Hi, thanks @KyleG-Shopify,
Here I will describe, in detail, one order lifecycle that demonstrates this unexpected behaviour. This order did not appear to have any order edits, line item modifications, or partial captures before the return was created.
Example 1 (gid://shopify/Shop/21126981):
- July 31: Order placed via Online Store (gid://shopify/Order/6018813231146)
- Aug 7: Return placed via Frate Returns. Called
returnCreate with the following body:
{
"returnInput":{
"exchangeLineItems":[
],
"notifyCustomer":false,
"orderId":"gid://shopify/Order/6018813231146",
"requestedAt":"2025-08-07T09:30:39.074376+00:00",
"returnLineItems":[
{
"fulfillmentLineItemId":"gid://shopify/FulfillmentLineItem/12454149488682",
"quantity":1,
"returnReason":"SIZE_TOO_SMALL",
"returnReasonNote":"It was too small for me. "
}
],
"returnShippingFee":{
"amount":{
"amount":15,
"currencyCode":"USD"
}
},
"unprocessed":true
}
}
- Aug 12: Return processed via Frate Returns. Called
returnProcess with the following body (The x-request-id from the API response headers was f547b1b9-8106-4fb8-8227-0fc641632e82-1755026319):
{
"input":{
"exchangeLineItems":[
],
"financialTransfer":{
"issueRefund":{
"allowOverRefunding":false,
"orderTransactions":[
{
"parentId":"gid://shopify/OrderTransaction/7407513796650",
"transactionAmount":{
"amount":90,
"currencyCode":"USD"
}
}
]
}
},
"notifyCustomer":false,
"refundDuties":[
],
"refundShipping":null,
"returnId":"gid://shopify/Return/16951738410",
"returnLineItems":[
{
"dispositions":[
{
"dispositionType":"NOT_RESTOCKED",
"quantity":1,
"reverseFulfillmentOrderLineItemId":"gid://shopify/ReverseFulfillmentOrderLineItem/23474536490"
}
],
"id":"gid://shopify/ReturnLineItem/24086020138",
"quantity":1
}
]
}
}
The fundamental issue is that Shopify seems to ādouble countā that refund. That is clear by looking at the sales/return report on Shopify for the order. You can see that the $90 refund was accounted for with no SKU reference, and $105 was considered a refund against the SKU ACOP1025-PC-M. This is wrong because Shopify tells us that the order incurred $195 in Returns, when I only issued a $90 refund. Also the return fees do not seem present in the report even though I added a return fee in returnCreate.
Also on the Shopify Order Admin Page for this, it says āYou owe the customer a refundā which is strange since I already processed the return for refund:
So, if you made it this far, I appreciate it! This behaviour is experienced by many of my customers and itās quite an issue for them as you can imagine (i.e., double counting return costs, lowering reported net sales). Any insight would be appreicated. Iām also happy to provide more examples or get on a call if you need.
Thanks,
Jake
.