What Is Return & Refund Policy Generator?
Return & Refund Policy Generator creates clear, professional return and refund policies for e-commerce stores, SaaS products, and service businesses. It covers return windows, condition requirements, refund methods, exceptions, and shipping responsibilities — reducing disputes and chargebacks.
How to Use This Tool
Specify your business type, return window (30 days, 60 days, etc.), refund method (original payment, store credit), condition requirements, and any exceptions. The tool generates a formatted policy you can add to your website or checkout flow. Everything runs in your browser with no data uploaded.
Why Use Return & Refund Policy Generator?
A clear return policy reduces customer service tickets, prevents chargebacks, and builds buyer confidence. This tool produces professional, comprehensive policies in minutes instead of hours — free, with no signup, and your business details remain private. For a detailed walkthrough, see our step-by-step guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a return policy legally required?+
It depends where you sell. In the US there is no federal law requiring stores to accept returns, but roughly a dozen states require you to conspicuously disclose your policy — California (Civ. Code §1723), Florida (§501.142), Massachusetts (940 CMR 3.13), Minnesota, New York, Virginia, and others. Miss the disclosure and most of those states impose a default refund window (7 days in FL, 30 days in CA and NY, etc.). In the EU, the Consumer Rights Directive gives consumers a 14-day cooling-off period for distance sales — this is a statutory right you cannot waive. The UK Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 mirror this. Australia's ACL requires refunds for 'major failures' regardless of your posted policy. A clear written policy is not just required in many places — it is also the single cheapest way to avoid disputes, chargebacks, and regulatory complaints.
What happened to the FTC Click-to-Cancel Rule?+
The FTC's Rule Concerning Recurring Subscriptions and Other Negative Option Programs (the 'Click-to-Cancel Rule') was finalized on October 16, 2024, but was vacated by the Eighth Circuit on July 8, 2025 on procedural grounds — the court found the FTC failed to issue a required preliminary regulatory analysis. The Rule is not currently in effect. However, ROSCA (Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act), FTC Act §5, and over 25 state auto-renewal laws still apply. California's auto-renewal law is now widely treated as the de facto national standard, and at least half a dozen other states have enacted similar requirements. The generator's subscription templates use California's rules as a compliance baseline because they are the strictest widely-applicable standard, and that makes policies portable.
How is this different from Termly, TermsFeed, or iubenda's generators?+
Four ways. First, all features are free with no paywalls — competitors gate jurisdiction packs, subscription-specific clauses, chargeback guidance, and digital-goods exceptions behind $10-99/month subscriptions. Second, depth: 8 business-model templates (SaaS, physical e-commerce, digital products, subscriptions, marketplace, services, courses, mobile apps), 14 jurisdictions including state-by-state US disclosure rules, EU withdrawal-right exceptions, UK Consumer Contracts Regulations, ACL major/minor failure framework, chargeback reason-code mapping, and the post-vacate subscription landscape — most competitors still reference the vacated Click-to-Cancel Rule as if it were in effect. Third, practical output: a policy plus short-form placement copy for checkout, product pages, and order confirmations. Fourth, privacy: runs 100% in your browser, no signup, no account.
Does this cover EU 14-day withdrawal rights and digital goods exceptions?+
Yes. The EU templates implement the Consumer Rights Directive (2011/83/EU) as amended by the Omnibus Directive (2019/2161), including the 14-day right of withdrawal for distance contracts, the start dates for goods and services, and the full list of exceptions: perishables, sealed hygiene goods, personalized or made-to-order items, sealed audio/video/software once unsealed, and digital content where the consumer expressly waived the right and acknowledged loss. It also flags the new 19 June 2026 requirement (Directive EU 2023/2673) that online sellers provide a clear 'Cancel my contract' function on their e-commerce sites.
Does it handle UK and Australian rules too?+
Yes. UK templates implement the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 (14-day cooling-off for distance sales, further 14 days to return, refund within 14 days of notification) alongside the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (30-day short-term right to reject for faulty goods). Australian templates implement the ACL's consumer-guarantee framework: major failures let the consumer choose between refund, replacement, or repair, while minor failures let the business choose — and the scorecard flags language that tries to disclaim these guarantees (blanket 'no refunds' signs are unlawful under the ACL). Canada (Competition Act + provincial rules) and India (Consumer Protection Act 2019) are also covered.
What about chargebacks — does the policy address those?+
Yes, and this is where most off-the-shelf policies fall short. The generator maps your policy to the most common Visa/Mastercard dispute reason codes: 13.1 (merchandise/services not received), 13.2 (cancelled recurring transaction), 13.3 (not as described or defective), 13.5 (misrepresentation), 13.6 (credit not processed), and 12.4/12.5 (incorrect amount or duplicate). Each clause is drafted to be the documented policy the card network will look at in a representment — if your policy clearly disclosed the return window, restocking fee, or non-returnable category, you have a documented defense. The scorecard flags gaps that commonly lose representments.
Can I exclude certain items from refunds (final sale, custom, digital)?+
Yes, with limits. The generator supports eight common exclusion categories — final sale, custom/personalized, perishable, intimate/hygiene items, digital downloads after access, gift cards, services already rendered, and items damaged by the buyer — and adds the correct jurisdictional carve-outs automatically. For example, under the EU CRD and UK CCR you can exclude personalized goods and sealed hygiene products only if you disclose the exclusion before purchase. Under Australia's ACL you cannot exclude the consumer guarantees for faulty goods even if the item was on final sale. The scorecard warns when an exclusion you set is unenforceable in a jurisdiction you selected.
Can I save my progress and update the policy later?+
Yes. Your configuration auto-saves in your browser's localStorage and persists across sessions on the same device. You can also export your configuration as JSON to back up, transfer, or share with a team or attorney. When rules change — for example, when the EU's mandatory cancellation-button requirement takes effect on 19 June 2026, or if the FTC re-promulgates a version of the Click-to-Cancel Rule — load the JSON, review the affected sections, and re-export.
Built by Derek Giordano · Part of Ultimate Design Tools
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