Multiship Checkout orders let your customers send gifts to multiple recipients in a single checkout. You have full control over refunds, right from your Shopify admin.
Understanding How Multiship Orders Are Structured
Before issuing your first refund, here's a quick recap on how Multiship orders are set up in Shopify:
A customer places a Multiship order via Zest's Multiship Checkout.
A Parent Order is created in Shopify. This is where the customer's original payment is captured and their payment method is stored.
A Child Order is created for each recipient. These orders are marked as paid in Shopify but do not have a payment method attached — the payment lives on the Parent Order.
The Parent Order is then automatically canceled (without issuing a refund) once all Child Orders are created. This prevents the original sale from being counted twice in your Shopify reports.
How to Refund a Multiship Order
To properly process a refund, you'll take action on both the Parent Order and the relevant Child Orders. Here's the step-by-step:
Step 1: Find the Parent Order
Open your Shopify admin and locate the parent order. Use the Zest order block on the order detail page to see all linked child orders.
Don't see the Zest block? Follow these instructions from Shopify to add it to your order detail view.
Step 2: Refund the Child Orders
For each recipient order you want to refund, open the Child Order in Shopify and issue a refund for the appropriate amount.
Do not check "Send notification" when refunding Child Orders. The customer notification happens at the Parent Order level. Notifying here could result in duplicate communications to your customer.
Step 3: Tally the total refund amount
Add up all the refund amounts across the Child Orders you've refunded. For example, if you refunded two Child Orders — one for $15 and one for $25 — your total refund amount is $40.
Step 4: Refund the Parent Order
Return to the Parent Order and issue a refund for the total amount from Step 3.
Check "Send notification" — this sends the refund confirmation to your customer and returns the funds to their original payment method.
⚠️ Don't skip this step! If you only refund the Child Orders and don't refund the Parent Order, the customer will not receive their money back. The payment lives on the Parent Order, so this is the step that makes the refund real.
Quick Reference
| Action | Notify Customer? |
Step 1 | Locate the Parent Order and find linked Child Orders via the Zest block | — |
Step 2 | Refund each applicable Child Order | ❌ No |
Step 3 | Sum up the total refunded across Child Orders | — |
Step 4 | Refund the Parent Order for that total | ✅ Yes |