If you are not a good writer or a beginner and see that the Etsy Shop Policies are optional you might just think, “Nah, I’ll do it later.” And you may even be questioning whether it is worth the effort or not.
I’m here to save you time, effort and stress because Etsy Shop Policies are extremely necessary especially if your store starts to grow. If you continue to read, I will show you my FREE Etsy Shop Policy Templates. I came to realize that there are a lot of people out there that will try their luck in getting free products or working ways around your store to get free products. Your Etsy shop policies are basically setting ground rules for consumers before they decide to purchase.
Why do I need policies?
Think about it like this. You are a teacher and you walk into your class without writing the rules of the class on the board. The students are 100% going to give you hassles from the get go and keep pushing the boundaries. However, if you write the rules down and stay consistent the students will behave in the way you would like them too.
This example is perfectly fitting for your shop policies and dealing with customers. Your policies also serve as protection for you in case there are issues that arrive and customers complain to Etsy support team. If you have been consistent and have it written down you will have no need to worry.
With that being said there are 4 areas which are namely; REFUNDS, CANCELATIONS, SHIPPING and RETURNS that you will need to cover in your policies and I will give you a template that you are able to copy, edit and paste onto your store.
REFUNDS
When it comes to refunds you need to be specific on your conditions for a refund which are in general damaged packages on arrival or default products. Moreover, in the case mentioned above I like to offer the consumer the choice to either request that a new product gets sent to them or they get a full refund.
You also need to mention how long the process will take because if you do not the customer may get agitated if it takes longer then they expect and ultimately lead to a bad review. The template for a refund police should look like this:
Etsy Shop Policy Templates: Refund Policy:
Here at (shop name) we are happy to offer refunds to any products that are:
- Damaged upon arrival or mishandled during shipment
- Any manufacturing errors
If you feel your package matches the descriptions above, please reach out to us with evidence in the form of a photo or video and we will can either assist you by sending you a new product free of charge or offering you a full refund.
If you want us to send you a new product the shipping times will be the same as normal. However, if you want a refund then the process should take 1-2 days. If you want to avoid customer complains before they happen you can read more on my blog here.
CANCELATION POLICY
Customers requesting cancelations happens surprisingly more often than you would like. You need to set a time frame in which customers are able to cancel their order otherwise you could have already sent the order and they ask for cancelations which can become costly to you. The template for a cancelation policy should look like this:
Etsy Shop Policy Templates : Cancelation policy:
If you placed an order by mistake or you have changed your mind on your purchase, we will cancel your order. However, you need to cancel your order with in (how many hours you choose).
If you try to cancel your order any time after (Hours mentioned) it will be too late as your package will already be with the shipping company.
SHIPPING POLICY
Customers can get very excited and impatient so you will find that your inbox will be filled with questions about shipping. Setting things straight on your policies can help a great deal for your mental health.
For shipping policies, you must include tracking information time, shipping time, shipping prices. Additionally, you can include some information about what happens if their product is lost in the mail. Your shipping policy can look something like this:
Etsy Shop Policy Templates : Shipping policy:
All orders are processed within (1) to (how many days it takes) business days (excluding weekends and holidays) after receiving your order confirmation email. You will receive another notification when your order has been shipped and you will receive your tracking information.
Once you have received the email about your package being shipped the product should arrive within (how many days it will take) business days.
Shipping rates
Here at (Business name) we take great pride in the fact that all shipping is free. We are able to ensure that our products get shipped for free with no extra costs added.
IF YOUR SHIPPING IS NOT FREE ADD YOUR SHIPPING RATES HERE OR STATE THAT SHIPPING WILL BE CALCULATED AT CHECK OUT.
How do I check the status of my order?
When your order has shipped, you will receive an email notification from us which will include a tracking number you can use to check its status. Please allow 48 hours for the tracking information to become available.
If you haven’t received your order within (How many days)days of receiving your shipping confirmation email, please contact us and we will look into it for you.
What happens if my order is lost in the mail?
If your order is lost. You can contact us directly and we will help rectify the situation.
RETURNS
Returns can be come tricky and quite frankly a waste of time in my opinion. I suggest that you state in your returns policy that you actually don’t accept returns. Be stern when writing this to stop the unnecessary enquiries.
Customers generally ask to return a product if it doesn’t fit them or they actually don’t like the product in person so they just want to send it back to you. But if you state that you don’t offer returns based on these conditions there’s nothing they can do. Here’s what your returns policy should look like:
Returns policy:
Unfortunately, we DO NOT offer returns on our products. Before ordering with us please make sure the sizing is correct and that you love our product. We are very honest in our product descriptions.
However, if your product is damaged or defaulted refer to our Refunds policy.
There’s that and now you have 4 free templates that you can copy, edit and paste onto your Etsy store with little to no effort. So please don’t skip this step when you are thinking “Nah I’ll do it later”. Remember stay true to your policies and keep consistent with consumers.
