a role without it does not see the button, and has only Complete return on a received return. See roles and permissions.

A received return as seen by a role without Refund orders: the return card with only Complete return — Without Refund orders, a received return can be completed but not refunded.

Open the order and select the Operations tab.
Scroll to Return requests and read the return: the items, the quantities and the Return reason.
Select Approve return to accept it, or Reject return to turn it down.

A return from the customer, awaiting shipment, with Mark in transit, Mark received and Reject return buttons — An approved return waits for the parcel. You can still reject it until it is received.

Each change shows Return request updated. and adds Return status changed to the order’s Activity timeline.

When you approve, the return becomes Awaiting shipment and we email your customer that the return is approved, asking them to send the items back using the instructions from your store. So tell them how: where to send it, or that your delivery provider will collect it.

Tip

Write how returns work in your Returns policy page — how many days customers have, the condition items must be in, and how to send them — so the approval email, the link on the return form and your page say the same thing. See write your policy pages.

You do not have to approve first. If the items are already on their way, select Mark in transit; if they are already with you, select Mark received.

The return’s tracking number

When you create a return yourself, you can type the return parcel’s tracking number in Return tracking. It is optional, and you cannot add or change it later.

A return created with a tracking number starts at Awaiting shipment rather than New, because you have already arranged the parcel.
The tracking number is kept with the return. The return card does not show it: it keeps showing the return’s own note, also after you select Mark in transit.

Returns your customer asks for have no tracking number.

In transit and received

When the customer or your delivery provider sends the parcel, select Mark in transit. The return becomes In transit, and we email the customer that it is on its way back to you.
When the parcel reaches you, check the items, then select Mark received. The return becomes Received, and we email the customer that you have it and are checking the items.

A received return with Refund return and Complete return buttons, the refund preview above them, and the Return request updated message — Once the items are back, the return asks for the money: refund it, or complete it without a refund.

When the order reached the customer — it is Delivered or Completed, or already Partially returned, or Partially refunded after delivery — marking the return received also:

puts the returned items back in stock; the line in their Stock history reads Return received with the order number, and the return’s note or reason goes on the order’s activity timeline;
changes the order to Returned once the returns you have received between them cover every unit of the order, or to Partially returned until then — see Returned and partly returned orders.

So a second or third return on the same order restocks its own items too, and the return that brings back the last units makes the order Returned.

Note

On an order that never reached the customer, such as one still being prepared, receiving a return changes neither the stock nor the order. Cancel such an order instead, or refund it: see Cancel an order.

Refund the return

Refund return gives the customer back the money for exactly the items in the return, with the tax charged on them. It does not refund shipping. The amount is worked out the same way as an item refund, and you see it before anything moves.

On the received return, select Refund return.
A dialog shows the amount and says where it goes. When the order earned loyalty points, it says how many are taken back; when a gift card or points paid part of the order, it also says what goes back to the gift card and to the customer’s points.

The Record cash refund dialog of a return: Record JOD 49.000 paid back in cash for the returned items, only once you have handed it to the customer. Nothing is sent to a payment provider. — Refund return on a cash on delivery order: the dialog names the figure to hand back.

Check the figures, then confirm. The button in the dialog says what happens: Issue refund for a card payment, Record cash refund for cash on delivery, or Give back gift card and points for an order the gift card and points paid for entirely. To leave the return as it is, select Cancel.

Warning

Once you confirm, the refund cannot be undone. Check the return’s items and quantities before you do.

Card payments go back through HyperPay, and your customer gets a refund email with the amount. The email gives the return reason as the reason for the refund. You see Refund issued.
Cash on delivery has no provider to send money through, so the button records a cash refund for the items. Pay your customer back first; see How do I refund a cash on delivery order? You see Cash refund recorded.
Gift card and points. The return’s share of what the order took off a gift card goes back onto the card, and its share of the points the customer spent goes back to them. Its share of the points the order earned, and of any referral bonus, is taken back. An order paid entirely by gift card and points moves no money: you see Gift card and points given back. See gift cards and points in a refund.

The return becomes Refunded, and the order becomes Refunded, or Partially refunded when part of its payment is left, such as the delivery fee. The refund does not put the items back in stock a second time: receiving them already did.

A return refunded in cash: the return reads Refunded with only Complete return left, the refund card above offers the JOD 2.500 delivery fee that is left, and the message Cash refund recorded — The dress is refunded. Only the delivery fee is left on the payment, and Complete return closes the return.

Refunding the return leaves the note on the return card as it was.

A refunded return from the customer, with only Complete return left — The money has gone back. Complete return closes it.

