Order Merge checks both orders before it changes anything. If a pair is refused, you see This pair can't be merged yet with the reasons listed, and neither order is touched. Here is what each reason means.
Refusal reasons
You see | What it means | What to do |
These orders belong to different customers | Only one customer's orders can be combined. | Pick two orders from the same customer. |
These orders were placed in different currencies | The two orders were paid in different currencies. | These cannot be combined. |
Hasn't been paid in full yet | One order still has money to collect. | Wait until it is paid. |
Has at least one fulfilled item | Something on it has already shipped. | These cannot be combined. |
Has a refund on record, in full or in part | A refund was already made on it. | These cannot be combined. |
Has an active return in progress | A return is open on it. | Finish the return first. |
Already cancelled | One order is cancelled. | Pick an open order. |
Already part of a merge / Already combined into another order | One order was merged before. | An order can only be merged once. |
Placed more than 60 days ago | The order is too old. | Only recent orders can be combined. |
Blocked by a store tag | The order carries one of your Blocked order tags. | Remove the tag in Shopify if you want to merge it. |
Has a subscription item | Merging subscription orders isn't supported yet. | Fulfill them separately. |
Placed through a business account | A B2B order. | Not supported. |
Placed in a physical store | A point of sale order. | Not supported. |
Created as an invoice rather than through checkout | A draft order. | Not supported. |
A local pickup order | Nothing ships, so there is nothing to combine. | Not supported. |
You picked the same order twice | Both boxes hold the same order. | Pick a different second order. |
Each reason tells you which order it applies to, so if only one of the two is a problem you can swap it for another.
When the page says "Can't merge right now"
"This order is currently being edited by a customer and can't be merged right now. Try again in a few minutes." The customer is changing the order on their order page. Wait a few minutes and try again.
When a merge did not go through
In Merge History (open Order Merge, then View on the Merge History card), each attempt has a status.
Did not go through. "Nothing changed. #1023 and #1024 are exactly as they were before." No items moved, no order was cancelled, no payment was affected.
Partially combined. This is the one to act on. The second order's items were added to the first, but cancelling the second order failed, so it is still open. Right now both orders show those items. The history explains: "Check #1024 in Shopify before fulfilling either one, so nothing ships twice."
To fix it, cancel the second order in Shopify yourself, without refunding it, since its items now ship under the first order. Until it is cancelled, trying to merge that second order with anything else is refused with: "Already added to another order, but that merge wasn't finished. The other order was never cancelled. Cancel it in Shopify, or retry that same merge to finish it, before trying this one."
Try this merge again only appears on attempts that Did not go through, because nothing was changed on either order. It takes you back to the merge page with both orders filled in, where every check runs again.
The history also shows Shopify's own reason where there is one, for example "This order can't be cancelled because it already has a fulfillment on it."
Combined. Everything worked.
What you can do instead
If a pair cannot be merged, you can still ship the orders together by hand in Shopify. Tacey will not record that as a merge.
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