Shopify Return Labels: Create, Send, Pay Only When Used

A Shopify return label is a prepaid shipping label you create in the admin and send to a customer, so they can post the items back to you. You can buy one when the order shipped from a fulfillment location in the United States or Canada and the customer is in the same country. You create it from the order’s Return page, and you pay only if the carrier scans the package.

Everything below is from Shopify’s Help Center pages on buying return labels and creating returns, read on October 23, 2026.

Who can buy return labels in Shopify

Return labels in the admin cover domestic returns only: within the United States or within Canada. Several common cases are left out:

• returns between the United States and Canada;
• US military addresses (APO, FPO and DPO);
• US territories that need a customs form;
• any other international address.

Canadian stores can buy them as well as US stores, including Canada Post labels. The carriers and their conditions:

Two more conditions apply to every carrier. At least one item in the order must be fulfilled, and the return location needs a valid US or Canadian street address in Settings > Locations; a PO box isn’t accepted as a return address. Labels can’t be voided, and none of them can carry extra insurance.

Create and send a return label

1. In the admin, go to Orders and open the order.
2. Click Return. If the order still has unfulfilled items, click More actions > Return.
3. Enter the quantity of each item being returned.
4. Under Return shipping options, select Create a return label in Shopify, then click Create return.
5. In Return to, select the saved location the items go back to. To change the default, click the address, then Update default location for return labels, choose a location and click Save.
6. In Package and weight, select the expected package size and enter the expected weight.
7. In Shipping service, pick the carrier service.
8. Click Create return label.
9. Send it: Email customer after confirming the address, Copy link to paste into a message thread, or Print label to put it in the box with the order. Then click Done.

Labels are created per order, not per item. When a customer returns only part of an order, enter the weight of those items only; the estimate depends on it. For a return in several boxes, create one label per box from the same order page, each with its own weight.

To resend a label later, open the order, click View details in the Return label section and choose one of the same three options. The same section shows the tracking number. Delivery status isn’t tracked in the admin, so check the carrier’s website.

The email the customer receives is the Order-level return label created notification under Settings > Notifications, in the Returns group. Its step-by-step instructions sit in the return-label__instruction-step part of the template, and you can edit them with Liquid. We’d add how your team wants the items packed, for example in the original box with the tags on.

How you’re billed for return labels

Return labels use pay-on-scan billing, so creating one costs nothing. The sequence is:

1. You create the label and send it.
2. The customer drops the package off or books a pickup.
3. The carrier scans and weighs it, and the cost is added to your Shopify account.
4. The charge goes on your next bill, or on an invoice when you reach your billing threshold.

A label that’s never used expires and is never charged. The price you see when creating the label is an estimate based on the weight you entered; the final charge can be higher if the package weighs more, or if the carrier applies dimensional weight to a large, light box. Carriers also send billing data at different intervals, so a charge can appear some time after the scan.

Shipping label charges, return labels included, count toward your plan’s billing threshold:

When charges reach the threshold, Shopify issues an invoice immediately, and you can keep buying labels up to 110% of the threshold while it processes. Past that, label purchases stop until the bill is paid. To see what each return cost, go to Settings > Billing, open a bill and click the number of shipping fees in the Shipping section; each line links to its order.

The label is always billed to you. Shopify can’t charge the customer for it automatically, so if your policy deducts return shipping from the refund, take it off by hand when you process the refund. That policy belongs in your refund policy, so customers know it before they buy; Shopify returns and refunds covers the refund side.

Outside the US and Canada

If you ship from a location outside the US or Canada, or the return falls into one of the excluded cases, buy the label directly from a carrier, through a third-party service, or with a shipping app from the Shopify App Store. You can still record it on the return: when you create the return, choose Upload a return label and add a PDF, PNG or JPEG file or a label URL, with the tracking number and carrier.

Uploaded labels also work with self-serve returns: when you approve a request you can upload a label. The Return request approved email carries the return shipping information, and Shopify notes that customers also receive a separate email containing the label. Where the return label shows your address from, and how to send returns to a different one, is in Shopify return address. For apps that add exchanges and other return features, compare Shopify returns apps. The shipping and returns hub has the rest of our guides.

FAQ

Can I cancel a Shopify return label? Return labels can’t be voided or canceled, but you’re charged only when the carrier scans the package. An unused label expires: USPS after 1 year, UPS after 6 months and FedEx after 90 days, while Canada Post labels never expire and are charged only if scanned.

Can I create a return label for an international order? Shopify return labels work only for domestic returns within the United States or within Canada. For other returns, buy a label from a carrier or a shipping app and upload it to the return.

Can I charge the customer for the return label? Shopify bills return labels to your account and can’t charge the customer automatically. To pass on the cost, deduct it manually from the refund and say so in your refund policy.

Why can’t I create a return label? Check that at least one item in the order is fulfilled, that the customer and your return location are in the same country (both US or both Canada), that the address isn’t a military one, and that your location has a valid street address instead of a PO box.