This is exactly what I do (unarchiving > creating a custom item worth nothing w. shipping.) This also helps for quickbooks/ tax purposes and doesn’t remove additional inventory; it doesn’t count as a sale since the custom item is titled “Replacement” or whatever you want to do with it, the cost is 0 dollars and although you do have to mark it as needs shipping, they’ve already paid shipping costs on the order so it’s not charging extra. A great fix until something better comes along.
Topic summary
A merchant needs to ship replacement items for a delivered order but cannot purchase a second shipping label because the order is archived and already fulfilled.
Official Workaround:
Shopify Support recommends creating a draft order with the missing items, applying a full discount to avoid impacting sales figures, marking it as paid, and adding notes indicating it’s a replacement. This allows purchasing a new shipping label while keeping both orders visible in the customer’s account.
Community Alternatives:
- Duplicate the original order, apply a discount equal to the total, and mark as paid
- Unarchive the order and add a $0 custom item (labeled “Replacement”) to generate a shipping label without affecting inventory or sales data
- Create a $0 product specifically for replacement requests that customers can “order” to provide shipping details
Major Concerns:
- The duplicate order method incorrectly adjusts inventory (system treats it as a new sale)
- Full discounts still impact gross sales and discount tracking, complicating tax reconciliation
- Automated customer emails must be disabled to prevent confusion
- Multiple users report the workarounds no longer function or don’t provide shipping label options
Consensus:
Merchants strongly criticize the lack of a built-in “reshipment” or “exchange label” feature, noting competitors like eBay and PayPal offer this standard functionality. The workarounds are considered excessively complex and time-consuming for a common business need.
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