# Swap the item, settle the difference.

How Shopify's native exchanges work inside a return, how the price difference gets refunded or collected, how to run size swaps, and the manual route when an exchange won't fit.

To do an exchange on Shopify, open the order, click Return, choose the items coming back, add the replacements under Exchange items and click Create return. When the parcel arrives, process the return to refund or collect the difference, then fulfill the exchange items.

Source: https://aide.app/guides/shopify-exchanges · Updated 2026-11-08 · By Ziyad Basheer

| | |
|---|---|
| Where | Orders > [order] > Return > Exchange items. |
| Eligible items | Fulfilled items that haven't been refunded. |
| Stock | Exchange items aren't reserved until you process the return. |
| Self-serve | Customers request a return; you add exchange items when approving it. |
| Not allowed | Custom items as exchange items, or exchanges on orders with duties. |

Shopify handles exchanges inside returns. The customer sends an item back, you add the replacement to the same return, and Shopify works out who owes what. No second order, no manual math, and the return reason is recorded for your reports.

## Create an exchange

Start the exchange from the order the customer wants to change.

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Orders and click the order.
2. Click Return. If the order still has unfulfilled items, click More actions > Return.
3. In Select quantity to return, enter how many of each item are coming back, then choose a Return reason. Apparel shows reasons such as Too big and Too small.
4. In the Exchange items section, click Add products, select the replacement, then click Done. To absorb a price difference, click the exchange item's price and add a product discount.
5. In Return shipping options, choose Create a return label in Shopify (US and Canada only, with a location in the customer's country), Upload a return label, or No shipping required.
6. Click Create return. The customer gets an email listing the items being returned and exchanged.

## Process it and settle the difference

When the parcel arrives and you've inspected it, process the return.

1. Open the order and click Process return in the Return in progress section.
2. Select the items you received. To put them back in stock, select Restock at and choose a location.
3. Under Exchange items to release, select the replacements.
4. Settle the balance. If you owe the customer, refund now with Process and refund, or choose Later. If they owe you, send an invoice now or collect it afterwards from the payment card on the order. In an even exchange, what they paid for the returned item covers the new one.
5. Fulfill the exchange items from the Unfulfilled section like any order.

A $48.00 hoodie swapped for a $58.00 one leaves $10.00 to collect. Shopify holds exchange items that are waiting on payment; click Release fulfillment to ship before the money arrives. When you refund, you can also choose [store credit](https://aide.app/guides/shopify-store-credit) as the refund method.

## Size exchanges

Size is the most common exchange, and the easiest: same product, different variant, usually the same price.

- Check stock for the new size before you create the return. Shopify doesn't reserve it, and the last large can sell while the parcel is in transit.
- Pick Too small or Too big as the reason. Return reasons show in your analytics, so you can see which products run small and fix the [size chart](https://aide.app/guides/shopify-size-chart).
- If the order hasn't shipped yet, it isn't an exchange. [Edit the order](https://aide.app/guides/shopify-edit-order) and swap the variant instead.

## The manual route

Some exchanges don't fit the native flow: custom items, orders with duties, or a replacement you want to send before the original comes back. Returns and exchanges also share the limits of [order editing](https://aide.app/guides/shopify-edit-order), so an order the editor can't touch won't take exchange items either.

1. Create the return without exchange items, so the reason is still recorded.
2. Go to Orders > Drafts, click Create order, add the replacement and the customer, then send an invoice or accept payment. Add a discount if the swap is free.
3. Refund the returned item once it arrives.

## What to tell customers

Most exchange messages need three answers from the customer: the order number, the item, and what they want instead. Get all three in your first reply, and say plainly when the replacement ships.

> Happy to swap that for you. I've set up an exchange on order #5102 for the hoodie in a large, and you'll get an email with the details. As soon as your original arrives back with us, we'll send the large.

If you use self-serve returns, expect return requests from customers who really want a different size, since the form can't ask for an exchange. Put your exchange terms in your [return policy](https://aide.app/templates/return-policy), and keep the [exchange request](https://aide.app/templates/exchange-request) and [size exchange](https://aide.app/templates/size-exchange) replies ready.

## Where Aide helps

The Aide AI Agent picks up exchange questions in chat on your store, by email, and inside Zendesk, Gorgias and Front. For a shopper who proves the order is theirs ([how verification works](https://aide.app/shopify/order-verification)), Aide starts a Shopify return under your store's own return rules (the window, excluded tags such as final-sale, the reasons), created as a request your store approves by default. Aide doesn't create the exchange itself: your team adds the replacement in Shopify.

Stores on Loop, AfterShip or another returns portal get a Start your return button that opens the portal on the shopper's order, where they can choose an exchange if the portal offers one. Returns stay off until you turn them on. When you sent the wrong size, a teammate can *send a free replacement* from the conversation, a new $0 order to the original address. More on [Shopify returns in chat](https://aide.app/shopify/returns).

## Frequently asked questions

### Can customers request an exchange through Shopify self-serve returns?

No. Customers submit a return request from their order status page, and you add the exchange items yourself when you approve it under Return requested > Review request. Ask the customer which size or item they want before you approve.

### What happens on Shopify when the exchange item costs more?

Shopify calculates the balance when you create the return. After you process the return, send the customer an invoice or collect payment from the payment card on the order. Exchange items wait on hold for payment unless you click Release fulfillment.

### When does the replacement ship in a Shopify exchange?

After you process the return and fulfill the exchange items, the same way as any order. Shopify doesn't reserve the replacement's stock until the return is processed, so check stock on low-inventory sizes.

### Can I exchange an item that hasn't shipped yet?

Not as a return, because Shopify returns need fulfilled items. Edit the order instead, remove the item and add the replacement, before it's fulfilled.

### Can I refund the difference on a Shopify exchange as store credit?

Yes. When you refund the return, choose Store credit or Original payment & store credit in the Refund method menu. Customers spend store credit at checkout when signed in to a customer account.

### Can an AI agent handle exchange requests on Shopify?

Aide starts a Shopify return for a verified shopper under your return rules, or opens your Loop or AfterShip portal on their order, where the portal handles the exchange. Aide doesn't create the exchange in Shopify itself.

## Set it up
- [Returns in Shopify or your returns portal](https://docs.aide.app/shopify/shopify-returns)

## Related
- [Shopify returns in chat](https://aide.app/shopify/returns)
- [Exchange request reply template](https://aide.app/templates/exchange-request)
- [Size exchange reply template](https://aide.app/templates/size-exchange)

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