# Refunds and returns Sales > How a sale moves · How it works · https://vendordue.com/docs/refunds-and-returns **In short:** Refund in Shopify as you always do. VendorDue reads the refund and takes the vendor's part of it off their share, in proportion to what was refunded, at the rate the sale was made at. Inside the return window it comes off before they're paid; after, it comes off their next payout. Who: Admin, Viewer. Where: Activity. You refund in Shopify, exactly as you do now. VendorDue never refunds anyone; it reads what Shopify did and works out what that means for the vendor. ## What a refund takes off A refund comes off the vendor's share in proportion to the revenue refunded, at the consignor rate the sale was made at, even if their rate has changed since. **The mug comes back** (example) | | | | --- | ---: | | Revenue refunded | $120.00 | | Consignor rate, from the sale | 60% | | **Comes off their share** | **-$72.00** | Refunding part of a price works the same way. A $20.00 refund on the mug, for a chip, with no item sent back: **A $20.00 refund on the mug** (example) | | | | --- | ---: | | Revenue refunded | $20.00 | | Consignor rate, from the sale | 60% | | **Comes off their share** | **-$12.00** | Your share takes the other $8.00, just as it took 40% of the sale. Some rates refund differently: - **A fixed price per unit** refunds per unit returned. A vendor paid $30.00 an item loses $30.00 for each one returned, and never more than they earned. - **You keep a fixed amount** is worked out again from what's left of the sale, so you still keep your amount on every item the customer kept. A price cut with no item returned comes out of the vendor's part. ## What doesn't change the vendor's share - **Shipping refunds.** Shipping is never shared, so refunding it touches nobody's share. - **Tax refunds.** The same: tax was never in the share. - **A return with no money back.** If the item comes back but nothing is refunded in Shopify, as with store credit or an exchange handled outside Shopify, nothing changes. - **A refund still pending.** It counts once Shopify says it went through. ## When it comes off It depends on whether the sale's payout has landed yet. **Before it lands.** The refund is its own line in **Activity**, reading **Comes off** and the pay day. It comes off the vendor's next payout. Usually that's the sale's own payout, and the two net out. If another of their payouts lands first, the refund comes off that one, and the sale is paid in full on its own day. If the whole sale was refunded, it stops waiting for its holds, and the two cancel to nothing on the vendor's next payout. This is what the [return window](https://vendordue.com/docs/holds#return-window) is for: most returns arrive before anyone is paid. **After it lands.** The payout is already fixed, so the refund comes off the vendor's next one, and reads **Comes off next payout**. Their next payout lists it as its own line: **Alder Ceramics' 1 November payout** (example) | | | | --- | ---: | | Sales | $310.00 | | Refund, Stoneware mug #1047 | -$72.00 | | **Paid to Alder Ceramics** | **$238.00** | ## When a vendor owes you If refunds are more than what has cleared for a vendor, nothing lands for them. Their cleared sales wait, reading **They owe you first**, until new sales cover what they owe. Their row in **Payouts > Upcoming** says it: "Refunds are larger than what has cleared, so nothing lands. They owe you $42.00, which comes off their next payout." You don't have to chase it unless they've stopped selling with you. If they pay you back directly, see [Adjustments and corrections](https://vendordue.com/docs/adjustments#an-amount-by-hand) for recording it. ## Exchanges An exchange in Shopify is a return and a new item on the same order. The returned item comes off as a refund. The new item reads **Added to a sale**, and earns for its own vendor at their rate, once the order is paid in full again. ## Refunds that need you A few refunds VendorDue won't guess at. They wait in **Activity > Needs attention**: - **"A refund no product explains."** Money refunded that no product, shipping or duty accounts for, like a goodwill gesture. Press **Decide who covers it**: you, or the vendor as a line called Goodwill refund on their next payout. - **"Refund on an order from before"** your record started. The sale was never counted, so press **Take it off a payout** to take the vendor's share off, or **Leave it**. - **"This refund does not add up to one outcome."** Shopify's record of it is still settling. **Check again** later. ## Canceled orders and chargebacks **Canceling an order in Shopify doesn't refund it.** If you cancel and the money stays, the order waits in Needs attention as **"Canceled, but the money stayed"**, and nobody on it is paid. Refund it in Shopify and it clears by itself, or ignore it to let the sale stand. **A chargeback** holds every vendor on the order while the bank decides: **"The bank is questioning this payment."** If it ends your way, it clears by itself. If you lose, VendorDue doesn't take it off the vendor on its own: whether they share the loss is between you. Ignore it to let the sale stand, and if they're to share the loss, add a one-off charge for their part. See [Charges and bills](https://vendordue.com/docs/charges-and-bills). ## When it looks wrong ### I refunded but the vendor's share didn't change Check what was refunded in Shopify. A shipping-only refund, or a return with no money back, changes no share. If the refund is still pending in Shopify, it counts once it goes through. **Check Shopify now** reads your store straight away. ### A vendor has no payout this month Refunds or charges may be more than what cleared for them. Their row in **Payouts > Upcoming** says so, and how much they owe. ## Common questions **If I change a vendor's rate, does an old refund use the new rate?** No. A refund always uses the rate its sale was made at. **Can I stop a refund coming off a vendor?** Not on the refund itself, which follows what Shopify did. If the store covers it, give the amount back with [Add an adjustment](https://vendordue.com/docs/adjustments#an-amount-by-hand), with the reason. **Does the vendor see the refund?** Yes. It's a line on their page and on their payout, with the product and order number. Checked against VendorDue on 2026-10-07.