You can change which tickets a customer holds after they’ve ordered — swap a date, change a ticket type, or add a ticket — without cancelling and re-purchasing. The Event Ticketing app watches order changes in Shopify: when a ticket line item is removed it voids that ticket and releases its inventory, and when one is added it issues a new ticket. There are three ways to make the change: edit the order in Shopify admin, use a Shopify Exchange or Return, or let the customer change it themselves from their order status page.
Requirements: The Event Ticketing app installed. Customer self-exchange requires the Professional or Plus+ plan.
Edit the order in Shopify admin
Use this for date swaps, ticket-type changes, and adding tickets to an existing order.
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Open the order in Shopify admin.
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If the order is archived, unarchive it first.
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Cancel the fulfillment on the line item you’re removing. Shopify requires this before a fulfilled line item can be removed. If you’re only adding tickets, skip this step.
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Use Shopify’s Edit order action to remove the old ticket line item and add the replacement (different date, event, or ticket type).
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Save the edit. Shopify calculates any price difference and collects or refunds the balance.
When the edit is saved, the app voids the ticket on the removed line item, releases its inventory, and issues a new ticket for the added line item. The new ticket appears in the customer’s order status page widget.
Make the change through Shopify’s order editing — don’t edit the product’s options, values, or variants directly. Editing the product breaks ticket issuance.
Use a Shopify Exchange or Return
Shopify’s native Exchange and Return actions are supported, including from POS:
- An Exchange voids the returned ticket and issues a new ticket for the replacement item.
- A Return voids the returned ticket. If the merchant restocks the returned item, the event’s inventory is released back.
Either path keeps tickets in sync. For a straightforward date or ticket-type swap, Edit order is usually the most direct route. For the full money and restock detail, see Refunds and cancellations.
Let customers change their own tickets
Customers can swap their own ticket from the order status page, with no merchant action per order.
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In the Event Ticketing app, open the event and turn on Allow ticket and pass editing?. This setting is available on the Professional and Plus+ plan.
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To charge for a change, set a Per ticket change fee. The customer pays this fee when they swap a ticket.
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To stop changes before the event starts, turn on Turn off editing before the date is over? and enter how many minutes before the event ends editing should stop. After that cutoff the change option disappears.
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Add the ticket widget to the order status page so the change button shows. See Download tickets widget setup.
On the order status page the customer sees a Change tickets button (you can rename it in the widget’s settings). It lets them pick a new event, date, or ticket type; if a balance is due, they’re prompted to pay.
Related articles
- Refunds and cancellations.
- Download tickets widget setup.
- Setting total event capacity.
- Customer-to-customer ticket transfers.
FAQ
Do I have to refund and re-buy to move a customer to another date?
No. Editing the order, or doing an Exchange, voids the old ticket and issues the new one in place. A refund is only involved if the new ticket costs less and you choose to return the difference.
What happens to the customer’s old ticket after the swap?
It’s voided — it no longer scans at the door. The inventory it held is released back to the original date or ticket. The replacement ticket takes its place on the order status page.
The change button doesn’t show on the customer’s order status page.
The button only appears when the event has Allow ticket and pass editing? turned on and the order status page widget is installed. If you set a cutoff with Turn off editing before the date is over?, the button also disappears once that cutoff passes.
Can I charge for a self-service change?
Yes. Set a Per ticket change fee on the event. The customer pays it when they swap a ticket.
Can I bulk-edit many orders at once?
Order editing is one order at a time in Shopify. There’s no built-in bulk swap.
