How can I get a refund for my unused Shopify trial?

Payments + Shipping & Fulfilment

Topic summary

Issue: Users activated Shopify free trials to explore the platform but were charged for subscriptions after the trial ended, despite making no sales or generating revenue. They are seeking refunds.

Key Points:

  • Multiple users report being billed automatically after their trial periods expired, even though they were only testing the platform
  • Users have already deactivated their stores and want refunds due to financial constraints
  • One user is experiencing difficulty accessing the Help Center to request a refund

Shopify’s Response:

  • According to terms of service, Shopify does not provide refunds
  • Subscriptions begin automatically after the free trial ends, regardless of whether sales were made
  • Users must add a payment method and select a plan during trial setup
  • Sales functionality is only available on active, paid subscriptions (not during free trials)

Resolution Path:

  • Users must contact Shopify Support directly through the Help Center
  • Process: Log in → Start chat with AI Assistant → Request to speak with a human advisor
  • Support team will authenticate accounts and evaluate refund requests on a case-by-case basis
  • Community moderators cannot process refunds directly

Status: Ongoing - users directed to official support channels for individual case review.

Summarized with AI on November 9. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
1

Hi Shopify support team,

I’m new to to this platform and was researching ways of earning passive income when i stumbled upon Shopify. I wanted to understand how it works so i activated a trial and created a store, however i didn’t make a single sale, but i got billed for the subscription today.

Kindly note that i was only trying to figure my way around the platform and in future i’m planning to come back with a full strategy to open a store. For now, i want to hold it, and have already deactivated my store and subscription. I understand that the policies do not allow refunds but please consider refunding this amount as an exception, as i was charged without making any sales or income from the store, and this expense is quiet heavy for me. I have written to the support team too.

Regards,
Dilhani

2

Hey @Dilki_R

I can understand your situation, and I acknowledge the fact that it is not always the right time to start into a monthly billing cycle for a business, especially if you are not yet ready to do so.

Was there anything in particular that you were finding difficult to set up on your store? I’d love to know what your experiences were like with the trial period.

You are correct in saying that as per our terms of service, Shopify does not provide refunds. The Shopify subscription start is not based on a first sale date, so after your free trial ends you would be automatically charged for the upcoming months subscription. You would be prompted to add a payment method and select a plan. The checkout is actually not available during the free trial, so the only way to make sales would be on an active, paid subscription.

I understand that you have already reached out to our support team regarding this matter. For now you have done everything that is required, so it will be a matter of waiting for one of our support advisors to get back to you. Once you have provided them with the relevant details, they will examine your situation and do their best to accommodate you during this time.

Just so you know, we do have some excellent resources for getting started and learning more about Shopify. Here’s some good starting material:

3

Hey, I’m not using Shopify at all, I need my money back. I was just messing around with shopify, and today I was charged, I was going to cancel the subscription but it was too late, please help me, I would like a refund, and I already closed the store.

Thank you!

4

Hi @shreyashw ,

Thank you for reaching out. It is not possible for me to help directly here as I cannot authenticate you on your account via the Community. Please contact us through the Help Center and a member of our support team can review your request. You can speak with the Help Center assistant and ask to be connected via live chat.

5

I’m not able to raise any complaint for a requesting refund. I’m not able to use the help center. While setting the system it was so quick. Why the refund process has to be so lazy. The help center link you shared is useless. Could do anything on it. Can you share me some specific url where I could adress the issue.

6

Thanks for following up with us here, @shreyashw . I texted the link my colleague Victor provided and was able to reach the Help Center with no issues. What you need to do once you’ve clicked that link, is follow the steps below:

  • Login to your Account
  • Start a Chat with our AI Assistant
  • Let the AI Assistant know that you would like to speak to an advisor regarding a potential refund

This will allow the AI to get you connected with an advisor from our Support Team, who will be able to authenticate you and evaluate your request for a refund. Please let us know if you run into trouble following these steps, and please let us know specifically what the trouble is, so we can lend a hand.