Refund an order

Refund an order to resolve customer issues or correct accidental charges. FastSpring automatically manages refund delivery to the buyer and updates your reporting to reflect the change.

Note: Refunds and chargebacks are different processes. Refunds are initiated by you or FastSpring to resolve an issue. Chargebacks are bank- or PayPal-initiated reversals after a customer disputes a charge. See Handle chargebacks for details.

To protect you and your customers from fraud, FastSpring has implemented specific refund policies and procedures. We forward most refund requests to your support contact email so you can work directly with your customers to resolve issues. However, to proactively mitigate fraud and reduce chargeback fees, FastSpring applies smart refunds to high-risk orders.

The sections below explain how to issue refunds and the limitations on self-service refunds. Select a card or use the TOC on the right to jump ahead.

Refund an order

Steps to process full, partial, or line-item refunds.

Policies

Understand time limits and proactive fraud refunds.

Chargebacks

Learn how FastSpring handles disputes and claims.

Refund an order

You can refund an order in the FastSpring app or via the API. Choose a method:

Log in to the store where the order was processed.
In the Order Search field, search for the order.
Select the order you want to refund to open the details page.
In the Payments and Returns section, click Return / Refund Order.
Choose a Return Type:
- Full Return: Refund the total amount. You can optionally check Reimbursed Outside of Platform if you handled the funds outside the platform.
- Partial Amount Refund: Enter a specific refund amount for individual line items. Applicable taxes are calculated automatically.
- Full Tax Return: Refund only the tax portion of the transaction.
Configure the Reason and Notification settings.
View dropdown options
Reason Type: Select the most appropriate reason for the refund. Options include:
- Product Not Received
- Product Not As Expected
- Fraudulent
- Incorrect Order
- Discount/Coupon
- Duplicate Order
- Compatibility Issues
- Tax Return
- Other Reason
Reason Note: (Optional) Enter a description (max 250 characters) to provide additional information about the refund. This is visible to the customer.
Trigger: Select the origin of the refund request. Options include:
- Client Request (You)
- Consumer Request (Buyer)
- Cardholder Contact
- Alerts (Ethoca, Verifi, Maxmind)
- Other
Customer Notification: Choose Notify Original Contact to have FastSpring send an email notification to the customer when you complete the refund, or No Notification to skip it.
Click Next to review the details of the return.

Note: If the order includes a subscription, the Cancel Related Subscriptions checkbox appears. Selecting this deactivates the subscription. Deselecting this leaves the subscription active.
Click Confirm > Yes, proceed to complete the process.

Note: For full refunds, FastSpring refunds the buyer and retains the original order transaction fee.

Refund limitations

To comply with liability standards, you cannot process refunds yourself in certain situations. FastSpring Support must issue refunds on your behalf for:

Real-time payment methods (e.g., AliPay).
Orders from more than 6 months ago.
Wire Transfers and US checks.
Transactions with an open dispute case.
Transactions where FastSpring’s risk team determines a high likelihood of fraud.

If your customers request a refund with any of the above conditions, please contact our support team for assistance.

Refund policy

When our Support team receives a refund request from one of your customers, they direct the customer to your support contact email. This allows your team to work directly with customers and issue refunds from the app.

You or FastSpring Support can refund credit card transactions up to 6 months after an order. However, PayPal orders must be refunded within 3 months.

Proactive refunds

FastSpring issues refunds proactively based on risk analysis to avoid chargebacks. The following situations require FastSpring to issue a refund before contacting you:

A customer who paid with a credit card reports a fraudulent charge. If a customer reports that the FastSpring charge on their credit card was fraudulent, our support agents will confirm it. Then, we will refund their card.
Our Risk team identified a transaction that was likely fraudulent. The Risk team automatically refunds high-risk transactions to avoid chargebacks. Issuing the refund saves chargeback fees and maintains compliance with payment networks.
PayPal transactions within the 72-hour time frame. If there is an open dispute case with PayPal regarding a transaction within the last 72 hours, FastSpring will inform your company and provide 48 hours to resolve the issue. Otherwise, we may issue a refund to prevent additional escalation.
PayPal transactions with an open dispute or claim. If a customer strongly expresses their desire for an immediate refund due to product inconsistencies, FastSpring will issue the refund to avoid further escalation.
No response to FastSpring support outreach. If support cannot reach you via the primary support email you have noted, we may add a note to an order stating:

If we do not hear back within 48 hours, we will be forced to issue a refund for this order. Please reply to the customer and cc [email protected].

If we do not hear back, we will issue a refund to avoid a chargeback. To avoid these situations, please reply to support outreach and ensure your primary support email is up to date.