A refund policy is a small document that affects sales, disputes and how you feel about your inbox. Most founders write one in ten minutes and never revisit it.
Reply with:
- What you sell and your pricing model
- Your policy, in a sentence
- How many refund requests you get relative to sales
- Whether you ever make exceptions
- What you would change
Common approaches
- Refund on request within a set number of days. Simple, lowers the risk of buying, and is occasionally abused.
- A free trial and then no refunds. The trial does the job of the guarantee.
- Refunds only when the product did not work as described.
- No refunds. Sometimes used for digital goods that cannot be returned. It can put off hesitant buyers and may be limited by consumer law.
- Pro-rata refunds on annual plans.
Things to check
- Consumer protection law where your customers are may give them rights whatever your policy says.
- Your payment provider or merchant of record may have rules of its own.
- A refused refund can turn into a chargeback, which costs more.
Many founders report that a generous, clearly stated policy leads to fewer disputes and little abuse. Does that match what you have seen?