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An exchange is the process by which a customer sends an item back and receives a different one in its place, rather than a refund. It covers the wrong size, a color they did not want, or a different product altogether. Swapping the item keeps the sale, whereas a refund would send the customer away to order again. You start an exchange from the order itself. You choose the item coming back and its replacement, approve the swap, take the returned item back into stock, and then send the replacement out, which goes through the same fulfillment steps as any other item on the order. The returned unit goes back on your shelf and the replacement comes out of stock when you fulfill it, and on a like-for-like swap the order’s total and payment stay as they were. If the customer wants their money back rather than a different item, use Returns instead. If a delivery went wrong (an item arrived damaged, went missing or was the wrong one), a claim lets you resolve it with a refund, a replacement or both. Exchanges earn their keep once swaps are a regular part of your week, for example if you sell clothing in sizes or homewares in several colors. To manage exchanges, navigate to Orders → Exchanges in the admin dashboard.

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Reviewing Exchanges

The Exchanges list shows every exchange across your store, one row each. The Exchanges list before any exchange has been made, showing its columns Use the Status filter to see only the exchanges at one stage, for example everything still Approved and waiting for the item to come back. The search box finds an exchange by its number, and Add filter narrows the list by number or by the date an exchange was created or last updated. The Open exchanges tile on the Home page counts exchanges that are not yet fulfilled, so you can see at a glance how many swaps still need finishing.

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How to Create an Exchange

Exchanges are started from the order, not from the Exchanges list. Open the order and click New exchange on its Exchanges card.
The order must be fulfilled before you start an exchange. The dialog offers only items that have gone out to the customer, and only up to the number that was sent.
The New exchange dialog with one item chosen, its replacement picked and a reason selected The dialog lists each item on the order with a quantity box that starts at 0:
  • Quantity - How many of this item the customer is sending back to swap. You cannot enter more than were sent.
  • Replacement variant - What goes out instead. It appears under an item as soon as its quantity is above 0. Search by product name, and pick the exact size or color. You can choose any product in your catalogue, not only another version of the same one.
  • Reason - Why the customer wants to swap, which over time shows you which products are swapped most and why. Exchanges use the same list of reasons as returns.
  • Note - Anything your team should know about this swap, such as what the customer said when they got in touch.
To create the exchange:
  1. Enter a Quantity for the item coming back.
  2. Search in Replacement variant and pick the item going out.
  3. Choose a Reason and add a Note if it helps.
  4. Click New exchange. The button stays disabled until you have entered a quantity and chosen a replacement.
The order’s Exchanges card then shows the new exchange as Requested, with the item coming back, an arrow to its replacement, the quantity and the Price difference. The order's Exchanges card with the new exchange listed as Requested

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How to Process an Exchange

Each exchange has an Actions button on the order’s Exchanges card, and the menu offers only the next step for the exchange’s current status.
  1. Click Actions, then Approve. The exchange changes to Approved straight away, with no confirmation step.
  2. When the item arrives back, click Actions, then Receive items. The exchange changes to Received at once, and the returned item goes back into your stock as sellable.
  3. Click Actions, then Ship replacement. The exchange changes to Fulfilled and its Actions button goes away. A new fulfillment appears on the order’s Fulfillments card holding the replacement, marked Unfulfilled, with a delivery charge of $0.00, and the order’s own status changes to Partial.
  4. Send the replacement as you would any other item: click Mark as fulfilled on the new fulfillment, then Fulfill items. The replacement comes out of your stock and the order shows as Fulfilled again.
Receive items takes back the whole quantity on the exchange and puts all of it back into stock as sellable, so inspect the goods before you click it. If something comes back damaged, carry on with the exchange rather than starting a return: receiving is what releases the replacement, and an exchange left at Approved can never ship one. Receive the exchange, send the replacement, then correct the count in Inventory to take the damaged units back out of your sellable stock.
An exchange reads Fulfilled as soon as you click Ship replacement, before the replacement has left your warehouse. Look for the Unfulfilled fulfillment on the order to see what still needs sending.
When the replacement costs more than what came back, shipping it adds the difference to the order as a balance due. Nothing is charged automatically, so collect it yourself from the Payments card. See Processing Orders.
The order after Ship replacement, with the replacement waiting as a new unfulfilled fulfillment When you fulfill the replacement and leave the notification box ticked, your customer receives the usual fulfillment email, listing the replacement product. That email is the first message they get about the swap, so if you want them to know it has been approved, contact them yourself. On a like-for-like swap, such as the same product in a different color at the same price, the order total and the amount paid stay the same, and nothing is charged or refunded.

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Further Reading

  • Returns - When the customer wants their money back instead of a different item
  • Claims - Resolving a delivery that arrived damaged, incomplete or wrong
  • Processing Orders - Marking an order as fulfilled, which an exchange needs first
  • Returns & Reasons - Adding to the list of reasons that returns and exchanges share
  • Orders - The order page where every exchange is worked