Guide ยท Ultineo E-commerce
Getting paid abroad, and refunding cleanly
This guide is for a merchant whose orders from abroad are paid through a payment provider. Money requested, money received and money returned are three different facts, and each one leaves its own record. You will know when a payment lets you ship, which questions to put to your provider, and how to refund the right amount for a reason decided in advance.
Checked against the product in November 2026
In this guide
1. Put the cross-border questions to your payment provider
2. Ship on money received, not on a request
3. Decide what happens to a pending payment
4. Decide your refund cases in advance
5. Refund from the original payment, then check the result
6. Each week, compare what came in, what went back and what it cost
Three facts, three records
- Money requested
The buyer reached the payment step, or a payment is pending. Nothing has been collected yet: an attempt is not a sale.
- Money received
Your payment provider confirms that it has collected the amount, or you find the money on your bank statement. Only this fact lets you prepare the parcel.
- Money returned
The provider has completed a refund against the original payment. A refund that you asked for is not yet a refund that arrived.
- The record of a request
A cart or an order, with its date and its status. It tells you whom to write to, and nothing about what you were paid.
- The record of a payment
A reference, the amount paid, the fees and what is left. You match it against the provider's statement.
- The record of a refund
A reason, an amount, a status and the provider's reference, kept with the original payment. It shows what can still be given back.
1. Put the cross-border questions to your payment provider
Your payment provider collects the money, and its contract settles what happens from one country to another. Ask it in writing. Does my account accept buyers from each country I sell in, and with which payment methods? In which currency is a buyer there charged, in which am I paid, and who converts, at which rate? When does the money reach my bank account?
Then ask about the way back: by which route does a refund return to the buyer, and do I get the fees back?
Example. A shop that sells bicycle bags opens a fourth country. Its provider answers in writing: the currency charged in each country, the conversion fee, how long a payout takes and what a refund costs. The merchant keeps the reply with her terms of sale.
In Ultineo. You connect your own payment provider account in the Settings of Payments; a saved setting alone does not prove that the account is ready to collect payments. On the Countries tab of Publication, each activated country shows its "Payment gateway".
2. Ship on money received, not on a request
A buyer who reaches the payment step has asked to pay. Three outcomes follow: the payment completes, it fails, or it stays pending while a bank or a local payment method answers. Only the first one is money.
So read the state of the payment before you prepare a parcel or promise a date. When a result is uncertain, check it with your provider before you tell the buyer that the payment succeeded.
Example. One Monday, a shop counts 14 carts that reached the payment step, 9 payments received and 2 pending. It prepares 9 parcels. The 2 orders with a pending payment wait, and the 3 other carts never became orders.
In Ultineo. In Carts, a cart is recorded as soon as a buyer reaches the payment step: it is Finalized once the payment has gone through and the order has been created, and stays "Not finalized" otherwise. In Payments, the Overview tab counts the "Payments received", the "Pending payments" and the "Refunded payments" of the period. Open a payment to read its Status.
3. Decide what happens to a pending payment
A pending payment ends in one of three ways: your provider confirms it, the buyer gives up, or the money reaches you by another route, a bank transfer for instance. Set two deadlines in advance: after how many days you write to the buyer, and after how many you cancel the order.
Before you mark anything as paid, find the money itself on your bank or provider statement. A buyer's message saying that they paid is not a payment.
Example. A payment of 240 euros has been pending for three days. The buyer writes that he paid by bank transfer. The merchant finds the transfer on her bank statement, marks the payment as received and prepares the parcel.
In Ultineo. You cannot add a payment by hand: payments are recorded by the payment service linked to your shop. When a payment is still pending and you have received the money, open it, click "Confirm payment", check the Amount, then click "Confirm payment" again. The payment is marked as paid and a receipt is sent to the customer by email when their address is known.
4. Decide your refund cases in advance
A refund decided in a hurry is often too large, too small or too late. List your cases before the first one arrives: an address you cannot deliver to, a country your carrier no longer serves, an item out of stock, a return you accept, a delivery option paid for and not provided.