If Refund return is refused with Return refunds require a received return before the financial refund is processed., receiving the return did not move the order, because the order never reached the customer. Refund the items from the Refund payment card instead, with Refund selected items, then select Complete return.

If it is refused with No captured payment is available to refund., the order has no payment left to refund. Either it is cash on delivery and the cash was never recorded as collected: record the cash collected first, then refund the return. Or its payment has already been refunded in full: there is nothing left to give back, so select Complete return to close the return.

Complete the return

Select Complete return when there is nothing more to do: after the refund, or straight after receiving the items when there is no money to give back — for example when you are sending the customer a different size instead. The return becomes Completed, and we email your customer that nothing further is needed from them.

Rejected and cancelled returns

Rejected. You can reject a return any time before it is received. We email your customer that the return was not approved and invite them to reply to you. Explain why yourself, too.
Cancelled. The return was called off before it arrived. There is no button for it in the console.

A rejected or cancelled return frees its items: they count as left to return again, so a new return can include them.

Create a return on behalf of a customer

Open the order and select the Operations tab.
In Return requests, open Create return on behalf of customer.
For each item coming back, type the quantity. Left to return shows the most you can enter.
In Return reason, describe why the customer is returning the items. It is required, up to 1,000 characters.
If you already have the return parcel’s tracking number, type it in Return tracking.

The Create return on behalf of customer panel, with one wrap dress selected, a reason and a tracking number — One item is coming back, with the reason and the tracking number filled in.

Select Create support return. It stays greyed out until there is a reason and at least one item.

You see Return request created. The return appears at the top of the card as Created by support, and the order’s Activity timeline gains Return created by staff. We do not email the customer when you create a return; they hear from us when you approve it, mark it in transit or receive it.

A new support return, awaiting shipment, at the top of the Return requests card — Created with a tracking number, the return starts at Awaiting shipment.

A completed order takes a return the same way, so you do not have to keep orders open through your return window.

The Create return on behalf of customer panel on a completed order: two items with Left to return 1, the mustard shirt dress set to 1, a reason and a return tracking number — A completed order can still take a return. Receiving it restocks the dress and moves the order on.

On a cancelled or failed order there is nothing to return, so Create return on behalf of customer does not appear.

Quantities: what is left to return

Left to return is how many units of an item can still go into a return: what was ordered, minus the units already back or refunded, minus units in other returns still on their way. A unit that came back and was refunded counts once, whether you refunded it with Refund return or from the Refund payment card. Rejected and cancelled returns do not count.

For example, a customer buys three tops, returns one and you refund it: Left to return shows 2. A return that came back without a refund, such as an exchange for another size, still holds its units back.

If you type more than is left, we lower it to what is left and say Limited to what is left to return.

A quantity of 1 kept for the satchel with the note Limited to what is left to return — The satchel has one unit left, so a higher number comes down to 1.

An item with nothing left shows Left to return 0 and Nothing left to return., and you cannot enter a quantity for it. When no item on the order has anything left, Create return on behalf of customer is not shown at all.

The create panel with a smocked top that has nothing left to return, next to an existing received return — The top is already in a return, so only the trousers can go into a new one.

Returned and partly returned orders

After you mark a return received, the order’s Overview tab shows:

Order stage Return received — The returned items are back. Refund or complete the return. The Return requested chip goes.
Fulfilment Returned or Partially returned, and the same word as the last step of the progress bar.
Next step Process, until you refund or complete the return.

A returned order with Return received as its stage, COD collected, fulfilment Returned, the Process button and Returned as the last step — Every unit came back, so the order is Returned. Its refund is still to make.

A partly returned order with Return received as its stage and Partially returned as the last step — One of two items came back, so the order is Partially returned.

Once you refund or complete the return, the stage moves on: Refunded or Partially refunded after a refund, Return completed after you complete a return with no refund.

On the Free plan: returns are locked

Returns are on Starter and up. On the Free plan:

your storefront shows no Request a return button, so customers cannot send you return requests;
the Return requests card still shows on each order, with No return requests yet, and Create return on behalf of customer carries a padlock;
returns made while you were on a higher plan do not show.

The Return requests card on the Free plan: No return requests yet, and Create return on behalf of customer with a padlock — On Free, creating a return is locked.

Select the padlocked button and a message names the plan that has returns, with its monthly price and a See plans link.

The Operations tab on the Free plan with the message This is on Starter, its price and a See plans link at the bottom of the screen — Pressing the padlock says which plan includes returns.

To use returns, move up to Starter; see plans and what each includes and Why does a feature show a padlock?

What to do next

Refund an order for refunds that are not part of a return.
Write your policy pages so customers know your returns rules before they ask.