Testing Your First Return

Updated 11 November 2026

Overview

This article explains what a Shopify order needs before the return portal will offer anything on it to return. The easiest way to see ReturnZen working end to end is to place a small order on your own store and return it. Nothing in ReturnZen creates orders for you; the order is placed and fulfilled in your Shopify admin.

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

Before you start

• A connected Shopify store.
• A return policy that is active, covers the order's country and has at least one outcome switched on, under Policy > Return Policies. A new store starts with one policy, Default return policy, which is active but has every outcome switched off.

Building a test order in Shopify

What the order needs

In your Shopify admin, go to Orders and create the order.

• A real product: use an item that exists in your catalogue so the portal can show it, price it and, for exchanges, look up other sizes and colours.
• Your own email and address: the shopper finds the order with the order number plus one lookup detail, which is the email, the shipping zip code or the phone number on the order. Which of those are accepted is set under Policy > General, the Order lookup criteria card, so use details you can type back. Use a real, deliverable address: on a test order with a made-up address, USPS refuses the sender address and the label fails.
• A covered country: the shipping address must be in a country covered by an active return policy with at least one outcome on. Otherwise the portal tells the shopper that returns are not accepted from their country.
• Paid: click Mark as paid so a refund has something to refund. A manual payment is enough; you do not need a test payment gateway. ReturnZen refunds against the order's successful sale or capture using whatever gateway recorded it.
• Fulfilled: fulfil the order in Shopify. An item that has not been fulfilled is listed under the portal's unavailable items as Item not fulfilled, because Shopify does not let a refund or restock happen for something that has not shipped. The return window also counts from the date the policy is set to: order date, fulfillment date or delivery date.

Note: You do not need the parcel to actually ship. Fulfilling it in Shopify is enough for ReturnZen to treat it as returnable. Once the return exists you can move it along yourself from the return page.

Screenshot

Shopify admin, the test order showing Paid and Fulfilled badges and your own email and address

Submitting and processing the test return

This section covers a first return from both sides: the shopper's portal, exactly as a customer would use it, and then the return page in the admin. One pass checks your policy, your label setup and your emails.

Before you start: A paid, fulfilled test order on your store. See Building a Test Order in Shopify. An active return policy covering the order's country, with at least one outcome switched on. For labels, EasyPost connected and switched on, and a default destination under Shipping > Destinations. While EasyPost is switched off or has no key, the return takes the self-ship method and the shopper is shown your return address.

In the portal

Open the portal from Shopper Portal at the foot of the admin menu, or from Shopper Portal in the account menu.

1. Enter the order number and the lookup detail (zip code, email or phone, whichever your Order lookup criteria accept) and click Start.
2. Pick the item and choose a reason.
3. Choose an outcome, such as refund, exchange or store credit.
4. Review and submit.

The status page then shows the return label, the QR code or the self-ship address, a Print Packing Slip button when the policy generates packing slips, the return status, the items and the money summary.

Screenshot

The portal's status page after submitting, with the label card, the Print Packing Slip button and the return summary

In the admin

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

The return page lists the items with their status, the timeline and the money summary. The action bar holds Process Return, Approve Return, Reject Return, Cancel Return, Flag Return and Close Return; each item line has Mark Missing, and the Return method information card has Regenerate Label. See The return page.

What happens next depends on the outcome's processing event in the policy:

• Manual: a person clicks Process Return.
• Immediate: the refund, store credit, exchange or Shop Now order is issued at submit, before anything ships back.
• Pre transit, In transit, Out for delivery and Delivered: the return waits for the label and the carrier's scans. In the policy each of these four reads Applies when EasyPost tracks the return: an EasyPost return label, or a tracking number the shopper entered.

Tip: For a first test, set the outcome's processing event to Manual. It is the easiest to follow, and it works with a test EasyPost key.

Screenshot

Returns > Return Processing, the return page with the items, timeline, summary and the action bar

Testing a return the shopper did not start

Use Create Return on the returns list, or look the order up under Returns > Find an Order and click Start Return. What the manual return allows depends on who creates it:

• A login with Policy exceptions (the Owner, an Admin, or Returns plus Policy exceptions) can waive the policy, and no workflow runs on the return.
• A login with Returns only gets the portal's own verdict: hidden products, final sale, the return window, excluded outcomes, workflow fees and no label are applied as they would be for a shopper.

See Manual returns.

What the shopper sees

A test return sends the same emails a real one would. Check Shopper > Notifications for which emails are switched on and who they come from before you submit. A new store sends them from the hosted ReturnZen sender with nothing to set up.

Note: Cancel Return in the admin sends the shopper no email. Only a cancel the shopper makes themselves sends the cancel email.

FAQ

The portal says the order could not be found. Check the lookup detail against the order. The lookup field is labelled with exactly the boxes ticked under Order lookup criteria, in the order Zip code, Email, Phone number. With all three ticked it reads Shipping Zip Code or Email or Phone. Any one of them is enough.

The portal shows the item but will not let me pick it. Read the label on the item. Item not fulfilled means fulfil it in Shopify first. Other reasons come from the policy: the return window, final sale tags, workflows.

Will refunding the test order cost me money? A refund on a test order is a real refund of that order in Shopify. If the order was paid with a manual payment, nothing leaves a card, but the order shows as refunded.

My return is not processing on its own. With a test EasyPost key the label is a sample and no carrier scan ever arrives for it, so processing events other than Manual and Immediate do not fire in test mode. Click Process Return yourself, or switch the event to Manual for the test.

Is a refund on a test order real? Yes. Refunds are made in Shopify against the order, so a refund on a test order is a real refund of that order.

Where do I see what happened? The timeline on the return page, and Returns > Return Events Feed for every return at once.

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