Shopify’s current billing system is frustrating for both merchants and app developers. It creates unnecessary confusion, leads to negative reviews, and forces app developers to deal with angry merchants, all because Shopify doesn’t make app charges, app refunds, and credits transparent enough on Merchant billing page.
I tested this myself by setting up a real Shopify store, installing my own app, subscribing to it, issuing a credit, and refunding the charge. The results were disappointing.
Merchants get charged upfront, and developers get the blame
When a merchant subscribes to an app and cancels immediately, Shopify still charges them the full amount right away. There’s no way for the app developer to void the charge, ever.
The charge gets added to their Shopify bill, and they have to pay it, there’s no way around it. Many merchants don’t realize this is just how Shopify works, so they assume the app is still charging them after they canceled. This leads to 1 star reviews, frustration, and unnecessary support tickets. I can’t stress enough how stressful this is for us, everytime someone subscribes and cancel
App refunds are so poorly handled that merchants don’t even notice them
Once a merchant pays their Shopify bill, only then can the app developer issue a refund. But Shopify makes it almost impossible for merchants to realize they’ve been refunded.
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The only indication of a refund is a small banner on the billing page that says:
“Your account was credited {ACTUAL AMOUNT} on {DATE}. The full details can be found on your issued credit note (available in English only).” -
There is no mention of which app refunded the money.
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No email is sent to merchant that they got refund from certain app, this is crazy.
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The only way for a merchant to figure out which app refunded them is to open the credit note and scroll two pages down, let’s be honest, most people aren’t going to do.
Because of this, merchants assume they never got a refund and continue to be upset, leading to more complaints and negative reviews for the app developer.
App credits are handled better, but still have issues
When an app issues credit, Shopify at least sends a proper email to merchant. The email includes the app’s name and credit amount, which helps merchants understand where the credit came from.
But even here, there’s a major issue, on the billing page, there is no way to see which app added the credit. This makes it impossible for merchants to track their app-related charges and adjustments properly.
This is completely unacceptable. If Shopify won’t give developers control over billing, the least they can do is ensure transparency for merchants. Right now, Shopify clearly displays which app is charging the merchant, but when it comes to refunds, the app’s name is completely missing. There’s no logical reason for this, if an app is responsible for a charge, it should also be credited for issuing a refund. Removing the app from the conversation on the billing page only creates confusion and frustration for both merchants and developers.
Shopify needs to make the billing system clearer for both merchants and developers. At the very least, they should:
- if possible, allow app developers to void charges before they go through, so merchants don’t get billed unnecessarily.
- Clearly show which app issued a refund on the billing page.
- Send a proper refund confirmation email that includes the app’s name, just like they already do for credits.
- On the billing page, properly display all app charges, refunds, and credits so merchants can easily track where their money is going.
Right now, Shopify’s billing system feels unfair to developers. Right now, we’re stuck dealing with unnecessary confusion and complaints, all because Shopify doesn’t make basic billing information visible where it matters.
I request Shopify’s PMs to seriously consider improving how app-related billing information is displayed on the merchant billing page. The current system just isn’t fair for us app devs.