For each case, write the amount, what you withhold, who decides and within how many days. What you may withhold depends on your terms of sale and on the law that applies to them: ask a qualified adviser.
Example. A garden tool shop keeps its list on one page. Address outside its delivery area, or item out of stock: the whole payment, the same day. Return accepted: everything except 9 euros of return shipping.
In Ultineo. On "Refund payment", under "Full refund", you choose a Reason: "Full order", "Out of delivery area", "No service for this country" or "Out of stock". The same screen offers "Partial refund", "Withheld refund", to give back everything except an "Amount withheld", and "Priority shipping refund", to give back the delivery charged on the order.
5. Refund from the original payment, then check the result
Start from the payment the buyer made, not from the order total: what was paid, less what you already gave back, is the most you can return. Send the money back by the route it came, so that your provider's record matches yours.
Read the status of the refund, and tell the buyer only once it is confirmed. The parcel itself is a separate event: our guide to parcels that come back covers it.
Example. An order of 150 euros held three items; one, at 40 euros, is out of stock. The merchant refunds 40 euros from the payment, which leaves 110 euros refundable. She writes to the buyer when her provider shows the refund as completed.
In Ultineo. Open a paid payment and click Refund: "Refund payment" shows the Amount and what is "Still refundable". The Refunds tab of the payment lists each refund with its Reason, its Status, its Amount and its "Gateway reference".
6. Each week, compare what came in, what went back and what it cost
Once a week, put three totals side by side: the payments received, the refunds completed, and the fees taken by your provider and by your sales tool. Match them against your provider's statement, reference by reference.
Then read the refunds by reason. A reason that recurs for one country points to a cause you can remove: a carrier, a stock count, a delivery promise. How refunds enter your accounts is a question for your accountant.
Example. In one week, a shop receives 6,200 euros in 48 payments and gives back 310 euros in 4 refunds. Three of the four carry the same reason: no carrier serves one of its countries. The merchant looks for a carrier before she accepts another order from that country.
In Ultineo. On the page of a payment, the Amounts box shows the "Gross amount", the Fees, the "Net received" and what was Refunded. In Payments, the "All refunds" tab lists the refunds of your whole shop; choose a reason in the "All reasons" list to narrow it. In Billing, the "Current week" card shows the "Calculated fees" so far.
Checklist
Before your next order from abroad
- 1. Get your provider's answers in writing
Countries accepted, payment methods, currency charged, currency paid out, fees and the route of a refund.
- 2. Ship on money received
A cart or a pending payment is a request: wait until the money is confirmed.
- 3. Set a deadline for pending payments
Decide after how many days you write to the buyer, then after how many you cancel the order.
- 4. Write down your refund cases
For each case: the amount, what you withhold, who decides and within how many days.
- 5. Refund from the payment
Check what is still refundable, and tell the buyer only once the refund is confirmed.
- 6. Close the week
Match payments received, refunds and fees against your provider's statement, then read the refund reasons.
Go further
Follow every payment and its refunds with Ultineo E-commerce
Send your application: our team reviews each one before an account is opened.
Questions
Those offered by the payment service you connect in the Settings of Payments. For the methods offered in a given country, read that provider's list.
No. They are separate from the Ultineo commission: your provider applies its own pricing and terms. The commission applies to the full amount paid by the customer, including tax and delivery, and payment provider fees are not subtracted before it is calculated.
Yes, in part or in full, but never more than what the customer still has to get back. Open the payment, click Refund, enter the "Amount to refund" under "Partial refund", then click "Refund this amount". After a partial refund, the payment stays paid until nothing is left to refund.
No. Cancelling an order does not give the money back, and nothing is deleted: the order, its payments and its shipments stay on file. To return the money to the customer, refund the payment.
On "Refund payment", use "Already refunded elsewhere" and click "Record the refund": nothing is sent to the gateway. When a payment was not taken through a payment service linked to your shop, the refund is only recorded: return the money to your customer yourself first.
A recorded refund creates a proportional commission credit, at the rate of the original payment. Before finalization, it adjusts the original period; after, it is carried into a later billing period. Refund fees charged by a third party follow that provider's terms.