Issue refunds and handle returns

Refund a full or partial order, restock the items, and handle returns with confidence.

Sometimes a customer needs their money back – a return, a damaged item, or a change of heart. YNS lets you issue refunds directly from the order, and the money is returned to the customer through the payment provider that took the payment (Stripe for most stores).

Before you start

A little preparation makes refunds straightforward:

• Find the right order. Open it from the Orders section so you're refunding the correct purchase. You can search by customer name or order number.
• Decide the amount. Will you refund everything, or just part of the order? Knowing this up front keeps things clean.
• Have your policy in mind. If you have a returns policy, check it lines up with what you're about to do – for example, whether you wait for an item to come back before refunding.

Tip: Do it with AI – ask the AI Assistant to "find Jane's order from last week" so you can open the right one fast. (Refunds themselves are issued by you in the order and settle through your payment provider – the assistant helps you locate the order, it doesn't move the money.)

Issue a refund

To refund an order, open it from the Orders section and choose to issue a refund. You can refund:

For a partial refund you have two ways to reach the amount:

• Pick the items. Choose which products came back and how many of each, and the amount adds itself up. If the customer is also getting their delivery cost back, tick Refund shipping to include it.
• Type a custom amount. Useful for a price adjustment or a goodwill gesture that doesn't map to whole items. Entering a custom amount replaces the item selection.

Two more choices sit on the same dialog:

• Restock refunded items is on by default, so anything you refund goes straight back into your available stock. Untick it when the item isn't coming back – damaged goods, or a goodwill refund where the customer keeps what they bought.
• Reason (and an optional Note) records why the refund happened, so you and your team can make sense of it months later.

The refund is processed through the payment provider that took the original payment.

Note: Refunds always go back to the customer's original payment method – the same card or account they paid with. You can't redirect a refund somewhere else.

The customer is notified automatically

You don't need to send anything yourself. As soon as the refund goes through, YNS emails the customer to tell them the money is on its way, with the amount and a note about how long it usually takes to arrive.

You can edit the wording of that email in Email Automation – see Email notifications & automation.

Other payment methods

Most stores take payment through Stripe, and those refunds happen entirely inside YNS. A few payment methods work differently:

Handling returns

A refund and a return are related but separate. A return is the physical item coming back; a refund is the money going back. How you combine them is up to your policy:

• Wait for the item, then refund. Common for higher-value goods – you inspect the returned item before giving money back.
• Refund right away. Good for low-value items or damaged goods where asking for the item back isn't worth it.

Whatever you choose, when you issue the refund you can enter a refund reason in the refund dialog, so you and your team remember what was agreed and why.

How it shows on the order

After you issue a refund, the order is updated so you can see what happened. The order status reflects that it has been fully or partially refunded, and the refund itself is listed on the order – the items and quantities you refunded, the shipping if you included it, any note you left, whether the items went back into stock, and who issued it. This keeps your records clear if the customer gets in touch later, and makes your sales figures accurate.

If you ever issue a refund straight from your Stripe Dashboard instead of from the order in YNS, it still reaches the order – the status updates and the refund shows up in its history. Two things work differently for a Dashboard refund: YNS doesn't restock the items, because Stripe doesn't say which ones you refunded, and it doesn't send its own refund email, since Stripe already sent its own receipt. Restock manually with the inventory quick-adjust if the items are coming back.

A note on timing

Once you issue a refund, it can take a few business days to appear on the customer's statement – that's normal and depends on their bank, not your store. It's worth letting the customer know to expect this so they aren't worried when the money isn't instant.

Best practices

• Communicate. The refund email goes out on its own, so you only need to follow up when there's something it doesn't cover – for example, if you're waiting for the item to come back before refunding.
• Note the reason. Fill in the reason and the note when you issue a refund so your history stays clear.
• Match your policy. Keep your refunds consistent with the returns policy you've published, so customers know what to expect.

FAQ

What's next

• Find the order you need in View and manage orders.
• Look up a buyer's history in Manage your customers.
• Publish clear terms in Legal pages.