Return and refund policy template for an online store
Yevhen Kurapov, co-founder · Updated Oct 19, 2026
Copy the template below, fill in the [brackets] and link it from your footer, product pages and checkout. Decide five things first: return window, item condition, who pays return shipping, exchanges, and what can't come back. No US federal law gives a general right to return online orders; shoppers in the EU and UK get 14 days to cancel.
Below is a complete return and refund policy for an online store, ready to copy. Replace everything in [square brackets], delete the options you don't use, and publish it as its own page linked from your footer, your product pages and your checkout. Before you paste it, make five decisions the template can't make for you: how long customers have, what condition items must be in, who pays to send them back, whether you exchange, and what you won't take back.
The template is written for a US store. No federal law makes you accept returns of online orders, but some states require you to show your policy, and card networks expect to see it at checkout. If you sell to consumers in the EU or the UK, add the second block: shoppers there can cancel within 14 days of delivery without giving a reason.
The five decisions to make first
| Decision | Options | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Return window | 14, 30, 60 or 90 days from delivery | Count from delivery, not the order date. EU and UK shoppers get at least 14 days from delivery by law. |
| Condition | Unused, tags on, original packaging | Say what “unused” means for your goods: tried on indoors, box opened, assembled. |
| Return shipping | Free label, customer pays, or a flat fee taken from the refund | Whatever you choose, pay for returns of faulty or wrong items. |
| Exchanges | Direct swap, or return and reorder | A direct swap keeps the sale, but you ship the new item while the old one is still on its way back. |
| Items you won't take back | Gift cards, personalized, hygiene, perishable, final sale | Name them. “Some items are excluded” starts an argument. |
The full template
Return and refund policy
Last updated: [date]
Returns You can return most items within [30] days of delivery. Items must be unused and unwashed, with the original tags attached, in the original packaging. [Shoes must be tried on indoors only.]
Items we can't take back Unless they arrive damaged or faulty, we can't accept returns of [gift cards], [personalized or made-to-order items], [earrings, underwear and swimwear with the hygiene seal removed], [food, flowers and other perishable goods] and [items marked “final sale” on the product page].
How to start a return Email us at [[email protected]] [or use our returns page: link] with your order number and the items you want to return. We'll reply within [2] business days with return instructions [and a prepaid label]. Parcels sent back without a return request may take longer to process.
Return shipping
- [Option A] Return shipping is free: we email you a prepaid label.
- [Option B] You pay for return shipping. Please use a tracked service, because we can't refund a parcel that doesn't reach us.
- [Option C] We deduct a [$7] return label fee from your refund.
If the item is faulty or we sent the wrong one, we pay for the return shipping.
Refunds We check returned items within [3] business days of receiving them and email you once your refund is approved. The refund goes to your original payment method within [5] business days of approval; your bank may take a few more days to show it. We refund the price of the returned items. [Original shipping costs are refunded only if the item was faulty or we made a mistake.] [Items that come back used, damaged or incomplete may get a partial refund or be sent back to you.]
Exchanges
- [Option A] Need a different size or color? Start a return and tell us what you'd like instead. We ship the new item as soon as your return is on its way, with no extra shipping charge.
- [Option B] We don't exchange items directly. Return the item for a refund and place a new order.
Damaged, faulty or wrong items If your order arrives damaged, faulty or isn't what you ordered, tell us within [7] days of delivery and send a photo. We'll send a replacement or give you a full refund, including shipping, and we'll pay for the return. This doesn't limit any warranty or other legal rights you have.
Gifts If the item was marked as a gift and shipped straight to you, we refund its value as [store credit] to you, not to the buyer.
Holiday returns [Orders delivered between November 15 and December 24 can be returned until January 31.]
Questions [Store name], [business address], [email], [phone]. You can also ask in the chat on our website.
Delete the options you don't use, and check that each number is the same in every section and in the short versions below. On Shopify, the same choices also exist as return rules under Settings > Policies, which Shopify keeps separate from the written policy, so make the two match by hand.
Add this block if you sell to the EU or the UK
Consumers in the EU and the UK can cancel an online order within 14 days of receiving it, for any reason. Paste this block under the template:
Your right to cancel (customers in the EU and the UK)
You can cancel your order within 14 days of the day you, or someone you name other than the carrier, receive the goods, without giving a reason. To cancel, tell us before the 14 days are up: email [email] [or use the “withdraw from contract here” button on our site]. Any clear statement that you want to cancel is enough.
Send the goods back to [return address] within 14 days of telling us. [You pay the direct cost of returning them.] / [We pay the cost of returning them.]
We'll refund everything you paid, including the standard delivery cost, within 14 days of hearing from you, using the payment method you used, at no cost to you. If you chose a delivery option more expensive than our cheapest standard delivery, we refund only the cost of the cheapest one. We may wait to refund you until we have the goods back or you've sent us proof that you posted them, whichever comes first.
You're responsible for any loss in value caused by handling the goods more than you'd need to check what they are, their features and how they work.
