The Setup tab holds the core configuration for Onward Returns — where your portal lives, what resolutions customers can choose, who pays for return labels, and where return notification emails go.
Navigate to Settings > Returns > Setup.
Settings on this page
Section | Settings |
Returns General Settings | |
Label Fees | |
Return Outcomes | |
Contact |
Returns General Settings
Customer Return Portal URL
Your branded Return Portal link — this is what customers use to start a return. It's generated automatically for your store. Click Copy to grab it.
Share it anywhere customers might look for information about returns:
Your website footer, FAQ page, or return policy page
Order confirmation and shipping emails
Customer support macros and templates
Custom returns portal URL
Run the return portal on your own domain — something like returns.yourstore.com instead of the default Onward URL. Click Add custom domain to start, then follow the DNS instructions. Note that you may need assistance from a technical member of your team to configure this.
Create Shopify returns
When enabled, returns created in Onward are also created in Shopify, keeping both systems in sync.
Turn this on if:
Your team also uses Shopify's built-in return management
You want returns to appear in the Shopify order timeline
You use third-party tools that read Shopify return data
Label Fees
Label sponsor
Who pays for the return shipping label by default:
Customer — The customer covers the label cost.
Merchant — You cover it, and return shipping is free for the customer.
If you use Onward Checkout+ and elect to offer free returns shipping as a benefit, Onward will cover the return shipping (up to a maximum amount) on upgraded orders.
Maximum sponsored amount
The most you'll cover toward a return label. Leave blank for unlimited.
When set, the sponsor pays up to this amount and anything over goes to the merchant (unless the sponsor is the merchant, in which case it goes to the customer).
Example 1: Customer is the sponsor, field left empty
Label cost $9: customer pays $9
Label cost $12: customer pays $12
Example 2: Customer is the sponsor, maximum amount $10
Label cost $9: customer pays $9
Label cost $12: customer pays $10, merchant covers $2
Example 3: Merchant is the sponsor, maximum amount $10
Label cost $9: merchant covers $9
Label cost $12: merchant covers $10, customer pays $2
Use Exceptions to vary this — for example, cover the full label cost for VIP customers or defective items while capping it everywhere else.
Deduct fees from resolution
Controls how fees reach you rather than how much they are.
Enabled — Label fees, restocking fees, and other charges are subtracted from the customer's refund or store credit. No separate payment unless the new charges exceed the credit available.
Disabled — The customer pays fees by credit card at the time of submission, and receives their entire refund when the return is processed.
Example: a customer returns a $50 item with a $5 label fee.
Setting | Customer pays upfront | Customer receives |
Enabled | $0 | $45 |
Disabled | $5 by card | $50 |
If you're charging fees separately, you'll need a connected Stripe account to accept the payments. See Setting up Stripe Connect.
Return Outcomes
Return Outcomes cover what customers can choose as their resolution.
Store Credit
Issues store credit when the customer picks it as their resolution. This is always enabled.
Store credit bonus — Adds extra credit on top of the return value to make store credit more attractive than a refund. Choose a bonus type:
None — do not offer a bonus to customers who choose store credit.
Percentage — a share of the return value. A 10% bonus on a $50 return gives the customer $55 store credit when the return is processed.
Fixed amount per item
Fixed amount per return — applied once regardless of item count
When a bonus type other than "None" is selected, a second field appears for the amount or percentage.
Allow refund to payment method
When enabled, customers can choose a refund back to their original payment method, processed through Shopify. Funds typically appear within 3–5 business days after the return is processed.
Refunds are not available on gift returns — gift recipients can only take store credit or an exchange.
Allow exchanges
Lets customers swap an item for a different variant — a different size or color of the same product.
If a product has only one variant, the exchange step is skipped automatically.
Any leftover value is handled through the customer's chosen resolution.
When the return is processed, Onward creates a new Shopify order for the exchange item, which you fulfill normally.
Both of these settings support Exceptions, so you can allow refunds broadly but restrict them for specific products, regions, or customer segments.
Contact
Returns Contact Email
The support address customers see in the return portal and in return emails. Set this to your own support address so customer questions reach your team directly.
BCC Email Address
Blind-copied on each customer's return confirmation email. A simple way to get notified of every new return without exposing an internal address to the customer.
A note on Exceptions
Several settings have an Exceptions panel beneath them. Exceptions override the base setting for returns matching rules you define — product tags, order tags, customer tags, region, order date, international shipments, customer score, or whether the order was insured. They're evaluated in priority order and the first match wins. See Using Exceptions in Returns Settings.