If a customer exchanged an item through Returbo and then wants to return that exchanged item, whether this affects you depends on which exchange flow your store uses.
New Order or Draft Order flow: the refund amount will always show as 0, and you'll need to complete the refund manually. This guide explains why and walks you through the steps.
Update Original Order flow: refunds work as normal, since there's only ever one order involved. No extra steps needed.
Why the refund shows as 0 (New Order / Draft Order flows)
When your store uses the New Order or Draft Order exchange flow, Returbo creates a brand-new order in Shopify for the new item. To make the accounting correct, this new order is created with a 100% discount, so its value is 0.
That's normal and expected. But it also means the new order has no monetary link to the original order. So if the customer later returns the item they got in the exchange, Shopify has nothing to refund on that new order — there's no money attached to it.
In short: with the New Order or Draft Order flow, any return on an exchange order will always show a refund amount of 0. This isn't a bug, it just means the refund needs to happen somewhere else: the original order.
If your store instead uses the Update Original Order flow, Returbo updates the existing order rather than creating a new one, so it stays financially linked from the start. You can refund it the normal way, directly on that order, no manual workaround required.
How to process the refund (New Order / Draft Order flows)
In Returbo, approve and confirm the return as you normally would.
Go to Shopify Admin and open the original order (not the exchange order).
Click Refund in the top-right corner of the order.
Under Refund amount, select Manual.
Enter the amount you want to refund. You'll see how much is available for refund listed just below the field, so you know your limit.
Choose your refund method (for example, Original payment).
Optionally, check Send notification if you'd like the customer to be notified once the refund is finalized.
Click Refund to complete it.
Because the exchange order carries no value, this manual step on the original order is the only way to get the customer their money back.
Good to know
This manual step only applies to returns on exchange orders created via the New Order or Draft Order flow. If your store uses the Update Original Order flow, refunds work normally.
The refund is entered manually because Shopify doesn't automatically connect the new exchange order's value back to the original order.
Always double-check the available for refund amount before entering a manual figure, so you don't accidentally over-refund.
Not sure which exchange flow your store uses? You can check this in your Returbo Dashboard under exchange settings, or reach out to support.