Returning stock to a supplier

A supplier return is a document for stock you are sending back to a supplier. It lists the products and quantities going back, the credit you expect, and why they are being returned. Marking it as returned takes the units out of your Shopify stock, and the return then stays open until you record the supplier's credit note and close it.

Where returns live

Returns have their own list. Go to Purchase orders , click the page title at the top of the page, and choose Supplier returns. The title works as a switcher in both directions.

The list has All, Draft, Awaiting credit, Credited and Closed tabs, and you can filter by supplier, location, tags, return status and credit status. Its saved views and columns are kept separately from your purchase order list.

Creating a return

1. On the Supplier returns list, click Create return.
2. Choose the Supplier.
3. Choose the Shopify location the stock is leaving from under Return from. This is where the stock is removed, so a custom address is not offered.
4. Add the products, using Search products to add, Browse products or Import CSV. Any product in your store can go on a return, whether or not it arrived on a Stockie purchase order.
5. Enter a Quantity to return and a Credit per unit for each line.
6. Save the return.

It saves as a draft, and nothing changes in Shopify until you mark it as returned, so you can keep editing it or send it to your supplier for approval first.

Credit per unit starts from the product's cost and you can change it to whatever the supplier has agreed. Changing it never changes the product's default cost. You can also put the same product on more than one line, for example when parts of a return are credited at different rates.

Credit adjustments

On the Expected credit card, Manage and then Add adjustment gives you a Restocking fee, which always comes off, a Freight reimbursement, which is always added, or Other with your own description and a positive or negative amount. Expected credit cannot go below zero.

Additional details

A return can also carry a Reference number for the supplier's RMA, a Return reason, a Note to supplier that prints on the PDF, tags, and a Shipping carrier and Tracking number. Tracking URL and file attachments appear once the return is saved.

Where a store decides inventory syncing per document, a return also has a Sync inventory to Shopify checkbox. Left unticked, the paperwork stays in Stockie and your Shopify stock is unchanged.

Return numbers

Returns run in their own sequence, #RET1, #RET2 and so on, so they never leave gaps in your purchase order numbers. The RET prefix is fixed, which is also why RET cannot be used as a purchase order prefix. See custom purchase order numbering.

Sending the return to your supplier

From More actions, Send to supplier emails the return, and you can edit the message first. Export PDF gives a document headed RETURN TO SUPPLIER, and Export CSV the same lines as a spreadsheet, both showing Credit per unit in place of cost.

Marking a return as returned

When the goods go back, click Mark as returned.

The window shows the Returned on date, which defaults to today and cannot be in the future, how many units and lines will be removed, and a warning if any product will end up with negative available stock. The warning does not stop you going ahead.

Stockie then creates one inventory adjustment for the return, with the reason Returned to supplier, and takes the units off available stock at the Return from location. A product on several lines is removed once, by the combined quantity. The return is locked for a few seconds while Shopify is updated, then its status becomes Returned.

The adjustment sits in your adjustments history with the return number and supplier in its notes, and the two link to each other. Only its notes can be edited, because the return manages it.

If your store tracks orders only, or Sync inventory to Shopify is off for this return, the window says Shopify stock will not change and only the return is updated.

If Stockie cannot update Shopify, the return stays a draft and says why: inventory write permission is missing, or Shopify rejected the update, for example because a product was deleted. Nothing changed in Shopify, so you can fix it and mark it as returned again. Where an update did not start, the return offers Retry inventory update, and tells you to contact us if it cannot be retried.

What you can change afterwards

Products and quantities are fixed once the stock has left, along with the supplier, location, currency, tax and the sync setting. You can still edit Credit per unit, credit adjustments, the reference number, return reason, note to supplier, tags, files and tracking details from More actions → Edit.

Changing the credit figures recalculates Expected credit and the credit status, and each change is recorded on the return's timeline. Shopify stock, the inventory adjustment and any credit note you have recorded are untouched. A closed return needs reopening before you can edit it.

If the products or quantities on a processed return need correcting, the edit page has a Contact support button.

Expected credit and cost of returned units

Once the stock has been removed, the Credit card shows two figures side by side:

• Expected credit - quantity times credit per unit, plus tax and credit adjustments, in the supplier's currency. This is what you are claiming
• Cost of returned units - what those units were worth in your inventory, in your store currency, using average cost where your store uses average costing. It appears once every line has a known cost

The two are often different, which is expected when a supplier credits less than you paid or charges a restocking fee.

Recording the supplier's credit note

When the credit note arrives, click Record credit note and enter the Credit note number, the Credit note date and the Amount credited, which defaults to Expected credit.

A return holds one credit note, so if the supplier sends two, enter both numbers and the combined amount. Where the amount differs from Expected credit, the card shows the Difference from expected. You can edit or delete the credit note from the menu beside it.

The credit status follows from that: Awaiting credit with no credit note, Partially credited for less than expected, Credited for the full amount, and Closed, no credit for a return closed without one. The Awaiting credit tab covers both awaiting and partially credited returns, so it is the list of credits you are still owed.

When the credit has arrived, or was never expected, More actions → Close return takes the return off that list. Reopen return puts it back to Returned without touching Shopify stock.

Duplicating and deleting returns

Duplicate creates a new draft with the same supplier, location, lines, credit figures, return reason, note and tags. The reference number, tracking details, credit note and returned date are not copied.

Delete is available on draft and closed returns, so a returned return needs closing first. Deleting does not put the stock back in Shopify, and its inventory adjustment stays in your history.

How returns affect the rest of Stockie

Returns are kept apart from your purchasing figures. They are left out of the purchase order reports, do not count towards on-order quantities, never change a product's default cost, and do not appear anywhere you record invoices and payments - the supplier's credit is tracked on the return itself.

Good to know

• A return is processed once, in full. If part of it ships later, create a second return for those units.
• The stock comes off available, so stock you have moved to another state in Shopify, such as damaged, is not what gets removed.
• The Returned on date cannot be changed afterwards, and there is no undo for Mark as returned. Contact support if a return was processed by mistake.