Shop policies regarding returns

[Former_Member]

I'm in the process of being more thorough in my policies and making sure I'm covering all my bases and I always get stuck on returns/refunds.

I'm trying to think of how I would like to be treated as a customer, but at the same time not lose money. I was thinking of something along the lines of this:

If a customer would like to return/refund for something that was damaged I would NOT charge return shipping fees. In this case also I would also refund the entire amount. (This is of course after I get pictures of the damaged item(s) and when I have also gotten the items back.)

If a customer wants a return/refund for something they didn't like, they think is wrong, etc. I would charge return shipping fees. The refund would be the purchase price, minus shipping fees.


Is this wrong? Too wordy? Too complicated? Am I losing money somehow by doing this? My line of thinking was, if it's damaged, even though it's not my fault, it's not theirs either so why should they have to pay to ship it back? Should I just never refund the original shipping charges and only worry about the charges when they have to ship it back?

Thanks!

[rusticcraftdesign]

I agree with your concept completely....

How you word it is a little ...difficult? wordy?

[Former_Member]

@Sam, oh yea, I agree. That's not how they'll be worded in my actual policies, I'm still working on that. Making sure it's not wordy, but people understand what I mean. I just wrote them that way here so people would understand what I was trying to ask.

[rusticcraftdesign]

I agree. If your item is defective or broken---you should absolutely expect to pay shipping both ways---

...but if the customer has a change of heart---well I would word it in the policies that they pay return shipping-------and that shipping cost will not be reimbursed....and then depending on the circumstance you can either have them pay to return or you can offer to print the label for them---that way it is up to you =)

[Former_Member]

If it's not faulty, then they should pay to return it, but they should also receive a refund of purchase price plus original shipping.

I've had one return in over 400 sales, so it's not a common occurrence that eats into profit. I just make sure that my prices cover things such as that, so I don't lose money.