> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getappfox.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# How AppFox Works: From Customer Request to Settled Edit
> Follow the full AppFox flow from customer request through eligibility check, payment settlement, and optional approval — in three steps.
When a customer wants to change their order, AppFox handles the entire sequence — eligibility check, edit interface, payment delta, and optional merchant approval — without any manual steps on your end. The customer starts on a page they're already on, sees only the edits your rules allow, makes the change, and the order settles itself. Here's what happens at each stage.
The edit flow lives on your thank-you page and order status page — the exact pages Shopify links from every order confirmation email. Your customer doesn't need to log in, create an account, or find a separate link. They click "Edit your order" right there in the confirmation email, and their order opens in your store's own branding. Nothing new to install, nothing to sign up for.
AppFox evaluates the order against your edit window, fulfillment cutoff, and per-action rules before showing anything. Only eligible edit types appear — if the window has closed or fulfillment has started, those options are simply absent. The customer can't request something they can't see.
From the options shown, the customer makes their change: corrects a shipping address (with autocomplete suggestions as they type), swaps a variant, adjusts a quantity, adds or removes an item, or submits a cancellation request. A one-click upsell offer can appear alongside the edit — accepted offers are added directly to the same order.
Once the customer submits, AppFox applies your approval rules:
* **Auto-apply** — edits you've configured as safe (for example, address corrections or variant swaps) are applied immediately to the original order via Shopify's Order Editing API.
* **Approval queue** — edits you've flagged as sensitive (for example, cancellations or item removals) are held for your review in the AppFox approval queue. You approve or decline; the change only applies when you act.
Either way, payment differences settle automatically. If the new order total is higher — a pricier variant, an added item, an accepted upsell — Shopify charges the customer the difference on the original payment method. If the total is lower, AppFox issues a partial refund. No manual invoices, no spreadsheet reconciliation. Every change is recorded on the order's audit timeline.
## In-place vs cancel-and-reorder
How an edit actually modifies the order matters more than it might seem. AppFox edits the original order in place; some other tools simulate editing by canceling the order and creating a new one.
| | |
| ------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Method** | Shopify's native Order Editing API modifies the original order directly |
| **Order number** | Preserved — same order number throughout |
| **Customer experience** | No second checkout; change is confirmed immediately |
| **Shopify Payments fees** | Preserved — no cancellation, so no fees are forfeited |
| **Payment settlement** | Price differences charged or refunded automatically on the original payment method |
| **Order history** | Intact — full audit trail on the original order |
Because AppFox never cancels the original order, the 1.5–2.9% Shopify Payments processing fee you already paid stays yours. On a $100 order, that's $1.50–\$2.90 saved on every single edit.
| | |
| ------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Method** | Original order is canceled; a new order is created to replace it |
| **Order number** | Lost — customer gets a new order number |
| **Customer experience** | Must complete a second checkout to resubmit payment |
| **Shopify Payments fees** | Forfeited — Shopify does not return processing fees on a cancellation |
| **Payment settlement** | Customer pays again in full; original payment is refunded separately |
| **Order history** | Split across two orders; original is marked canceled |
Every edit processed this way costs you 1.5–2.9% in fees that Shopify does not return, plus friction for your customer who has to check out again.
## The eligibility engine
Before AppFox shows a customer any edit options, it evaluates the order against three layers of rules you configure:
**Edit windows.** You set a time limit — 24 hours, 48 hours, or whatever matches your fulfillment pace. Once the window closes, editing closes with it. The customer sees no edit controls at all after the deadline.
**Fulfillment cutoffs.** As soon as an order ships or hits the fulfillment cutoff you've set, editing switches off automatically. Customers can't race your warehouse.
**Per-action rules.** Each edit type — address changes, variant swaps, quantity adjustments, cancellations — has its own approval setting. You can auto-apply some and require approval for others. The rules run per edit type, not per order, so you can be permissive where it's safe and conservative where it isn't.
Ineligible edits are never shown to the customer. There's no "sorry, too late" message to write, no awkward declined request to handle — the option simply isn't there if it isn't allowed.
Address validation catches typos before the carrier does. As a customer types a shipping address, AppFox provides autocomplete suggestions and checks the format in real time. A corrected address is confirmed at the time of the edit — not discovered as an undeliverable package two days later.
## Payment settlement
AppFox settles payment differences automatically in both directions, on the original payment method. You never need to issue a manual charge or refund.
**When the edit raises the total** — a pricier variant, an added line item, an accepted upsell — AppFox sends a Shopify payment request to the customer for the difference. The charge goes through on the card already on file. No second checkout, no new transaction.
**When the edit lowers the total** — a cheaper variant, a removed item, a canceled order — AppFox issues a partial refund for the difference automatically. The refund appears on the customer's original payment method.
Every payment event is recorded on the order's audit timeline alongside the edit that triggered it, so your books stay clean without any manual reconciliation.
Set time limits and fulfillment cutoffs that automatically close the edit window at the right moment.
Configure which edit types apply instantly and which wait in your approval queue.