Refund and Return Policy

A refund policy customers can follow and payment processors accept - windows, exclusions and statutory rights in plain words.

100% free. Runs entirely in your browser - your files and data never leave your device and nothing is uploaded to any server.

Template, not legal advice. This is a template, not legal advice. Consumer law sets a floor you cannot write your way under: in the UK and EU customers have a 14-day right to cancel most distance sales regardless of what a policy says, and in the US several states have their own rules. Publish this where a customer can find it before they pay - a policy they only see after checkout is the one that loses a chargeback.

Start from an example

Fills every answer with a worked example you can edit. Pick the one closest to your business.

0 of 6 details filled
Your business
What you sell and where
In the UK and EU a 14-day cancellation right exists whatever your policy says. This adds the clause that acknowledges it.
Your terms

A longer window costs less than you think - it reduces returns rather than increasing them, because urgency is what drives a marginal return.

What you cannot take back
Be specific. A vague exclusion is the one customers argue about, and the one a card issuer decides against you.

Refund and Return Policy

9 sections · 602 words · updates as you type

Refund and Return Policy

Last updated: 12 November 2026

Our policy in short

If you are not happy with what you bought from [Your business name], you have 30 days from delivery to request a refund or exchange.

The rest of this page sets out how, what we can and cannot take back, and how long the money takes to come back to you. If anything here is unclear, email [your contact email] and ask before you buy.

How to request a refund

1. Email [your contact email] with your order number and what is wrong.

2. We reply with a returns reference and the address to send to. Please do not send anything back before you have that reference - unmarked parcels are hard to match to an order.

3. Pack the item securely, include the reference, and send it to [your return address].

4. We inspect it on arrival and process the refund once it passes.

Condition of returned items

Items should come back in the condition you received them - unused, with tags attached and in the original packaging where there was any. You are welcome to inspect an item as you would in a shop; a refund can be reduced if it has been used beyond that.

If an item arrives faulty or damaged, none of this applies. Send us a photograph and we will replace or refund it, and we cover the return postage.

What we cannot accept back

  • Items made or personalised to your order
  • Sealed items that have been opened, where hygiene makes resale impossible
  • Perishable goods

If an item is faulty, none of these exclusions apply. A faulty product is your right to reject, whatever else this policy says.

Who pays the postage

You pay return postage unless the item is faulty or we sent the wrong thing, in which case we cover it. Use a tracked service - until it reaches us the parcel is your responsibility, and an untracked return that goes missing cannot be refunded.

The original delivery charge is refunded when you return a whole order, at the standard rate rather than an express one you chose to upgrade to.

How long refunds take

We process refunds within 5 working days of approving the request, counted from when the item reaches us. The money goes back to the original payment method - we cannot send it anywhere else.

After that it is your bank's timetable, not ours: card refunds usually appear within 3 to 5 working days, but some issuers take up to 10. If it has been longer than that, contact your bank first and then us at [your contact email].

Exchanges

If you want a different size, colour or variant, say so when you request the return and we will reserve the replacement while the original is on its way back. If the replacement costs more we will send a payment link for the difference; if it costs less we refund the difference.

Where the item you want is out of stock we will tell you within two working days and refund instead, unless you would rather wait.

Your legal right to cancel

If you are a consumer in the UK or EU you have 14 days from receiving your order to cancel it for any reason, without giving one. This right exists alongside the policy above, and where our policy is more generous, our policy applies.

To cancel, email us within the 14 days. You then have a further 14 days to send the goods back, and we refund within 14 days of receiving them.

Nothing in this policy affects your statutory rights in relation to goods that are faulty, not as described, or not fit for purpose.

Questions

[Your business name]

[your return address]

[your contact email]

We answer refund emails within two working days.

Generated from a template. Not legal advice - read it before you publish or sign it.

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About this tool

A refund policy is the one legal page customers actually read, usually with their card in hand - and the one payment processors ask for. Stripe, PayPal and Shopify all expect a reachable refund policy, and chargebacks are decided partly on whether the rules were clear at the point of sale. This generator writes yours from your answers: the return window, the condition items must be in, who pays return shipping, which items cannot be returned, and how and when refunds are paid, with digital products and services handled separately from physical goods. Publish it before your first sale, where customers see it before checkout. Nothing you enter is uploaded.

How to use this tool

  1. Enter your shop detailsAdd your business name, the email for refund requests and the return address.
  2. Set your rulesChoose the return window, item condition, who pays return shipping and any items that cannot be returned.
  3. Show it before checkoutDownload the policy and link it from product pages, checkout and the footer.

Refund rights you cannot write away

A refund policy sets your own rules for returns, exchanges and refunds - but in many countries it sits on top of legal rights that already exist. In the UK, consumers buying online generally have a 14-day cancellation period under the Consumer Contracts Regulations and rights to a remedy for faulty goods under the Consumer Rights Act; EU consumers have similar rights. Your policy can be more generous than the law, never less.

The clearest policies answer four practical questions up front: how long people have, what condition items must be in, who pays return shipping, and how and when the money comes back.

Key features

  • States the return window, item condition and who pays for return shipping.
  • Handles digital products and services separately from physical goods.
  • Lists items that cannot be returned, such as personalised or perishable goods, where you sell them.
  • Explains refund method and timing so customers know when to expect their money.

Common uses

  • An online shop that Shopify, Etsy or a payment processor asks for a refund policy.
  • A course or digital download seller deciding what happens after access is granted.
  • A service business setting cancellation terms for bookings and deposits.
  • Reducing chargebacks by making refund rules easy to find before checkout.

Tips for better results

  • Match the policy to what your support team actually does - a generous policy you do not honour causes more disputes than a strict one.
  • State how long refunds take to reach the customer’s account once approved.
  • Pair it with your terms and shipping policy so all three say the same thing.

Mistakes to avoid

  • Writing "all sales final" while selling to UK or EU consumers, who have a 14-day right to cancel distance sales regardless.
  • Treating digital downloads like physical goods, with no rule for what happens once access is granted.
  • Hiding the policy where customers only find it after a problem.

Frequently asked questions

In some places for some products, but consumer law often overrides it - faulty goods, and in the UK and EU most online purchases within the cancellation period, must still be refunded. A "no refunds" line can also increase chargebacks.

Many shops offer 14 or 30 days; the UK and EU legal minimum for most online sales is 14 days from delivery. A longer window can increase conversions without a large rise in returns.

Under UK and EU distance-selling rules, refunds for cancelled online orders are generally due within 14 days of receiving the returned goods or proof of return. Whatever your deadline, state it.

No. It assembles a draft from standard clauses, and every page says so above the preview. A vague policy costs twice: the refunds you give anyway, and the chargebacks you lose because there was nothing clear to point the card network at.

Broadly, anyone taking money online - a shop, a subscription, a download, or a booking. The best time to do it is before the first sale, and visible before checkout rather than after it.

Writing "all sales final" while selling to UK or EU consumers. The 14-day right to cancel a distance sale exists whatever the policy says, so that sentence does not prevent the refund - it just tells the customer to dispute rather than ask.

Most people need Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy as well. They cover the gaps this one does not.

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