Returns on sales

Buyers shop with more confidence when they know they can send something back. With returns switched on, a buyer can ask to return an item they bought through your site, within the number of days you choose. The seller accepts or refuses, the buyer sends it back, and the seller refunds them. Every step is a button, and both sides get an email.

Returns are part of the Professional and Marketplace plans. They work for items paid on your site: Buy Now, accepted offers and quotes, and the shopping cart (Marketplace plan). They work with the Nova and default themes.

Switch returns on

Returns are off until you switch them on. The setting is on the Commission on sales page, so you need Stripe Connect:

1. Open the Commission on sales page, for example with the Commission on sales link in Add-ons › Stripe (see where to find it).
2. In 5. Set your commission and switch on Buy now, make sure Buy now is on.
3. Switch on Returns and set Days to ask for a return.
4. Click Save.

Setting	What it does
Returns	Buyers can ask to return what they bought. Off by default.
Days to ask for a return	The return window, from 1 to 365 days. The default is 14. It counts from the day the buyer marked the order as received, or else the day it was shipped, or else the day it was paid.

Sellers can write their own Returns policy on their store. The buyer sees it when they ask for a return.

How a buyer asks for a return

1. In My Payments, the buyer clicks Return next to the order. The page says until when they can ask, and shows the seller’s returns policy if there is one.
2. They choose Why are you returning it?: It isn’t as described, It arrived damaged or faulty, I received the wrong item, I changed my mind or Something else.
3. They explain under Tell the seller what is wrong (10 to 2,000 characters) and click Ask for a return.

The seller gets an email. Return only shows on a paid order within the return window, with no other return open for it. A buyer who withdrew a return can ask again while the window is open.

What the seller does

The request appears on the sale in My Sales, with the reason and the buyer’s explanation. With messaging on, it is also in the Needs your action list at the top of the seller’s Messages, and so are the later steps for both sides.

1. The seller writes a note and clicks Accept the return or Refuse. When accepting, the note is the place to say where to send the item back. When refusing, a reason is required. The buyer is emailed either way.
2. Once the buyer has sent it, the seller clicks I have it back: refund the buyer. If they don’t want the item back, they can click Refund without the item back straight after accepting.

How the refund is made depends on how the buyer paid:

The buyer paid	Refund
By card through Stripe	The money goes back to the buyer’s card, and what the seller was paid for the sale (and your commission) is taken back. For a cart, only that seller’s part is refunded.
Any other way (PayPal, Escrow.com…)	The seller refunds the buyer themselves, the way they paid, then confirms with the same button. The order is marked as refunded.

A return always refunds the whole order. If Stripe refuses the refund, the return stays where it was and the seller sees why.

What the buyer does after an answer

On the order in My Payments, the buyer sees the status (Return requested, Return accepted, Return refused, Sent back, Refunded) and the seller’s note. Depending on the step they can:

• click I sent it back, with an optional tracking number, which emails the seller;
• Withdraw the return, while it hasn’t been refunded;
• Take it to the site team, if the seller refused it.

When a return is refused

If the buyer disagrees with a refusal, Take it to the site team turns it into a dispute on the order. Your administrators get an email, and the conversation appears in Reported conversations, where you read both sides and decide.

Good to know

• The return emails are written by Yclas and aren’t in Email templates.
• Themes with their own My Payments and My Sales pages (such as Atlantic Lite and the themes based on it) don’t show returns.
• A refund made through a return shows on the order in Orders like any other refund.

Related guides

• Disputes about an order — when buyer and seller can’t agree.
• Stripe and Stripe Connect — the payments returns refund through.
• Seller storefronts — where sellers write their returns policy.
• Checkout, payments and invoices for members — My Payments and My Sales.