How do you create a return label in Shopify?

Where do you create a return label in Shopify?

You create it on the order, per Shopify's return-label guide:

1. Click Return on a fulfilled order, or More actions > Return if the order still has unfulfilled items.
2. Under Return shipping options, select Create a return label in Shopify, then Create return.
3. Set Return to, Package and weight and Shipping service (see which carriers Shopify offers), then Create return label.
4. Send it: Email customer, Copy link or Print label.

With self-serve returns, approving a customer's return request lets you send the label.

Which carriers can you use?

Shipping from a US fulfillment location, you can buy return labels at discounted rates through Shopify from three carriers:

• USPS — available services include Priority Mail and Ground Advantage.
• FedEx — both your return location and the customer's shipping address must include a phone number.
• UPS — all domestic mail services except UPS Ground Saver, at Shopify's discounted UPS rates or, if your store is based in the United States, on your own connected UPS account.

All three sell through Shopify for US domestic returns only — the limits are below.

When are you charged for a Shopify return label?

Billing waits for the carrier:

Labels are always billed to your Shopify account, and Shopify says you can't automatically charge the customer: if you want to deduct the cost from the refund, you must do it manually when you process the refund. What the customer pays back is set in your return rules — next section.

A return label can't be voided, but it can expire — unused, at no charge. Shopify's UPS note adds that its link expires after 30 days, so save it. See how long each carrier's labels last.

A label also rules out canceling: Shopify lets you cancel a return only if, among other conditions, it doesn't have a return label — so create the return with its label once the customer has confirmed they're sending items back.

Which return shipping cost should you set?

Your lever is Return shipping cost in your return rules (Settings > Policies), with three options — and a change reaches only future orders.

• Free return shipping — you pay for every label you create in Shopify, once the carrier scans it, and there's no return shipping fee to collect.
• A flat rate, charged one time per return — you still pay the label; the customer pays your fixed fee, which shows when you create the return and can be edited for that return.
• Customers buy their own label — you buy nothing; when you create the return, you can pick No shipping required, which creates it without any return shipping information.

If you don't want to buy return labels at all, choose the customer's own label. If you want returns to cost the customer nothing, pick free shipping and budget for every scanned label. A flat rate sits between: it recovers a fixed amount per return, whatever the labels cost.

A flat fee is a number you choose, not the label price: it's charged one time per return, while each label is billed to you on scan — and Shopify lets you create several return labels from the same order page when a customer returns items in multiple packages. You can edit the return shipping fee for a specific return when you create it.

Before Process and refund, confirm the return shipping fee is in the refund total: Shopify's processing guide says the fee is applied the first time you process the return, while its return-rules page says return fees aren't automatically deducted from refunds.

From October 23, 2026, Shopify calculates tax on return shipping fees for orders shipped to US addresses when you use Shopify Tax or Tax Platform, the order isn't tax exempt and the fee is taxable there; Shopify doesn't calculate tax on restocking fees. If you handle that tax manually, review the process before then so it isn't collected twice.

Whether the customer should pay at all is a policy call — see who pays for the return trip.

When can't you create a return label in Shopify?

Return labels are available only for US domestic orders: your primary location (Shopify's return-label guide says fulfillment location) and the customer's address must both be in the US, and military (APO/FPO/DPO), customs-form territory and international addresses are out.

For those, buy a label from a carrier, a third-party service or a Shopify App Store app, then attach it with Upload a return label when you create the return — a PDF, PNG, JPEG or URL. A label added later, to a return created without one, can trigger Return label not sent.

Shopify says you can't print shipping labels in the Shopify admin without an order, and you create a return label from the order page. That order needs at least one fulfilled item.

Labels are order-level, not item-level: for a partial return, adjust the expected weight.

UPS can't deliver to PO Box addresses, so a PO Box customer triggers the error PO Box destinations are not supported. Select USPS instead, which supports PO Box delivery, or ask the customer for a street address.

With a connected UPS account, that error shows even when USPS is available — Shopify says you can ignore it and buy a USPS return label.

If no carriers display at all, Shopify names three things to check:

• Weight and dimensions — USPS allows 70 lbs, and length plus girth can't exceed 108 inches.
• Package type — use a USPS carrier-specific package or a standard custom package.
• Addresses — the carrier might not recognize yours or the customer's; verify both with the USPS address validator.