Is Your Shopify Refund Rate Too High? Here Are the Numbers
Published May 2026 · 5 min read
You looked at your Shopify refund rate and thought: "Is this normal?" Short answer: it depends on what you sell. Long answer: here are the numbers.
What's actually normal
Fashion & Apparel: 15-25% — Yes, this is normal. Sizing is hard online.
Electronics: 8-12%
Home & Garden: 5-10%
Beauty & Cosmetics: 3-7%
Digital Products: 1-3%
If you're more than 5 points above your category, you have a fixable problem.
When to actually worry
A fashion store at 20% refunds? Annoying but normal. A beauty store at 20%? Red alert. Context matters. What also matters is the trend. If you were at 6% last month and 14% this month, something broke — probably a new product that's misleading customers.
Seasonally, refunds spike 30-60 days after Black Friday and any major sale. That's normal. Track month-over-month, not week-over-week.
What your rate costs you
Every 1% of refund rate on $50K monthly revenue = $500 in direct refunds + $50-100 in hidden costs. If your rate is 5 points above normal for your category, that's $2,500-3,000/month you could recover. Calculate your exact cost →
Check your rate right now: upload your Shopify CSV and see where you stand.