If you sell to customers in the EU, you're required by law to offer a simple, digital way for them to cancel a purchase. Returbo's Withdrawal feature handles this for you — it adds a separate, legally compliant cancellation form to your store and automates the refund workflow.
This guide walks you through how to activate the feature, what each setting does, and how to make sure your store meets the compliance checklist.
What Is the Right of Withdrawal?
The right of withdrawal is a consumer right under EU law (Directive 2023/2673). It gives customers the right to cancel any distance purchase — with no reason required — from the moment the order is placed until 14 days after delivery.
This is different from your regular return policy. Here's a quick comparison:
| Regular Return | Withdrawal |
Driven by | Your store's return policy | EU Directive 2023/2673 |
Customer picks | Items one by one, with a reason | Nothing — the whole order is cancelled |
Outcome | Exchange, store credit, or refund | Full refund to original payment method |
Flow length | 5–6 steps | 2 clicks |
Window | Whatever you set (e.g. 30 days) | From order placed → 14 days after delivery |
Shipping fee | Up to you | May be deducted from refund |
Because withdrawal has its own legal rules, it gets its own form and its own settings tab in Returbo — separate from your regular return flow.
Step 1: Activate the Withdrawal Feature
Go to your Returbo app in Shopify Admin
Navigate to Settings → Request settings → Withdrawal
Under Feature settings, toggle on Activate Withdrawal
Once activated, the withdrawal form is live on your customer return portal. Returbo will automatically generate the return label and trigger the refund when a customer submits a withdrawal request.
Step 2: Share the Withdrawal Form Link
As soon as the feature is active, share your withdrawal form link so customers can find it. Returbo generates a unique withdrawal form URL for your store. You'll find it under the Withdrawal form link section on the Withdrawal tab.
You have two options:
Direct link — Copy and paste this into your emails, storefront, or Help/FAQ page
Embed code — Embed the form directly on a page in your Shopify store
For full instructions on embedding the form, see our guide: How to embed the digital return form
Step 3: Complete the Compliance Checklist
Activating the feature is just the first step. EU law also requires that customers can easily find information about their right to withdraw — both before and after purchase.
Returbo includes a Compliance checklist to help you track where you've added the withdrawal link. Work through each item and check it off once you've confirmed it's in place on your store.
The checklist covers:
Terms & Conditions / Pre-purchase information — Add a section explaining the 14-day withdrawal period, how customers can cancel, and any return shipping costs. This can go in your Terms & Conditions, at checkout, or on a dedicated Withdrawal page.
Order confirmation email — Include a visible withdrawal link or button and clear instructions on how customers can cancel.
Shipping & tracking emails — Add a withdrawal link in your shipping confirmation and tracking/delivery emails. Customers often reopen these, so the option must stay accessible.
Order status page — Add a visible button labelled "Withdrawal" with a direct link to the form. This is the page customers land on from the "View your order" link in Shopify emails. Add the button under Settings → Checkout → Order status page.
Customer account / "My orders" page — If your store has customer accounts, add a withdrawal link next to each order in the account area and inside the order details view.
Website footer — Add a persistent link to the withdrawal form in your storefront footer so customers can find it from any page.
For a full compliance walkthrough, visit: https://checklistcompliance.returbo.io/
How Withdrawal Cancellations Work
Allow cancellation before fulfillment
EU law requires that customers can withdraw before the order has been packed or shipped — not only after delivery. Enable this setting to allow pre-shipment cancellations.
What happens when a customer submits a withdrawal depends on the fulfillment status of their order at that moment:
Unfulfilled orders
The entire order is cancelled in Shopify and the customer is refunded immediately. No shipping label is generated.
Fully fulfilled orders
The customer receives a return shipping label. If you have automatic label generation enabled, the label is generated straight away. If a label can't be generated automatically, the request will appear under Requests submitted where you can add a return label manually — the same way you would for a regular return.
Orders with a mix of fulfilled and unfulfilled items
The unfulfilled items are removed from the order and refunded immediately. The fulfilled items follow the same flow as a fully fulfilled order — automatic label generation if enabled, or manually via Requests submitted if not.
Pre-fulfillment cancellation is available until your warehouse marks the order as fulfilled in Shopify.
Return shipping cost
This setting is inherited from your Return shipping cost setting under General. The amount is deducted from the customer's refund when they return goods after delivery. To change it, click Edit in General.
Withdrawal Requests in Your Dashboard
Once the feature is active, withdrawal requests appear in your Returbo dashboard alongside your regular returns. They are labelled with the type Withdrawal so you can easily tell them apart at a glance.
When you export your return data as a CSV file, the Type column will also show which requests were withdrawals — making it easy to report on them separately if needed.
Please note: Returbo provides tooling to help you comply with the right-of-withdrawal requirements but does not constitute legal advice. Consult counsel for your specific jurisdiction.
For more information, here is webinar on the new law that Returbo created with Fondia. In Swedish. https://youtu.be/5gD6gydigLc?si=uHLUXhGBfIh7ZBrd
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if a customer withdraws from a purchase before the order has been shipped?
If the order has not yet been shipped, the order can simply be cancelled. No return shipping is required since the product has not left the warehouse.
What happens if a customer withdraws from a purchase after the order has been shipped?
The process works just like a standard return. When the customer submits their withdrawal, they receive a return shipping label (if enabled), and the withdrawal appears in the incoming stage. From there, you handle it just like a normal return process, including performing a quality check of the returned item before issuing the refund.
Can I deduct return shipping costs from the refund?
Yes. If your return policy allows it, you can charge for return shipping and deduct the cost from the refund amount. It is important that this is clearly stated in your terms and conditions so your customer is aware of the cost before making a purchase.
Is the refund processed automatically?
No. The merchant is responsible for issuing the refund after the returned item has been received and inspected. If you have a WMS integration enabled, the refund can be processed automatically once the warehouse has confirmed that the product is in acceptable condition.
Do I need to wait for the item to be returned before issuing a refund?
For shipped orders, we recommend waiting until the item has been received and inspected before processing the refund.
Does the withdrawal process replace the normal return flow?
No. For shipped orders, the withdrawal process follows the same workflow as a regular return. The main difference is that the customer formally exercises their right of withdrawal through the withdrawal form.