Shopify returns in Ireland: requests, parcel costs and refunds

Write your returns policy around the customer’s actions and your refund obligation. CCPC says the online cooling-off period is 14 days from receiving the goods or agreeing the service contract. For parcel orders, record when the customer received the goods.

Explain where customers submit a request, how long they have to notify you and when they must send the purchase back. Include the applicable return costs and refund timing.

Decide whether your store will cover return postage before writing the parcel instructions. If you pay, describe the arrangement you will provide. If the customer pays, state that clearly before directing them to book postage. Use the same terms in the policy and your reply to the request.

Shopify says customers can request returns by signing into their customer account. It centralises those requests in the store admin. Direct customers to their account in your returns instructions, then review the request against the goods they want to return.

1. Tell the customer to sign into their Shopify customer account and submit the return request.
2. Review the request in your Shopify admin and identify the goods concerned.
3. Record the date the customer received the goods and the date they notified you of cancellation.
4. Check the applicable cancellation exception and postage terms before sending parcel instructions.

Name the goods being returned and give the customer the next action to take. Add the return address and the postage arrangement once you have established them.

CCPC sets deadlines for cancellation notice, sending the purchase back and issuing the refund. Record the receipt date and cancellation notice date against the request. Use the cancellation date when working out when the customer must send the goods back.

Give the customer their send-back deadline in your reply. Explain the refund timing with CCPC’s condition about receiving the returned items. When the parcel arrives, record its receipt against the request so you have the information needed to handle the refund.

If several requests are open, review them by their cancellation notice dates. Include the return deadline and goods received status in each record.

Once you have reviewed the request, establish the carrier label or collection arrangement for that parcel. Give the customer the details they need to send it back, including who pays.

• Give the address where the returned goods should go.
• Explain how the customer gets the label or books the parcel.
• State who pays applicable return postage.
• Include the deadline for sending the goods back.
• Tell the customer where to send the tracking reference if your instructions require one.

When replacing a returns carrier, update the instructions wherever customers receive them. Review saved replies as well as the policy. Check that the carrier name, label instructions and payment terms match the arrangement you are providing before sending them with another request.

CCPC says customers returning an online purchase must pay applicable return costs. If your store covers the postage, include that cost when budgeting for the return. Choose the parcel’s weight and destination before comparing the available prices.

For a 1 kg parcel within Ireland, the cheapest bookable price compared was €9.74 with GLS, with a delivery time of 1–3 days, in prices checked on 5 October 2026. For a 5 kg parcel within Ireland, it was €10.77 with DPD, with a delivery time of 1–2 days, in prices checked on 5 October 2026.

Use the Ireland route page to compare prices for a domestic return. For another destination, enter the weight and destination in the quote tool. Use the price for that parcel when deciding what postage arrangement to offer.

If you provide paid postage, give the customer the label or booking instructions for that arrangement. If they arrange and pay for postage themselves, include the return address and deadline in your reply.

CCPC excludes personalised goods and goods that cannot be returned for health or hygiene reasons from the statutory right to cancel. Check the goods named in the request before giving instructions under the cooling-off timetable.

If your store sells goods covered by these exceptions, describe the applicable exception in your returns policy. In your reply, identify the goods concerned and explain which exception applies. For a request covering several items, record your decision against each item so the parcel instructions name the goods you have agreed to receive.