Manual Returns

Updated 11 November 2026

Overview

This article explains manual returns: returns your team creates on a shopper's behalf from the returns list. A member with Policy exceptions can create the exceptions the portal would refuse: past the window, final sale, a fee waived, no label needed. A member without it creates a return inside the policy, with the same checks the portal applies. Either way the return uses the same record, label purchase, emails and processing as a portal return.

Use the menu on the left to quickly navigate this article.

Before you start

• A member with the Returns access box under Tools > Users. Policy exceptions (which needs Returns) lets them waive the policy.
• Stripe connected under Tools > Integrations if you will collect a price difference by card, invoice or link.
• EasyPost connected and switched on if the return needs a label. With EasyPost switched off or no key saved, a manual return is self-ship: no label is bought and the customer gets your return address.

Creating a manual return

In the admin, go to Returns > Return Processing and click Create Return.

The window is headed Manual exception, Create return.

1. Under Find the order, search by Order #, Customer email or Customer name, click Search and pick the order. Change Order goes back.
2. Under Items to return, pick each unit. Every unit is its own card: a line with a quantity of 2 shows Unit 1 of 2 and 2 of 2 under one header, so each unit gets its own reason, outcome and replacement.
3. In each card choose Refund, Exchange or Store credit, and an optional reason under Select a reason (optional). Exchange opens a picker of the same product's variants; a sold-out one reads Sold out or Sold out or below minimum inventory, and the chosen one appears under Exchanging for.
4. Set the Admin overrides you need.
5. Read the summary, then click Create Return. When a difference is owed the button reads Collect Payment with Send invoice or Share link chosen, and Collect X and Create with Credit card chosen. With Do not collect it stays Create Return.

Screenshot

The Create return window with one card per unit and the Admin overrides section

What the member's access changes

A member with Policy exceptions (the Owner, an Admin, or Returns plus Policy exceptions) gets no workflow at all. The window reads The return policy is waived: your role can make exceptions. Items flagged Final sale or N of M already returned stay selectable.

A member without it gets the portal's own verdict: hidden products, final sale, the return window, excluded outcomes, a workflow fee and no label apply exactly as they would to the shopper. The label, the policy fee and the bonus show as the store's answers and cannot be edited: Return label (store policy):, Handling fee (store policy): and Store credit bonus (store policy):, the last reading as the policy sets it or excluded by a workflow. A workflow that sets a bonus refuses the manual return.

Note: Items already returned or not yet fulfilled sit under Unavailable for return for everyone. Refund and exchange can mix on one return, and store credit and exchange can mix, but refund and store credit cannot: choosing one greys the other out on the remaining cards.

Admin overrides

For a member with Policy exceptions.

• Skip return label: no label is created and the customer gets the email for returns without a label.
• Charge label cost: deducts the actual label rate from the refund.
• Handling fee ($): a fee on top of anything the policy already charges.
• Exclude bonus credit: only relevant for store credit outcomes.
• Do not email customer: skips the submission confirmation only. The customer still receives everything afterwards, including their refund confirmation.

Price differences

When a replacement costs more than the item being returned, the window shows Amount to collect (or Difference to collect) and four ways to handle it:

• Credit card: take the card now, with the customer on the phone. Needs Stripe.
• Send invoice: email the customer a link to pay. The return waits at Awaiting payment until they do. Needs Stripe.
• Share link: get the same link to paste into a support reply. Needs Stripe.
• Do not collect: create the return and absorb the difference. Each card with a difference needs I understand ticked.

The Difference not collected banner shows only while no payment method is chosen. With Stripe not connected, the box reads Collecting a payment needs an active Stripe connection on this store.

With Different priced exchanges under Policy > General set to not allow them, the card reads This store does not allow differently priced exchanges and only same-priced variants go through. With it set to absorb differences, the card reads Treated as an even swap and the replacement is recorded at the price paid for the returned item.

Important: A return created with Send invoice or Share link cannot be processed until the customer pays, so the replacement never goes out unpaid. The link is shown once in the success view; copy it before closing.

The summary and the result

The summary shows Subtotal, Replacement cost, Store credit bonus, Handling fee or Label cost (calculated at submission), and a total labelled Refund total, Store credit total or Refund and store credit total, or Exchange when nothing is paid out. Create Return stays disabled until every exchange card has a replacement and, when the difference is not collected, every dearer replacement has I understand ticked.

On success the window shows the return with Status:, Refund total: or Store credit: or Tagged for exchange, Tracking:, any label note, No customer email sent if you chose that, and Open Return. The return page carries a Created Manually chip that opens Manual return details with the outcome and who created it.

What the shopper sees

The same submission email and label (or self-ship instructions) as a portal return, unless Do not email customer is ticked, then the same processing emails. With EasyPost switched off or no key saved, the return is self-ship and the customer gets your return address instead of a label; see Self-ship returns. With Send invoice, the Payment request for an exchange difference email with a link to a page where they pay the difference.

FAQ

Can a manual return include a photo? No. Photos can only be added through the shopper portal.

I set a quantity of 2. Do I pick one replacement for both units? No. Each unit has its own card, its own outcome and its own replacement. Nothing is decided for the second unit on your behalf.

Why can my warehouse login not waive a final sale item? That login has Returns without Policy exceptions, so it gets the portal's verdict. The Owner or an Admin can tick Policy exceptions for them under Tools > Users, or create the return themselves.

Can I offer keep item, Shop Now or a different product here? No. Only same-product variants are offered as replacements in the Create return window. Send the customer through the portal for those.

Please reach out to support@returnzen.app with any additional questions.