When Tacey combines two orders, no payment moves by itself. The customer keeps the payment they made on each order, the second order's items ride on the first order at no charge, and the only money that can be owed back on purpose is the shipping the customer paid twice. You decide whether to send that back, with one click.
Combining orders is free on every plan.
The short version
Question | Answer |
Is the customer charged anything? | No. Tacey never charges anyone when it combines orders. |
Where does the customer's money for the second order's items stay? | On the second order, which is cancelled and still shows Paid. |
Is anything refunded automatically? | No. Not for a manual merge and not for an automatic one. |
What can be owed back? | The shipping charge of the cancelled order, if it paid one. |
Who sends that refund? | You, with the Refund button in Merge History. |
Can the total on the kept order change? | Yes, on orders that ship to another country. Shopify can add or change import duties and tax when an order is edited. Tacey shows you the exact amount right after the merge and collects or refunds nothing. |
What Tacey does to each order
The order you keep | The order that is combined in | |
Items | Receives the other order's items, each one added as the real product at a 100% discount, so each costs 0.00 here | Its items are taken off and the order is cancelled |
Payment | Keeps its own payment, unchanged | Keeps its own payment, unchanged. It is not refunded |
Shipping | Its shipping charge stays | Its shipping charge is the one that may be owed back |
Shopify shows | The extra items at 0.00, and a staff note naming the other order | Cancelled, still Paid, no refund, items put back in stock, and a staff note saying where it went |
The customer's own money for the second order's items stays on that second order's payment. Tacey does not refund it and charge it again on the kept order, because that would move money, could fail halfway, and would break the rule that nothing moves without your confirmation.
Before it saves anything, Tacey checks that Shopify says the kept order owes exactly zero for the items it is adding. If Shopify disagrees, nothing is changed.
The shipping the customer paid twice
If both orders paid for shipping, one parcel now goes out but the customer paid for two. Tacey records the cancelled order's shipping as owed back, and nothing moves yet.
To send it back:
Open Order Merge in Tacey, then Merge History.
Open the merge. The refund panel is titled Shipping charge owed to the customer and says how much is owed.
Click Refund with the amount on the button, for example Refund A$37.00.
Tacey asks Shopify for the exact amount at that moment and sends it back to the customer's original payment method. The panel then says Shipping refunded.
Good to know:
The amount is re-read from Shopify when you click. If it changed since you opened the page, nothing is sent and you are shown the new amount to confirm.
There is no deadline. The item stays under Action needed until you send the refund or decide not to.
The customer is emailed after the refund goes through, with the amount. The email is sent only after the refund succeeds.
It is never automatic, even for orders merged automatically, and even if Refund customers automatically is on in Global settings. That setting is about refunds for customer edits, not merges.
Clicking twice is safe. A second click on the same refund does not send it twice.
If you do not want to give it back (for example the combined parcel is heavier), do not click Refund. The item stays on your list.
What you may see on the panel
What the panel says | What it means | What to do |
Shipping charge owed to the customer | Owed and not yet sent | Click Refund when you are ready |
Shipping refunded | Sent and confirmed | Nothing |
The refund did not go through | Shopify refused it and Tacey checked: nothing was refunded | Refund the shipping from the cancelled order in Shopify |
We could not confirm this refund | Shopify did not say whether it went through | Check the cancelled order's refunds in Shopify first. If the refund is there, you are done. If not, trying again is safe |
Shopify recorded the refund but sent no payment | Shopify made a refund with no money attached | Check that refund in Shopify before refunding again |
A message that Shopify shows no shipping left to refund | Already refunded by hand | Nothing |
When shipping was free on one order
Kept order | Cancelled order | What is owed |
Paid shipping | Free shipping | Nothing |
Free shipping | Paid shipping | All of the cancelled order's shipping is owed back. The combined parcel ships free, at your cost. If you would rather keep that money, do not click Refund |
Paid shipping | Paid shipping | The cancelled order's shipping is owed back. The kept order's shipping stays |
Free shipping | Free shipping | Nothing |
Which order to keep, and what that choice changes
In a Manual Merge you choose. The first box is Order to keep (the survivor). The second is Order to combine in (will be cancelled).
