I recently purchased 13 international first class USPS packages which costed me over $200. These packages were all sent back to me with a orange sticker that said attention postal customer the package contains prohibited contents. Return to sender. USPS tells me that I cannot reuse these labels, and when I asked them how I can get a refund since they offer a refund when packages are not delivered, they told me that since I bought them through Shopify, I have to contact Shopify and they cannot do anything since I did not pay them, but I paid Shopify. Shopify will not let me void these items because they were scanned by the USPS worker and then brought back to my house but they didn’t do anything so Shopify should be giving me a refund and I have no way to contact them and don’t know how. Someone please reach out and help get this resolved as soon as possible because it has been about 15 days since these packages were sent out and I need to try to get a refund on them since this is a lot of money that I am losing on for nothing, and if Shopify just has to go through UPS to get their money back, then they should be giving my money back.
Topic summary
A merchant purchased 13 USPS international first-class labels through Shopify (totaling over $200) that were returned to sender with orange stickers indicating “prohibited contents.” USPS refuses to accept the labels for reuse and directs the merchant to Shopify for refunds, stating they didn’t receive direct payment.
The core issue: Shopify won’t void the labels because USPS scanned them, creating a deadlock where neither party will process refunds. The merchant has been unable to reach Shopify support for 15+ days.
Support response: Shopify staff directed the user to the Help Center’s live chat by typing “contact support” in the AI chat window for account-specific assistance.
Similar case: Another user reported losing $180 on a Japan shipment (tracking CB364894049US) that only traveled from Orlando to Miami before being returned without explanation, with both USPS and Shopify declining responsibility.
Status: Unresolved. Multiple merchants are experiencing financial losses due to unclear refund policies for scanned-but-undelivered international labels purchased through Shopify.
Hey, @socaldivinity thanks for reaching out!
It looks like we’ll need to access your account in order to resolve this issue. While we’re not able to provide account-specific support via community at this time, we’d be happy to continue assisting you through our available support channels. Please visit our help center and login for assistance.
Hello @Dirk I went to the help center and logged in and there is no place to complete the process, can you please elaborate what to do at this point to get my refund for the unused labels?
Hey there! You will want to connect with our live chat support in our Help Center for further assistance. You can do so by opening the AI chat window and typing your question or “contact support” to get started with that.
I just shipped the package to Japan , paid 180$ CB364894049US , it goes only from Orlando to Miami and returned back with no reason and that’s it 180$ lost , shopify dont want to help me USPS said to talk with shopify as it was used they account. Its not the first time I lost money this way , very bad idea to use shopify for shipping.