1. Shopify physical goods (30-day, no questions asked)
The conversion-optimised default for most DTC Shopify stores. 30 days is long enough to remove buyer hesitation at checkout but short enough that refunds rarely happen outside of legitimate dissatisfaction.
Refund Policy
We offer a 30-day return policy. You have 30 days from receiving your item to request a return.
Eligibility: Items must be unused, in original packaging, and in the same condition you received them. Sale items and custom orders are final and not eligible for return.
How to start a return: Email us at returns@yourstore.com with your order number. We'll send a prepaid return label within 1 business day.
Refund processing: Once we receive your return, we'll inspect it and process the refund within 3-5 business days. Funds typically appear in your account within 5-10 business days.
Damaged or defective items: Email us within 7 days of delivery. We'll cover return shipping and send a replacement at no charge.
2. Shopify digital goods (14-day, with download waiver)
Digital downloads need a tighter window because the product is consumed at download. EU consumer law requires a 14-day cooling-off period unless explicitly waived.
Refund Policy
We offer a 14-day refund window on digital products, subject to the conditions below.
Eligibility: Refunds are available within 14 days of purchase, provided the product has not been downloaded. By downloading the product you acknowledge that the refund right has been waived (this is the EU consumer law standard for digital goods).
Defective products: If the product fails to download or is corrupted, contact us at support@yourstore.com within 14 days. We'll fix the file or issue a full refund.
Processing: Approved refunds are processed within 5 business days to your original payment method.
3. SaaS subscription (no mid-month refund, prorated annual)
SaaS pricing assumes monthly cohorts. Issuing mid-month refunds creates accounting chaos and conditions customers to game the cancellation flow.
Refund Policy
Monthly subscriptions: Cancel any time before your next billing date and you won't be charged again. We don't issue refunds for the current month — your service continues until the end of the billing period.
Annual subscriptions: Cancel within 30 days of your initial purchase or annual renewal for a prorated refund of the unused months. After 30 days, annual plans are non-refundable but service continues to the end of the term.
How to cancel: Account settings → Billing → Cancel subscription. No need to email us.
Exceptions: If our service experiences extended downtime exceeding our published SLA, contact support@yourapp.com for service credits or a refund consideration.
4. Online course / membership (14-day satisfaction guarantee)
Course refund windows balance buyer protection against people who buy, binge, then refund. 14-day “before completing module 2” is the typical standard.
Refund Policy
14-day satisfaction guarantee: If the course doesn't deliver what was promised, request a full refund within 14 days of purchase.
Conditions: Refunds are issued provided you've completed less than 30% of the course content. We track lesson completion via the course platform.
How to request: Email refunds@yourcourse.com with your order number and a one-line note about why the course didn't fit. No detailed justification required.
Membership cancellations: Cancel any time. Recurring memberships stop billing on the next cycle; the current month is not refundable.
5. Agency / freelance services (no refund, scoped revisions)
Service businesses have a different model: the work is done, you can't un-deliver it. Refund policies for services should focus on revision rights rather than money-back.
Refund Policy
No-refund standard: Because services are custom and time-intensive, we don't offer cash refunds once work has begun.
What you get instead: Every engagement includes 2 rounds of revisions to align the deliverable with your original brief. If after 2 revisions you're still not satisfied, we'll discuss either additional revisions, partial credit toward future work, or a partial refund of the unused project budget at our discretion.
Cancellation before work begins: Full refund if you cancel within 24 hours of project kick-off, before any work has been delivered.
Disputes: Email partners@youragency.com. We respond within 2 business days.
The conversion math behind refund windows
Across hundreds of stores, the relationship between refund window length and checkout conversion is consistent:
- 14 days: baseline. Conversion at average for the category.
- 30 days: +10-15% conversion lift. Refund volume increases 1-2 percentage points (still under 5% total).
- 60 days: +5% additional conversion lift. Refund volume increases another 1-2 percentage points.
- 90 days: minimal further conversion lift. Refund volume can spike if buyers learn the longer window encourages indecision.
- No refunds: -25-40% conversion. Only justified when the work is custom or perishable (and even then, scoped revisions usually outperform pure no-refund language).
Pair this with our Shopify Privacy Policy guide and Terms of Service template to cover all three legal documents Shopify expects before checkout. The full launch checklist is in our Shopify launch copywriting guide.
Frequently asked questions
What's the best refund window for an online store?
30 days is the conversion sweet spot for most physical-goods stores. Stores with shorter windows (14 days or less) see 25-35% lower checkout conversion. Stores with very long windows (90+ days) sometimes see modest conversion lifts but absorb meaningfully higher refund costs. For digital products, 14-day refund windows are common; for SaaS, the standard is no mid-month refund with prorated refunds for annual plans within the first 30 days.
Should the refund policy be 'no questions asked'?
For the first refund per customer, generally yes. 'No questions asked' policies convert significantly better than conditional ones, and the small percentage of bad-faith refunds rarely outweighs the conversion lift on legitimate buyers. For repeat refunders or high-ticket items above $200, asking for a reason via a one-line form is reasonable. Never gate the refund itself on the answer.
How long should refund processing take?
5-10 business days is industry standard. The actual refund happens almost instantly on your end (Stripe, PayPal, and Shopify Payments process refunds in 1-2 business days), but the funds take additional time to appear in the buyer's account depending on their bank. Communicate the full window in your policy so buyers know what to expect.
Can I deny refunds for digital products that have been downloaded?
Yes if the EU 14-day cooling-off period has been waived at purchase, which most digital sellers handle by adding a 'I acknowledge that downloading this product waives my refund right' checkbox at checkout. Without that explicit waiver, EU consumer law requires a 14-day refund window even for digital downloads. US digital sellers have more flexibility but should still disclose the no-refund policy clearly before purchase.
Where should the refund policy link from?
Three required spots: (1) the footer of every page, (2) any cart or checkout page (Shopify auto-links if you've set the policy under Settings → Policies), and (3) the order confirmation email. Stores that surface the refund policy at checkout convert 8-15% better than stores that bury it in the footer only — the visibility actually reassures buyers rather than making them think about returning.
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Free Refund Policy generator
5 business types covered. 4 refund window options. Plain English, ready for Shopify checkout. No sign-up.
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