An excellent and concise guide for this very important part of our Policies sections.  Sandie is so knowledgeable — thanks so much, Sandie!

Great advice, Sandie!  I look forward to more of your articles!

Linda (Engelfelt)

Great Artical!  Shop policies are so important to your business. 

 That’s a fantastic  article,Sandie!!!Thank you. As always, your tips and knowledge may help us  translate it to many sales and continued success ;)

♥
Efi

Great advice Sandy! This is something I did when I first set up my shop and haven’t revisited it. I look forward to more info in this series!

Sandie, Great article- helpful information!  :)

i know this is absolutely a silly question…. where do I put my refund/exchange policy… i’ve been looking all thru my profile and can’t find it :)

Thanks everyone!!  Glad you are liking the “Shop Advice” series.  If you have any shop questions you would like addressed in the series, be sure to drop me a note via my Etsy shop and I’ll be happy to include those in an upcoming segment.  

Have a great weekend!

Sandie

Hi Sarah,

First click on “Your Account” from the drop down menu (upper right hand corner).  Then on the left hand side, click on “info and appearance”.  Then in the tabs across the top you will see the “Policies” tab, click on that.  Scroll down until you see “refund policy”.  

Let me know if you have other questions!

Sandie

Sandie,

Great advice! It is so important for people to feel confident in their purrchase.

You do a great service for shop owners with your critique team and am taking your advice, making changes and looking forward to this series of articles!!

Karen

Wonderful advice.  Great to see you Sandie!!  Miss you guys at ETTEAM

Aja

My pleasure, Karen!!

Hi Aja!!  Good to see you too.  Hope you are doing good.  :o)

Thanks, Lynn!!

Thank you Efi!!

Thank you!!

Thanks, Linda!

Thank you, Sheryl.  Your support is so appreciated!

Good sound advise:an open attitude, libral with clear parameters. Glad you are giving advise.
Charlene Geller

Another thing I see often is ‘No refunds if your item arrives damaged and you declined to pay extra for insurance’
What do you think of that? This turns me off and I never order when I see it. I notice in your shop policies that you include insurance and/or delivery confirmation. Even though I am sure you have factored those costs in, it instills confidence in me that you know what you are doing and I would order from you in a heartbeat. 
This is a greart article, thank you.

Thanks for the advice Sandie!  You are a fount of knowledge – thanks so much for sharing it with us!

This is great advice for most items, but what do you recommend for sellers of skin and body care products? It’s not practical from a financial standpoint to say that a return is guaranteed is the buyer simply doesn’t like the fragrance or color of the product. There’s a purity factor involved with items like soap, lotions, or for that matter, food. I wouldn’t want someone to ship back a half used bar of soap or a half eaten cupcake! :) I’ve seen the vague notice on many shop policies, with the addendum that “due to the nature of handmade body care…” or something to call attention to the hygiene issue. Do you think that in this case, it’s the best option? Or should we always try to have a quantifiable policy? Thank you for getting this conversation started – providing a trustyworthy, dependable shopping experience is key.

Hi Rose – Really good question, and as it happens, is something that happened to me lately!  I bought a lotion from a Etsy seller recently (it was said in the listing that the fragrance was a light and fresh scent).  When I received the lotion the scent was nasty, exceptionally strong and totally unwearable. The seller just said “oh well”.  And wouldn’t refund, wouldn’t work with me on any solution.  So I went to Pay Pal, and they refunded my money after having me return the lotion to the seller.  -  So, my point is, regardless of what your policy is, Pay Pal will refund unhappy buyers and charge you back.  So I think it is important to have a policy in place that will help an honest buyer who just can’t wear a product.  After all this isn’t like a mall store where they can smell it or try it before buying.  Having samples of fragrances or lotions will go a long way towards not having problems.  But when a problem arrises, even though you can’t accept a return of the item, you need to have a policy that will either replace the item or refund the customer.  It’s just the right thing to do.  

It’s so my pleasure, Cindy!

Any seller that says that is WRONG.  In the course of an online sales transaction, there is a reasonable assumption that the seller will take every precaution to package and ship the item so it won’t arrive damaged.  If it does arrive damaged, the seller is still responsible (especially so if the buyer used Pay Pal to pay for their item).  It is the seller’s responsibility to factor in insurance or self insure in the event that things like this might happen. It’s part and parcel of being in business and being a professional.  And the bottom line is, regardless of what the seller says about *not* being responsible for shipping and damage, if the buyer (who received a damaged item that the seller won’t replace) files a Pay Pal claim, Pay Pal will refund the buyer and charge back the seller.  So, sellers, take responsibility for shipping, because it is the right thing to do.  (Thanks for your question, Rachel!!)

My pleasure, Charlene!

What about items that are size specific like baby clothes.  All my item descriptions say to measure the child first and I also give the measurements of the item in the description.  If the purchaser wants to return it because it doesn’t fit or they just don’t like it who is responsible for the shipping costs.  My current policy states that buyer is responsible for shipping both ways on a return.

This a a very good and informative article.  I have a no refund policy  but ask buyers to contact me if there is a problem.. However, after reading this I will review my poicies.

Thank you!

Very helpful! Thank you