Repricing open special orders after a tariff change

Fourteen weeks after the customer signs for a $6,000 sofa and pays half, the vendor's letter arrives: another $300 on goods not yet shipped. Those are the figures for this example. The store now needs to understand its cost, its agreement, and what it can reasonably offer the customer.

Start with the signed terms, then calculate the choices before contacting anyone. A vendor's higher invoice does not by itself rewrite the customer agreement. Treat any proposed customer-price change as a decision to explain and document, with the existing deposit carried forward correctly.

General information, not legal advice.

Read what was agreed before deciding what to charge

Find the signed order, the terms attached to that version, any price-protection wording, and the vendor commitment. A price lock, a defined adjustment clause, and silence on adjustments present different questions. The store should not infer permission to increase the customer price from the fact that its own costs rose.

Check with your attorney where the agreement or state consumer law determines whether a change, cancellation, or refund can be required. The model UCC's section 2-209 addresses modification and written-agreement requirements; the enacted law and actual contract govern the transaction. It is not a blanket authorization to add a fee.

Use the price-protection guide to improve future terms. For today's order, preserve the terms the customer actually accepted. A newly edited policy page cannot explain what the customer signed months earlier.

Calculate each option before making the call

Suppose the sofa originally had a $4,125 landed cost against the $6,000 selling price. Gross profit was $1,875, or 31.3% rounded. The vendor's $300 increase raises cost to $4,425. The store can now compare the economics of different proposed outcomes, subject to what it can lawfully agree.

Passing on the dollar increase preserves the original gross-profit dollars in this example, but not the original margin percentage. Keep the denominator clear. These figures exclude tax and any additional change in service costs, which need their own review.

The Section 232 overview helps separate the customs charge from a vendor's commercial surcharge. Obtain the vendor's basis and effective treatment of your PO before asking a customer to discuss an amount that may still be disputed upstream.

Review affected orders with a consistent decision rule

Consistency means applying the same review principles, not necessarily charging every customer the same amount. Different signed terms, vendor commitments, configurations, and promised price protections can justify different outcomes. Record the reason for an exception and the manager who approved it.

In OrderPilot, find open orders through product-name or SKU search and the available filters, then tag the reviewed set in bulk. Cross-check the vendor's affected-product list against the POs. A broad model search can include orders already shipped or configurations that the vendor's letter does not cover. Assign an owner to each customer conversation. The colleague who helped choose the fabric is often best placed to explain the change, provided they have a settled proposal. The fabric book has enough near-identical oatmeal shades; the team does not need several near-identical explanations too.

Make the first message specific and early

Explain what changed, the exact proposed amount, and the decisions available under the agreement. If a phone call is appropriate, follow it with a written record. Avoid presenting an unaccepted revised balance as an overdue payment.

For the shared-cost option in the example, the message could read:

The vendor has added $300 to the cost of your sofa before shipment. We have reviewed your order and would like to propose sharing that increase: the store would absorb $150, and the revised price would be $6,150 before tax and any separately agreed charges. Your $3,000 payment remains credited, leaving $3,150 on that basis. Please review the proposed revision with us before deciding. We can also discuss the alternatives available under your agreement.

The phone version can be shorter: “I have a proposed change to review with you. Your payment stays on the order. Let me explain the amount and the choices before we send anything for signing.” Use only alternatives the store is prepared and authorized to offer.

Adapt the explanation for trade customers without changing the facts

A retail customer usually needs the complete proposed price, what remains unchanged about the furniture, and the next decision. A trade customer may also need a documented change for a project budget or approval from their client. Give them a clear version they can pass along without forwarding an internal cost worksheet.

Keep the contracting party straight. The designer buying from the store and the designer's own client are not automatically the same customer agreement. Ask who needs to approve the purchase change and who will receive the revised documents.

The tone can differ while the facts stay consistent: vendor change, store proposal, existing payments, revised amount, and available next step. Avoid using commercial relationships as a reason to leave the final price or acceptance uncertain.

Put an agreed change through OrderPilot

Once the store has resolved the proposed change with the customer, add the approved amount as a named fee or make the supported order adjustment. OrderPilot invalidates the signature for a customer-facing change and retains the earlier signed record. Send the updated document with an explanation of what changed. The customer can review the order in the portal, ask a question about the fee, and sign once the discussion is settled. Keep unresolved questions ahead of signing. The surcharge-on-a-quote guide covers the wording and fee presentation.

Request only the balance that remains

Reconcile existing payments, refunds, and open requests before requesting more money. In the shared-cost example, the $3,000 already paid remains credited against the $6,150 revised amount, leaving $3,150 before the other stated components. The customer should be able to see how that balance was reached. If the order was already paid in full, first resolve whether a further charge can be agreed at all. A new cost does not make the original full payment disappear. If the store absorbs the increase, no additional customer collection follows from that decision.

Use the supported payment route for the order: Admin deposit orders work before placement on any Shopify plan when enabled, while native percentage terms and partial manual payments on placed orders require Shopify Plus. The payment request should follow the agreed order and current balance, not lead the negotiation.

Handle a refusal as a decision, not a failed payment

If the customer declines, return to the agreement and the alternatives already reviewed. Whether cancellation requires a full deposit refund depends on the contract, governing law, and circumstances. Do not give the customer a universal answer based only on the word “special order.”

Review the vendor side separately. A customer cancellation does not automatically cancel the factory commitment or recover its payment. The cancellation-after-PO guide explains that split, and the cancellation workflow follows the records through resolution.

Record the final decision and any revised purchase instructions. OrderPilot's activity and signed-record history preserve what changed and when. Finish the review with a clear customer agreement, a reconciled balance, and purchasing instructions that match it.

Sources

1. UCC § 2-209: Modification, rescission, and waiver — Uniform Commercial Code, Cornell Legal Information Institute; model text, subject to state enactment.