This right doesn't apply to [goods made to your specifications or clearly personalized], [goods that spoil or expire quickly], [sealed goods that can't be returned for health or hygiene reasons once unsealed after delivery] and [sealed audio, video or software unsealed after delivery]. Your legal rights for faulty goods are not affected.
Behind the main lines (EU Consumer Rights Directive, UK Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013):
- Who pays the return. Under the EU directive, the customer pays the direct cost only if you told them so beforehand. Say nothing and it's yours.
- Telling customers matters. Under the EU directive, a store that never mentions the right to cancel gives customers 12 extra months to use it.
- The cancel button. Under EU rules applying from 19 June 2026, a store that sells online must offer a withdrawal function labelled “withdraw from contract here” or similar, followed by a “confirm withdrawal” step, and send the customer an acknowledgement on a durable medium with the date and time.
Short versions for product pages and checkout
A shopper choosing a size wants the answer next to the price. One line does it:
Free returns within [30] days of delivery. Unused items with tags only. [Final-sale items can't be returned.] [Link: full return and refund policy]
And one at checkout, next to the pay button:
By placing your order, you agree to our [Return and refund policy]. Returns within [30] days of delivery; [final-sale items can't be returned].
Where to publish it, and what US rules expect
The federal rule people often have in mind, the FTC's three-day Cooling-Off Rule, doesn't cover sales made entirely online, by mail or by phone. What your policy says is up to you; where you show it is less so:
- State rules. New York's General Business Law § 218-a, for example, requires an online retailer to show its refund policy near the item or before asking for billing information. A retailer that breaks the section owes the buyer a cash refund or a credit, at the buyer's choice, for up to 30 days on unused, undamaged goods. Other states have rules of their own, so check the ones you sell into.
- Card networks. Visa's dispute guidelines for merchants (June 2024) ask an online store to show its refund policy in the pages before final checkout, with a click-to-accept or similar acknowledgement, or on the checkout screen near the submit button. A link counts only as part of that acknowledgement. The same guide says a return policy has no bearing on a “not as described or defective” dispute, so “no returns” won't stop a faulty-item chargeback.
- On Shopify. Write the policy under Settings > Policies > Written policies, and turn off Use automated policy if you want to paste your own text. Once saved, Shopify links it in the checkout footer. Whether a footer link meets your payment provider's dispute rules is a question for that provider.
How your store's assistant answers return questions
A written policy is also what lets your store's chat answer “can I return it if it doesn't fit?” without guessing. We make ChatPal, so this part uses our screens.
Give the assistant the policy. Connecting a Shopify store to ChatPal reads your store's own pages, the returns page included, into the assistant's knowledge. On any other site, open Knowledge, go to Website & links, paste the policy page's address, tick Single page only and click Add Link, or paste the text as a Policies snippet on the Q&A & snippets tab. After a policy change, choose Reindex from the ⋮ menu next to the link, and delete any old copy you uploaded as a file.
Here is an example conversation we wrote for this page, showing how ChatPal handles return questions for a fictional clothing store that filled in the template with 30 days, free return labels and direct exchanges:
Customer: If the jeans don't fit, can I send them back?
Assistant: Yes, unworn items with the tags still on can be returned within 30 days of delivery, and we email you a prepaid label, so the return costs you nothing.
Customer: Could I get a bigger size instead of my money back?
Assistant: Yes. Start a return and tell us the size you want; the new pair ships as soon as your return is on its way, with no extra shipping charge.
Customer: And the swimsuit I got in the sale?
Assistant: If it was marked “final sale” on the product page, it can't be returned. Swimwear with the hygiene seal removed can't be returned either, unless it arrived damaged or faulty.
Customer: Can I just drop the jeans off at your shop?
Assistant: I don't have details on in-person returns, so I can't confirm that here. Our team can tell you at [email protected].
Customer: OK, how do I start the return?
Assistant: Email [email protected] with your order number and the items you're sending back, and we'll reply within 2 business days with the instructions and your prepaid label.
What it works from:
- Every figure comes from your policy. When the policy doesn't cover something, like the drop-off, it says it can't confirm and points to your team rather than inventing an answer. That gap is your cue to add a line.
- Short replies, in the language the customer writes in, even if your policy is only in English.
- It decides nothing. It can't approve a return, create a label or issue a refund. With Order support on for a Shopify store, it tells a signed-in customer where their order is but never changes it; returns, refunds and exchanges go to your team. For those chats to reach a person, switch on Hand off to a human when needed under Configuration > Handoff & leads.
Test it before customers do. Open Playground from the left navigation and ask the questions above in your own words, plus one your policy doesn't answer. Click the short line under a reply to see the sources it used, then click a source's name to see the passage it read. Each test reply counts toward your monthly messages.
For the Shopify side of returns questions, see answering returns questions on Shopify. Delivery times and costs work the same way with our shipping policy template, order tracking with answering “where is my order?”, and the questions no policy covers with our FAQ page template.