Skip to main content
A return is the process by which a customer sends faulty or unwanted goods back to you for a refund. It follows the goods from the moment the customer asks to send something back, through approving the request and counting in what arrives, to the refund. Units you count in as resellable go back into stock at the warehouse you chose, and the refund goes either to the customer’s original payment or onto their store credit. If the customer wants a different size, color or product instead of their money, start an exchange. If a delivery went wrong, such as an item that arrived damaged or never arrived, open a claim. With a handful of orders a month you could track returns by email. Once several people handle returns, or goods come back to more than one warehouse, a return record tells everyone what was asked for, what actually arrived and what has been paid back. Every return belongs to an order and is worked on that order’s Returns card. Clicking a return’s number in the list opens its order. The Returns item in the sidebar carries a count of returns not yet refunded, and the Open returns tile on Home shows the same queue. To manage returns, navigate to Orders → Returns in the admin dashboard.

​
Reviewing Returns

The Returns list shows every return in the store, whichever order it belongs to. The Returns list with one requested return Use the Status filter to see what needs you next: Requested returns are waiting for your approval, Approved ones are waiting for the goods, and Received ones are waiting for a refund. The search box finds a return by its number, and Add filter narrows the list by number or by the date a return was created or last updated.

​
How to Create a Return

Open the order the goods came from and click New return on its Returns card. The New return dialog, with the quantity at 0 and the Reason, Return to and Note fields The dialog lists each item that was fulfilled on the order, with a quantity box beside it.
  • Quantity - How many of that item the customer is sending back. Every box starts at 0, so nothing goes on the return unless you put it there, and you cannot enter more than were sent.
  • Reason - Why the customer is sending it back. The choices come from Settings → Returns & reasons, where you can add your own, see Returns & Reasons.
  • Return to - The stock location the goods are coming back to. Leave it on Default returns location or pick one of your warehouses.
  • Note - Anything your team should know about this return, such as what the customer told you about the item’s condition.
Enter the quantity for each item coming back, choose a Reason, and click New return. The button stays disabled until at least one quantity is above 0. The order’s Returns card then shows the new return as Requested, with the items, the warehouse it is returning to and its Refund total. The order's Returns card with the new return listed as Requested If you try to return more units than are left to return on that order, the return is not created and a message at the bottom of the screen tells you how many can still be returned.

​
How to Approve and Receive a Return

A return moves through five statuses. The Actions button on the return offers only the next steps that make sense for its status.
  1. On the order’s Returns card, click Actions on the return and choose Approve. The status changes to Approved straight away.
  2. When the parcel arrives, click Actions and choose Receive items. The Receive returned items dialog opens with the Received box filled in with the full quantity on the return.
  3. Change Received to the number of units that actually arrived. Leave Resellable switched on if they can go back on sale. The switch covers every unit on that line.
  4. Click Receive items. The return reads Received, the line shows how many arrived against how many were expected (for example 2 of 3 received), and the Refund total drops to the value of what arrived. The resellable units are added back to stock at the return’s warehouse.
Count what is in front of you rather than what the customer said they sent. The figure you enter is what the refund amount is worked out from. A return on the order page after receiving 1 of 1 units

​
Sending the Customer a Return Label

A return starts with No return label yet, and Buy return label on the return buys a prepaid one for the customer to put on the parcel. The button is there while the return is Requested or Approved, and disappears once the goods have been received, since a label is no use after the parcel has arrived.
Buying a label charges your carrier account as soon as the label is issued, so it needs a carrier account connected to your store. A label bought and then not used can be refunded from the return.
A label bought outside Spree can be recorded against the return instead, so the return still carries the tracking whoever bought it.

​
How to Refund a Return

Once a return is Received, click Actions and choose Refund. The Refund return dialog opens.
  • Amount - What the customer gets back. It is filled in with the price of the units you received, without the delivery charge, and you can change it before you refund.
  • Refund to - Where the money goes. Original payment sends it back to the card or method the customer paid with. Store credit adds it to the customer’s store credit balance, which you can see on their customer page, so they can spend it in your store.
Check both, then click Refund. The dialog closes, the return reads Refunded and its Actions button disappears. After a refund to the original payment, the order’s payment status changes to Partially Refunded when only part of the order was paid back, and the customer receives an email saying their return has been refunded, with the total amount refunded. The return also drops out of the count on the Returns sidebar item, as it has now been settled. The Refund return dialog with the amount for the received units and Refund to set to Original payment
A refund to the original payment is sent to the customer’s payment provider as soon as you click Refund, with no second confirmation. Check the Amount and Refund to before you click.

​
Further Reading

  • Returns & Reasons - Add and manage the reasons your team picks from when opening a return.
  • Exchanges - Swap an item for a different size, color or product instead of refunding it.
  • Claims - Deal with a delivery that arrived damaged, wrong or not at all.
  • Issue Store Credits - Work with the store credit balance a refund can go to.
  • Processing Orders - Fulfilling an order, and the refunds a cancellation makes.