It is human nature that we don’t get satisfied easily with almost anything. When we are at a restaurant, no matter how good the food is or how reasonable the prices are, there is always one of us complaining. Even if it is the slightest thing, we talk about it because we want everything perfect when spending money on it.
Similarly, when buying something online through a website, we look for which one of the websites is offering to create a refund or return policy to its customers. In addition to this, it is the smartest move to grow your audience virtually if you have been given the option of return of refunds. Therefore, millions of well-known businesses are running online whose success is entirely based upon creating returns and refunds orders policies like Amazon, eBay, Shopify, etc.
These brands offer you a convenient and efficient return and refund policy so that you can trust them blindly and recommend them further also. Before diving in straight away, let us first gather the main concept of the return and refund policy.
What is a Return and Refund Policy:
When we talk in business language, every one of us would have come across these two simple terms “return” and “refund.” However, both these come with each other constantly, but there is a slight difference between them.
- Return can be understood by the fact that if you have ordered something, and you are not satisfied with the quality, appearance, or whatever factor, you wish to give it back. But there is no helpful information that when you are performing the return, are you getting your money back or not? That’s where the term refund comes into play.
- Refund is also the returning of goods to the company you ordered it from, but it assures you that you will also receive your money back after the return. Therefore, the businesses that tend to offer refund policies are nowadays the successful ones!
So let us dig into the most well-known company of the age, Amazon, and understand which kind of return and refund policy it entails.
Amazon return and refund policy:
If we talk about the top companies selling goods on an online platform internationally and worldwide, Amazon is the first name that comes to our minds. Emerged as a book store in the start and now selling an unending collection of goods and services, Amazon has ruled the world with its quality and promising performance. People mostly use this trusted platform because they are sure that all their ordered products are of good quality and free of any risk. However, even if there is an issue, Amazon assures an excellent and effective handling system and creates a return and refund policy in this regard.
There is large support given to Amazon due to its promising nature of work and delivering its services at the time. Furthermore, it is included in the world’s most successful brands like Google, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft. In addition to this, Amazon provides great facilities to its customers regarding return and refund policies.
Amazon offers a complete return and refund policy when you contact them regarding the relevant product within 30 days after buying. However, the policy may vary from product to product, but you will be guided when you purchase from the site. In addition to this, if you have sent the wrong package by mistake to amazon for returning purposes, it is not the liability of Amazon that your item will be found then. So, to avoid any such confusion and mistakes, you need to be very careful when you contact the Amazon help center and engage with them for return purposes.
How many days can it take precisely when you want to return from Amazon?
To talk precisely, when you want to make a return to the Amazon website, once confirmed, you can send back the parcel. Your product almost reaches the Amazon warehouse within approximately 25 days. When received at the store, your package verifies all the details, and once satisfied, your refund starts in the process. Almost 2 days are needed for the refund to be processed and completed. Then within 2 to 3 working days, your money is sent back to you in the account you have provided the details of.
Furthermore, there are numerous products that Amazon sells, so we could get the idea of its return and refund policy by discussing briefly a few of them below:
- In terms of devices bought from Amazon like fire tablets, Amazon Kindle e-readers, and many other branded devices, they have a return policy of 30 days after the purchase.
- If we talk about the perishable or grocery items, there is no such information that you can return them. However, you may be refunded in such cases when you engage with the Amazon help center.
- Furthermore, when you have renewed a product with Amazon and are not still satisfied, you can always return or refund the product within 90 days or even one year of receiving the renewed product. However, the exceptions may vary from product to product, but you are always guided when you are making the purchase.
- Items that are purchased for babies are also returned and refunded within 30 days of receiving them. However, products like breast pumps are not returnable if used and the seal is opened.
If not satisfied, you could always return your products within 30 days.-Clothes and accessories are also eligible for a return and refund policy at Amazon. However, Amazon will charge shipping charges to the customer because the product is made for them, especially on their demand.
Difference Between Return and Refund:
As far as the world has evolved, one could barely have time to get out of his work activities or daily routine and go shopping for himself. To fulfill his needs and wishes, online shopping is considered the most effective and easiest way these days. People are seen to be always available on their phones, talking, chatting, playing games, and simply scrolling the pages of different social media sites. This also helps them engage with the outer world, as all the famous brands have created their pages on social media apps. You can never be behind the times if you open even one of the apps daily.
Therefore, when we buy through these online platforms, there are almost 85% chances of not being satisfied with the product delivered. What to do then? Simply before buying, research about the relevant site or ask their support center if they serve you with return or refund policies or not? If not, it is better to look for something more trustworthy...
