How to issue a refund on a BidWrangler Invoice

Important: Entering a refund in BidWrangler does not refund the buyer. BidWrangler does not process refunds. Money only moves when you void or refund the transaction in your payment gateway, Authorize.net or Stripe. The refund steps in BidWrangler update the invoice so the buyer has an accurate receipt, and nothing more. If you only complete the BidWrangler steps, the buyer has not been refunded.

For this example, the customer wants a refund for an item they purchased that they later found was broken. We will be refunding/voiding the transaction in Authorize.net, removing the item from their invoice, and then marking the invoice as refunded.

1. First, navigate to your Authorize.net account and log in.

2. On the left-side menu, click on "Payments" to view your transaction history.

3. Find the Customer's Transaction and click the three dots on the right side of the row.

4. Because the transaction has not settled yet, you will find the option to click Void.

5. Click Submit Void

Tip: If the transaction had settled, the "Void" button would say Refund. Clicking on the "Refund" button will bring up an additional screen to choose how much money will be refunded.

6. Click "Close" and return to your bidding platform Admin Portal

Important: These steps update the invoice record only. They do not move any money, so complete the void or refund in Authorize.net (or Stripe) first, then return here to update the invoice as the buyer's receipt.

1. Find the invoice in the Invoices screen on the Admin Portal and click into it to edit.

2. Because this invoice is paid, before we can remove the item or add the refund, we need to click UNLOCK INVOICE.

3. Confirm the action by clicking UNLOCK again.

4. To remove and mark the item as NO SALE, click on the Trash Can icon.

5. Confirm the action by clicking DELETE.

6. To record a refund of the payment, you can use the Refund Payment icon on the payment line:

7. This will auto-populate the Base amount, Fee, and Tax amounts which you can edit if necessary. Click SAVE to continue. The balance due will now show $0.

8. So that no unintentional changes can be made to this invoice, click LOCK INVOICE

9. Confirm one more time by clicking LOCK

The above workflow is for situations where you are refunding the total value of an item which has been returned. Occasionally, you may be offering a partial refund as a goodwill gesture, but the item remains sold to the buyer.

To issue a partial refund, the important different is that the balance due must take the amount of the refund into place, so it's necessary to either edit a line item, or add a credit.

Follow steps 1-3 for unlocking the invoice as above, but rather than delete and no-sale the item;

It is possible to edit the bid amount, buyer's premium amount, and tax amount directly on each line item by clicking the field on the relevant item and updating as needed. Note however that since the calculation for buyer's premium and tax are dependent on each other, you may need to create a custom amount for each.

In the example below, removing just $100 from the hammer price, but wanting to retain a $100 buyers fee and $77 tax means adding a custom amount for all three:

Alternatively, you can add a negative buyer's fee to record a partial refund amount.

Now that the balance due is -$100, you can add a refund buy clicking 'Add Payment' and choosing 'Refund':

Enter the amount to reflect the balance due, and once the invoice is settled you can lock your invoice again following steps 8 & 9 as above.

Q: If I add a Refund payment entry in BidWrangler, is the buyer refunded?

A: No. The Refund payment type adjusts the invoice balance and gives the buyer an accurate receipt, but it does not send any money back. The actual refund must be processed in your payment gateway, Authorize.net or Stripe.

Q: Do I refund in the gateway first or update the invoice first?

A: Process the void or refund in Authorize.net or Stripe first, since that is the step that transfers funds back to the buyer. Then update the invoice in BidWrangler so the paperwork matches what happened.

Q: What is the difference between Void and Refund in Authorize.net?

A: Void cancels a transaction that has not settled yet, so no money ever moves. Once the transaction has settled, the Void button says Refund instead, and the funds are returned to the buyer's card.

Q: Does deleting a payment on the invoice refund the buyer?

A: No. Deleting a payment in BidWrangler adjusts the invoice balance but does not refund the buyer. Keep the original payment visible and add a Refund entry instead, so the invoice preserves the full transaction history.

Q: Can I issue a partial refund?

A: Yes. Complete the partial refund through your payment gateway first, then update the BidWrangler invoice to reflect the adjusted amounts so the buyer's receipt matches.

• Invoice Guide

• Getting Stripe Keys