Log in at my.bigcartel.com.
Go to Orders.
Select the order you need to refund.
Click the "Issue Refund" button.
Enter the refund amount (can be full or partial).
Choose whether to send a refund notification to the customer.
Add a reason for the refund (optional).
Click Submit Refund to complete the process.
Refund an order
- Updated on 28 March 2025
- 5 mins. read
If you ever need to refund a customer, you can now issue full or partial refunds directly from your Big Cartel admin—no need to leave your dashboard! This makes it easier to keep records, update inventory, and provide great customer service in just a few clicks.
When refunding an order, you can:
Process full or partial refunds
Automatically update inventory (if enabled)
Send email notifications to customers
Keep your order history organized with clear status updates
Canceling vs. Refunding Orders
Canceling an order and issuing a refund are two separate actions:
Refunding an order does not automatically cancel it—the order will still exist in your
Orders tab unless you manually cancel it.
If you cancel and refund an order, it will be removed from your active orders list but can still be found under the All filter labeled as Refunded and Canceled.
Important: While Big Cartel lets you issue refunds anytime, your payment processor (Stripe or PayPal) may have time limitations. Check with them for specific details.
Sales tax refunds
We'll handle the tax portion of the refund on any U.S. orders where we collected and remitted sales tax. How those refunds are issued will depend on whether the order was processed via PayPal or Stripe.
Keep in mind that there's not a way to issue sales tax-only refunds irrelevant of which checkout the customer used to complete their order.
Whether you are using Stripe and/or PayPal, we are notified of the refunded tax and adjust our remittance to the state.
Refunds in PayPal
If you issue a full refund on an order that went through PayPal, and we remitted sales tax on the order, then we'll automatically send the sales tax portion of the order back to your PayPal balance since you'll cover it on the initial refund.
If you're issuing a partial refund, you'll need to include the sales tax in that refund as well. Be sure to calculate the sales tax portion using the buyer's sales tax rate when calculating how much to refund. Then we'll refund that partial tax back to your PayPal balance.
Refunds in Stripe
If you're issuing a full refund, and the order went through Stripe, then we'll refund the sales tax collected on the order directly back to the customer.
If you’re issuing a partial refund, the amount of tax we refund will be calculated based on how much you refund the customer.
Managing Canceled & Refunded Orders
Canceled orders are removed from active fulfillment queues (Unshipped, Shipped, or Partially Shipped) to keep your workflow clean.
You can always find canceled orders under the All tab if you need to reference them later.
Inventory Adjustments
If you're using inventory tracking, refunding an order does not automatically adjust stock.
When canceling an order, you can choose to restock items so your inventory stays accurate.
If an item is refunded but not being restocked, make sure to manually update your product inventory in your shop.
Need Help?
If you have any questions about refunds or cancellations, feel free to reach out to our support team—we’re happy to help!