Furthermore, when contacting the platform from which they had made the purchase, many people ask them to return or refund the product, and they say that we don’t support one of them. The response of the people is usually that what is the difference?
However, return and refund seem to be the same, but there is a noticeable difference between the two of them. Return policy means that you can take back your product or deliver it back to the store from where you bought it. But it doesn’t encourage the money-back guarantee.
On the other hand, if a refund policy is present, you are facilitated in terms of getting back the money you have spent on the purchase.
How are a good return and refund policy written?
It is no secret that when any of us purchases an online platform, we are feeling the risk of being deceived ourselves. Therefore, before making a purchase virtually, one needs to be careful enough so that he may not be disheartened.
In addition to this, if you are an owner of an online store and want to know how you can establish a good and finely written return and refund policy, this article will help you a lot. Many aspects need to be undertaken carefully when one is incorporating a return policy. You should include all the points relevant to the product; not even a single action should be missed because it will cost you a lot.
When you create a return or refund policy for your customers, you must believe that every product is different. How could the policy be the same? It will not be! Of course, every product is different and unique, so you need to make a complete and revised form including all the information regarding every product you sell. AS we know how arrangements are made, in terms of blanks and ticks, you can help the customer make choices following his development.
Points that should be included in your return and refund policy:
Following are the points that one should include while carefully creating a good return and refund policy for his business:
-In case of return and refund, who will be entitled to pay the shipping charges?
-what will you receive when you return the relevant product? Options could be; store credit, some kind of product similar to the returned one, etc.
-the number of days to be mentioned by the customer. On which date the product was bought and on which date they are applying for a refund or return?
-nature of the product, either it is a baby product, a gift, an electronic product, or a grocery product, etc., all the options should be mentioned for the customer to select from.
How do Shopify’s return and refund policy work?
As we have talked above about the return and refund policy of Amazon, likewise, there is another e-commerce platform that allows you to return as well as refund your products with it. “Shopify” is a complete business platform that allows you to start your online store of anything you desire. It offers some security protocols so that all your sensitive data, like the client’s details, are safe and sound from any interruption. Shopify also helps you with some templates and designs for creating a perfectly organized and presentable e-commerce store.
Similarly, Shopify also facilitates you with an excellent return policy when needed. However, there is also detailed information regarding the refund policy of Shopify on its help center page. And in addition to this, it also guides you well in terms of its return policy. There is a simple and very easy-to-follow step-by-step plan which lets you connect with the help center of Shopify, and then your item will be returned according to their services.
1. Enter the type of product you are required to return or refund,
2. Explain the reason also for returning or asking for a refund,
3. Inform about the time, when you had made the purchase, and when the product is being sent back.
4. Also, inform the help center about the shipping costs if you have paid or are still to be paid.
eBay’s Return and Refund Policy:
We are aware that millions of websites are now available at our one-click if we want to buy and sell anything we desire. Similarly, eBay is an online platform that is primarily famous for its auction activities and buyer-to-buyer sales. In addition to this, if you want to sell any household furniture, you can always opt to go on eBay as your platform.
However, creating an account for eBay is free, but you are eligible for some charges if you want to work as a seller.
Furthermore, eBay supports significantly in terms of returning or refunding products. The following simple conditions are applicable when you are engaging with eBay to replace or refund your product:
-You can always ask for a return of the product directly to the seller if not satisfied.
-if the seller doesn’t respond in 3 working days, you are then authorized to file a complaint to the eBay help center. They will deal with you directly afterward.
-However, the refunding is pretty simple; when the buyer asks you to refund their money, you could pay them from “eBay Money Back Guarantee” or “My eBay.”
-in addition to this, if you don’t have any holdings, you could always pay right away what you have, and the rest of the amount is saved as a liability upon you.
What effect do return and refund policies have on your business?
It is a known fact that a good refund and return policy has a prominent effect on your business. You are especially sometimes asked by the clients whether your company supports this policy or not. Therefore, to build a healthy reputation and gather a large audience, you need to make these kinds of efforts in your online store.
As discussed above, the reason for some well-known companies like Amazon and Shopify is just that they support a good and customer-friendly return policy.
Furthermore, if we talk about its benefits, a good return, and refund policy if established, will get you the following advantages:
- Target a large amount of audience response.
- It helps to build customers’ trust.
- Get a high amount of recommendations from customers.
- Eliminate the chances of fraud activities for customers.
- It helps to prove the security insurance of your company.