In an automatic merge, the oldest order is kept. If two orders were placed together, the lower order number is kept. That also means the customer's first confirmation email stays valid.
The customer's payments never move, so the choice changes only three things:
What changes | How |
Which shipping charge the customer keeps paying | The kept order's shipping stays. The cancelled order's shipping is the one owed back |
Which order Shopify re-prices | Duties and tax are recalculated on the kept order only. How much they move cannot be predicted |
Where the money for the moved items sits | On the cancelled order, whichever one it is |
Before you confirm a Manual Merge, Tacey shows what each choice means for shipping, for example: "Keep #1224: #1225's A$37.00 shipping is owed back. Keep #1225: #1224's A$37.00 shipping is owed back." You stay in control and Tacey imposes no rule.
Tacey does not pick the kept order for you by money. It does not choose "the one with the higher duties" or "the higher shipping", because that has not been shown to make a difference and the outcome depends on how Shopify prices the order.
Tax and import duties
The items Tacey adds cost 0.00, so no tax is charged on them. The tax the customer paid on the cancelled order's items stays on that cancelled order.
Shopify re-prices the whole kept order whenever it is edited, so on orders that ship to another country it can add or change import duties and the tax on them. That is Shopify's calculation, and Tacey cannot see the amount before you confirm. After a merge, Tacey shows you the exact amount Shopify added or changed. You decide in Shopify whether to collect it or refund it.
If the two orders ship to different addresses, you must acknowledge that everything ships to the kept order's address. Each order's tax was charged for its own address and the cancelled order's tax stays with it. We have not yet tested two orders in different tax regions, for example two US states, so check the kept order's tax in Shopify after merging them.
What the cancelled order looks like afterwards
Where | What you see |
Shopify admin | Cancelled, reason Other, a staff note, still Paid, no refund, items restocked. If your merge settings add tags, a tag marks it merged, and while the shipping is owed it also carries tacey-refund-owed. Shopify's cancellation email is not sent to the customer |
Tacey, Orders list and the order block | It says it was combined into the other order and that nothing was refunded because the items ship on the kept order |
Merge History | The merge, the amount owed or refunded, and every step |
Shopify's Sales reports | Shopify may still count the cancelled order's items as ordered, even though no extra payment was collected for them. The confirm screen warns you about this. Tacey's merge record is the accurate account. We have not yet checked which line of Shopify's reports shows the cancelled order's payment and tax. |
Merge History shows where every amount went
For each merge, Merge History shows a money map: for each order its items, shipping, tax, duties and what was paid, and where each amount ended up, using Shopify's own figures and never a total Tacey added up itself. The kept order carries a line saying which cancelled order holds the payment for each item that was added.
If a customer returns an item that came from the cancelled order
The item sits on the kept order at 0.00, so Shopify's refund for it on that order would be 0.00. The money the customer paid for it is on the cancelled order. Refund it from there in Shopify. We have not yet tested a return of an item that came from a combined order, so check the refund screen in Shopify before you confirm it.
What this does NOT do
It does not charge the customer for combined items.
It does not refund the item money of the cancelled order. That payment stays where it was.
It does not send the shipping refund for you. It records it, shows the exact amount, and waits for your click.
It does not predict or collect import duties and tax. See the duties article.
It does not change the customer's order numbers. The kept order keeps its number.
Frequently asked
Why does the cancelled order still say Paid? Because the customer did pay for it, and that money stays on it. The items now ship on the kept order.
Nothing was refunded, but the customer paid shipping twice. Did Tacey miss it? No. It is waiting for you in Merge History. Nothing is sent until you click Refund.
Can I merge orders without refunding the shipping? Yes. A merge never forces a refund. Leaving the shipping unrefunded is your choice, and the item stays on your Action needed list.
Does the customer know about the merge? Yes. They get an email saying their orders were combined. When the total on the kept order changed because of duties, that email states no amount and says nothing about money. Details in Does merging orders refund the extra shipping or email the customer?.