When an order is refunded

Refunds live in Shopify. The subscription doesn’t notice, and stopping it is its own move.

2 min

Orders belong to Shopify; the subscription belongs to the platform. Neither cancels the other, in either direction.

1. Refund or cancel the order, in Shopify

   • Start from the subscription: the Summary card’s Linked orders list deep-links every order into the Shopify admin; the order that started the subscription carries an Origin badge.
   • Refund, partially refund, or cancel it there, like any Shopify order. The platform mirrors the numbers and changes nothing else.

   Checkpoint: the refund is done in Shopify.

   
2. Know what didn't happen

   Nothing else moves. Surface by surface:

   Where you look	After the refund
   The subscription	Unchanged: same status, next billing date unmoved, nothing paused, no email sent.
   Billing history	Still reads Paid: the charge did happen; the refund lives on the order in Shopify.
   The subscriber’s portal	Shows Refunded or Partially Refunded on their order history and the order’s page (a cancelled order reads Refunded or Voided).
   Analytics	Overview revenue is net of refunds, and cancelled orders drop out; the Revenue tab’s category breakdown classifies categories before refunds.

   Checkpoint: the status badge, next billing date, and Billing history read exactly as before.

3. If the subscriber is done, cancel the subscription too

   • A refund over one bad box may need no second move: the schedule keeps rolling.
   • When they’re done, cancel the subscription as its own step: Cancel subscription in the title bar (Edit one subscription), or better, send a login link so they cancel in the portal and your cancellation flow gets its chance (When a subscriber asks for help).
   • In reverse: cancelling a subscription refunds nothing by itself; money already charged stays charged until you refund it in Shopify.

   Checkpoint: refunded in Shopify, cancelled here.

A refund doesn’t rewind rewards. The refunded order still counts toward reward progress, and a gift that shipped on it stays Processed (When a reward goes missing).

One order can belong to several subscriptions. Sibling subscriptions due the same day, on the same card, address, and currency, bill as one combined order: one charge row on the base subscription, and the order linked from all of them.