Fulfilling and managing Shopify Collective orders

After you connect with a retailer and share a price list with them, a retailer can start selling your products on their Shopify store.

When a retailer makes a sale that contains your products, you receive an order in your Shopify admin. You can filter Shopify Collective orders on the Orders page in your Shopify admin, and then fulfill the order by shipping it directly to the customer. The retailer's name is indicated in the order details page, so you know which retailer the order is coming from.

After you fulfill a Shopify Collective order, the order is marked as Fulfilled in both your and your retailer's stores.

Filter Shopify Collective orders

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Orders.

2. Click Search and filter icon.

3. Click Add filter, and then select Channel

4. Select Shopify Collective.

5. Click Save as.

6. Name your order filter, and then click Save.

Fulfilling Shopify Collective orders

You can fulfill Shopify Collective orders the same way as you fulfill your other orders in your Shopify admin. For more information, refer to Fulfilling your own orders. To keep a good business relationship and set correct expectations for your retailers, consider providing them with an estimated order processing time, such as 2 business days.

When you fulfill a Shopify Collective order, the shipping confirmation notification email is sent from the retailer's store instead of your store.

You can't edit or refund Shopify Collective orders. You need to cancel the order and ask the retailer to place a new order.

Tip

You can use Shopify Shipping to buy shipping labels for your Shopify Collective orders.

Managing returns for Shopify Collective orders

Before you process any returns for Shopify Collective orders, you need to agree with your retailers about how to handle returns and who pays for the return shipping label.

You can use one of the following return methods for Shopify Collective orders:

• Method 1: a retailer creates a return label by themselves and accept returns at their own location
• Method 2: you provide a return label to a retailer and accept returns at your own location

If you agree with your retailer to use the Method 2, then you need to upload a return label and create a return in your Shopify admin.

Caution

The cost of a return label isn't included in your payouts when you use automatic payments. You need to handle return label cost with your retailer outside Shopify Collective.

A retailer needs to request a return in their Shopify admin. After they do that, you receive an email notification about the return request. You need to review the return request and if the request is applicable for a return, then submit a return label. Your retailer receives an email with the return label and creates a return with your return label for the customer.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Orders.

2. Click the order that you want to submit a return for.

3. Click Return.

4. In the Return shipping options section, select one of the following options:

   • Select Create a return label in Shopify to create a return shipping label for your customer. This option is available only if your primary location and customer shipping address are both in the United States.
   • Select Upload a return label to upload an existing return shipping label for your customer. On the Add return label page, upload the PDF or JPEG file for your shipping label. You can also enter the Tracking number and Shipping carrier if you have this information.

5. Click Create return.

After you receive and inspect the returned items, you can mark your order as returned. Your retailer receives an email notification about the returned items.

Refunding Shopify Collective orders

You need to agree with your retailer how you handle refunds for Shopify Collective orders:

• When both you and your retailer have activated automatic payments on Collective, the refund is automatically transferred to the retailer after you initiate the refund request.
• If you or your retailer haven't activated automatic payments, then you need to send the funds to your retailer and inform them about it.

You can refund Shopify Collective orders the same way as you refund your other orders in your Shopify admin. For more information, refer to Creating returns and refunds.

Canceling Shopify Collective orders

A retailer can request to cancel a Shopify Collective order that's unfulfilled. After they request to cancel an order, you receive an email to review the order and cancel it. Also, a note will be added to the order.

You can cancel Shopify Collective orders the same way as you cancel your other orders in your Shopify admin. For more information, refer to Canceling, archiving and deleting orders.

When using automatic payments, Shopify Collective automatically cancels the order:

• If payment was not collected when cancellation was requested, so the order state is still Payment pending.
• If payment was collected when cancellation was requested but you did not fulfill the order within 14 days.

When you cancel an order, the order status changes to Request declined in the retailer's store and displays the cancelation reason selected. After that, a retailer needs to cancel the order in their store to issue a refund to the customer.

Tip

To minimise customer service issues, ship orders promptly once marked as Paid and never ship orders in Payment pending state.