Returns from Shopify
Have Parcello buy the return label when you approve a return in Shopify, attach it to the return so Shopify emails it, and void it if the return is cancelled.
Available on the Operations plan and higher. Compare plans
Updated October 5, 2026
When you approve a return in Shopify, Parcello can buy the return label on your carrier account and attach it to the return. Shopify then emails the label to the customer. You don’t open Parcello at all.
This article covers returns that start in Shopify. To start a return from Parcello’s order page, see Return labels.
Before you start
- The items must have shipped on a Parcello label, on UPS, FedEx or Shippo.
- The shipment must be domestic. International returns get no label.
- Parcello needs Shopify’s permission to read and manage returns. If Shopify asks you to approve updated permissions when you open Parcello, approve them.
Turn on automatic return labels
- Open Automation in the app menu.
- In the Shopify returns card, tick Create return labels automatically when you approve a return in Shopify.
The setting saves as soon as you tick it. It is off until you turn it on.
What happens when you approve a return
- In Shopify, you create a return (choose No shipping required) or approve a customer’s return request.
- A few seconds later, Parcello reads the return and traces each returned item back to the box it left in.
- Parcello buys one return label per original shipment, on the same carrier and service as the outbound label. The boxes keep their sizes and are weighed for what comes back.
- Parcello attaches the label and tracking number to the return in Shopify, and Shopify emails the label to the customer.
On the order page, the label shows under the shipment it belongs to, for example “Return 1 · 1× Prize wheel”, with Download Return Label and Void Return Label.
How boxes come back
| What was shipped | What the return label covers |
|---|---|
| A product that ships in several boxes | All of its boxes |
| Two products sharing one box, one comes back | The shared box, weighed for the returned item only |
| 2 units in one carton, 1 comes back | The carton, weighed for 1 unit |
| An item that rode along in another product’s box, returned alone | The item’s own box |
| Items from two shipments of the same order | One return label for each shipment |
On UPS, a return of several boxes gets one label per box (UPS doesn’t allow several boxes on one return label). Shopify gets them as one PDF.
Returns Parcello leaves alone
- A return that already has a label in Shopify. If you chose “Create a return label in Shopify” or “Upload a return label” when creating the return, Parcello buys nothing. The shipment shows “Return 1: The return already has a label in Shopify”. To have Parcello make the label, choose No shipping required when you create the return.
- Items Parcello didn’t ship. Items fulfilled by a 3PL or another app get no label from Parcello.
- Items already on an active return label from an earlier return aren’t labeled twice.
When a return needs a label
When Parcello can’t make a label for some items, the shipment shows a warning such as “Return 1 needs a label: International return labels aren’t supported yet · 1× Prize wheel”. Common reasons:
| Reason | What to do |
|---|---|
| International return labels aren’t supported yet | Make the label in Shopify or with the carrier |
| Shippo doesn’t offer USPS return labels | Make the label in Shopify or in your Shippo account |
| Freight returns are booked with Estes directly | Book the return with Estes |
| Freight returns are booked with FedEx Freight directly | Book the return with FedEx Freight |
| The carrier’s error message | Fix the cause (often the address), then click Generate Return Label on the shipment |
| Return label voided | Click Generate Return Label on the shipment for a new one |
While a return is waiting for a label, Generate Return Label on that shipment makes the label for the waiting items and attaches it to the return. Shopify emails it to the customer.
Cancelled returns
When you cancel the return in Shopify, Parcello voids the labels it bought for that return, so you aren’t charged for them. A label you attached by hand is left alone.
If the carrier refuses a void, the shipment shows “Return 1: Return cancelled in Shopify. Void the return label by hand: …”. Click Void Return Label on that label.
Voiding a return label in Parcello doesn’t cancel a return you opened in Shopify. The items show as needing a label again.
Notes and limits
- The setting covers returns you approve after you turn it on.
- Each label is bought on your carrier account at the carrier’s price, as any return label is.
- Turning the setting off stops new labels. Labels already bought stay, and cancelling their return still voids them.
Troubleshooting
Nothing happened after I approved a return. Check that the setting is on, that the return was created with No shipping required, and that the items shipped on a Parcello label. Then open the order: the shipment says what is missing.
“Parcello’s return label may not be attached to this return in Shopify. Download it from the order and send it to the customer”: the label was bought but Shopify may not have it. Download it with Download Return Label and email it to the customer.
“Parcello stopped before it finished this return’s labels. Generate a return label from the order, or make one in Shopify”: the run was interrupted. Click Generate Return Label on the shipment.
The customer didn’t get an email. Shopify sends the email when the label is attached. If the shipment shows a note that the label wasn’t attached, download it and send it yourself.