What Happens to Your Stock on a Return or Cancellation
Cancelling an order in Indexync restores the cancelled quantity to your stock automatically, because the goods never shipped. A return works differently: the returned quantity moves to a separate return total instead, and you decide whether it's resellable before it counts as stock again. Returns themselves are handled in the marketplace, not in Indexync.
Applies to / Before you start
Available on: All plans.
Returns: customer-initiated, view-only
Buyers start returns through the marketplace: Shopee Help Centre, Lazada Help, TikTok's returns flow, or Shopify's customer return portal. Indexync shows you the return status on the order so you can see what's happening, but you approve, refund, or arrange a return shipment in the marketplace's own seller portal, not in Indexync.
If an order's status in Indexync looks out of date after you've resolved a return on the marketplace, the marketplace is the source of truth. See Order Sync & Updates for how Indexync keeps statuses current.
When can I cancel an order?
You can cancel from Indexync when the marketplace's own status for that order still allows it, typically while the order is in To Ship or Shipping. Each marketplace applies its own window.
Open the order and click Cancel in the actions area. If no Cancel button appears, the order has moved past the marketplace's cancellable window, and there's no override from Indexync's side. If you believe it should still be cancellable, check the order's current state directly in the marketplace seller portal.
Full vs partial cancellation
The Cancel window lets you pick which items to cancel.
- Full cancellation: tick every item. The whole order cancels.
- Partial cancellation: tick only specific items. Those items cancel; the rest stay in the order and continue to fulfilment.
Example: a buyer ordered 3 items on Shopee. Before you ship, one item turns out to be out of stock. Open the order, click Cancel, tick only that item, choose "Out of stock" as the reason, and submit. The other 2 items stay in the order and continue to fulfilment.
A reason is required every time, chosen from a dropdown (or typed, on marketplaces that allow free text). Indexync sends the reason to the marketplace as part of the cancellation.
On Lazada, cancelling for a stock or pricing reason shows a warning on screen:
"SKU stock may be set to 0 after cancellation due to reasons such as 'out of stock' or 'incorrect pricing,' to prevent new orders while you adjust your stock or pricing. You can increase your stock at any time, and this adjustment will not affect existing orders. Please note that frequent cancellations can impact your ability to sell on Lazada if not managed carefully."
What happens to my stock?
Cancellations restore automatically. When an order cancels, the cancelled quantities go back to Available on the relevant SKUs without any manual step. For a partial cancellation, only the cancelled items' quantities restore; the rest of the order is unaffected. The restore happens once the marketplace confirms the cancellation, which is normally quick but isn't guaranteed to be instant. Check the Inventory page if you want to confirm it's landed.
Returns don't restore automatically. A returned item may be damaged or otherwise not resellable, so Indexync never assumes it's good stock. A return moves the quantity to a separate return total instead of back to Available; putting it back into sellable stock is a decision you make yourself, once you've checked the item.
Marketplace cancel-window differences
The simplest signal is the button itself: if Cancel is visible on the order in Indexync, the marketplace currently allows it. If it's hidden, the order has moved past that window.
Troubleshooting
No Cancel button on an order I expected to cancel. The marketplace has moved that order past its cancellable window. Check the order's state directly in the marketplace seller portal; if it doesn't allow cancellation there either, it's too far along to cancel from either side.
Stock hasn't updated yet after a cancellation. Give it a moment, since the restore depends on marketplace confirmation. If it's still missing after a few minutes, check Inventory directly and confirm the cancellation went through on the marketplace side.
A returned item isn't back in my sellable stock. That's expected. Returns don't auto-restore Available; move the quantity back yourself once you've confirmed the item is resellable.
A return's status in Indexync looks stale. The marketplace is the authoritative source for return status. See Order Sync & Updates for how and when Indexync catches up.
FAQ
Does my stock come back automatically when an order is cancelled?
Yes. Cancelled quantities restore to Available automatically once the marketplace confirms the cancellation, whether the cancellation is full or partial.
Does my stock come back automatically when an order is returned?
No. A return moves the quantity to a separate return total. You decide whether the item is resellable and move it back to Available yourself.
Why is there no Cancel button on this order?
The marketplace's own status for that order no longer allows cancellation. Check the order in the marketplace seller portal to confirm.
Can I cancel just one item in a multi-item order?
Yes. Tick only the items you want to cancel in the Cancel window; the rest of the order continues to fulfilment.
Can I approve or reject a return from Indexync?
No. Returns are handled entirely in the marketplace's seller portal. Indexync shows you the resulting status but has no return-action controls of its own.
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