Hi everyone, I’ve set up a dropshipping shopify store and I sell a single product.
Can you please tell me how to issue refunds?
Sorry if this is a silly questions but do I have to produce a return label and send it to the customer? Do I have to pay for the shipping label?
I’m using Cainiao Super Economy Global shipping.
Thanks
Hi @northwester ! This is a great question and is very common for new merchants who dropship to ask it.
When you are dropshipping, that means that you are outsourcing both your supplier and fulfillment services. To the customer purchasing, they are buying a product from you on your store under your brand. With that in mind, if a customer needs to return a product that is handled by you (the business) and not the dropshipper vendor.
You would need to provide a customer a return shipping label (which can be done from within the order details) and once the label is activated your account will be charged. You can charge the customer if you prefer by issuing them a draft order for the cost of the return label first. Once you receive the product back you can then process the refund or exchange from within the order details in your admin.
From there you can then communicate with the vendor to return/refund the item between you (the business) and them.
To be honest, many dropshipping stores opt to just refund the customer without a return and eat the cost of the product if they are able to. It is a better and easier experience all around. Obviously, that depends on the type of product you are selling and your markups.
You can read up more on creating returns and refunds in our Help Center here: Creating returns and refunds · Shopify Help Center.
Hi Shay, thanks for the response. Do you find that refunding the dropshipping customer without a return opens your shop up to fraud? What if, after receiving the product for free, they order again from your store and say they want another refund. If I say they can keep the product for free again, that’s 2 products I’ve given away for free.
Is this a common problem?
Thanks
That will depend really on your return and refund policy. Most online businesses that sell drop shipped items will usually only accept a return or exchange due to a defective or damaged product, not for a changed mind. If a customer changes their mind on the product and wants to return/refund it that is up to you as the business if you wish to honor that request.