How to write a no refund policy, and what UK and EU law won't let you refuse
Three templates for US, UK and EU stores, plus the returns the law won't let you refuse
Published
How to write a no refund policy without breaking the law depends on where your customers live. In most of the US you can refuse change-of-mind returns, as long as you say so clearly. In the UK and the EU you can't, because online shoppers there have a legal 14-day right to cancel, so a flat "no refunds" line on a UK or EU store is a promise you're not allowed to keep.
What you can do everywhere is say no to the returns you don't want and be clear about the ones the law makes you take. That's what this guide covers. If you just want the wording, skip to the three templates for US, UK and EU stores.
Can you have a no refund policy?#
In the US, yes. There's no federal right to return something you bought online because you changed your mind. The FTC's Cooling-Off Rule covers door-to-door and pop-up sales, and the FTC says it doesn't apply to sales made entirely online, by mail, or telephone. States add their own rules, though, and several of them say that a store which limits refunds has to display that policy conspicuously, or the customer gets a refund right anyway. California's Civil Code section 1723 says a retailer with a no-refund, exchange-only or credit-only policy has to display it conspicuously, and a retailer that doesn't is liable for a refund if the buyer brings the item back within 30 days. New York's General Business Law section 218-a works the same way, with its own 30-day window. Those rules are written around tills, entrances and tags... so for an online store I'd put the policy where people actually look: the product page and checkout.
In the UK, only partly. Under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, an online shopper can cancel within 14 days of the day the goods arrive, for any reason. You can't write that away. What you can do is refuse the product types the law excludes, and charge for return postage if you say so before the customer buys. Past that, you don't owe anything beyond the legal minimum.
In the EU, the same. The Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83/EU (Article 9) gives online shoppers 14 days to withdraw without giving a reason, starting the day they get the goods. Each country writes it into its own law, and some go further, but 14 days is the floor.
If you're a UK or US store shipping to EU customers, assume EU rules apply to those orders. Under the Rome I Regulation (Article 6), a consumer contract with a business that directs its sales to the customer's country is governed by that country's law, and picking a different law in your terms can't take those protections away.
What you can exclude from change-of-mind returns#
The UK and the EU use almost identical lists. These are the ones that matter for most online stores, from regulation 28 in the UK and Article 16 of the EU directive:
- Goods made to the customer's specifications or clearly personalised. An engraved necklace, a made-to-measure curtain, a print with someone's name on it.
- Goods that go off or expire quickly. Fresh food, cut flowers.
- Sealed goods that can't be returned for health or hygiene reasons, once the customer has unsealed them. Think cosmetics or pierced earrings in sealed packaging.
- Sealed audio, video or software, once unsealed.
- Goods that get mixed inseparably with other things after delivery.
- Digital content that isn't on a physical medium, once the download or stream has started, but only if the customer agreed to it starting straight away and acknowledged they'd lose the right to cancel (regulation 37 in the UK, Article 16(m) in the EU).
Notice the word "sealed" doing a lot of work. So swimwear and underwear aren't automatically exempt. If they come in sealed hygiene packaging and the seal's broken, they are. If they come in a plain poly bag, they're not, and you'll have to take them back.
What you can't exclude#
Faulty goods. Anywhere.
In the UK, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 gives a customer 30 days to reject faulty goods for a full refund. After that, they're entitled to a repair or replacement, and a refund or price cut if that doesn't fix it (section 24). A fault that shows up within six months of delivery is presumed to have been there all along unless you can show otherwise (section 19(14)). In England and Wales, a customer has six years to bring a claim. And any term that tries to limit those rights isn't binding on the customer (section 31). That includes "no refunds on sale items" if it's meant to cover faults.
In the EU, the Sale of Goods Directive 2019/771 makes the seller liable for faults that appear within two years of delivery (Article 10), and countries can set longer periods. A fault in the first year is presumed to have been there at delivery, and some countries make that two years (Article 11).
In the US, faulty goods fall under warranty law. State law gives buyers an implied warranty that a product will do what it's supposed to. The FTC's guide to federal warranty law explains that you can usually disclaim it with clear "as is" wording, but not if you offer a written warranty. My advice is simpler than the law: refund or replace faulty items, everywhere. A store that fights a customer over a broken product usually loses more in reviews and chargebacks than the item cost.
The six decisions every refund policy needs#
A policy is just answers to six questions. Get these down before you write a word:
- Return window. How long after delivery can someone send something back for a change of mind? In the UK and EU, at least 14 days. In the US, whatever you choose, including zero.
- Faulty or damaged items. What the customer gets, and what proof you want from them first.
- Exceptions. Which products are final sale, and on what legal basis if you sell in the UK or EU.
- Refund method. Original payment, store credit or exchange. In the UK and EU a legal cancellation has to be refunded to the original payment method unless the customer agrees otherwise (UK regulation 34, EU Article 13).
- Who pays return postage. In the UK and EU the customer pays for change-of-mind returns only if you told them before they bought (UK regulation 35, EU Article 14). If you didn't, you pay.
- How fast the refund arrives. For a UK cancellation, within 14 days of getting the goods back, or of the customer showing proof they've sent them, whichever comes first. For an EU withdrawal, within 14 days of the customer telling you, though you can hold the refund until the goods or proof of postage arrive.
The last two are the ones stores forget most. More on that below.
Three no refund policy templates#
Fill in the square brackets and delete what doesn't apply. Each one is written to be pasted straight into Shopify's refund policy page (Settings, then Policies) or any other store's policy page.
Template 1: US store (no change-of-mind returns)#
Refund and returns policy
All sales are final
We don't accept returns or give refunds if you change your mind, so please check sizes, colors and product details before you order. If you're not sure about something, email us at [email] before you buy and we'll help.
Faulty, damaged or wrong items
If your order arrives faulty, damaged or isn't what you ordered, email [email] within [30] days of delivery with your order number and a photo. We'll send a replacement or give you a full refund, including the original shipping cost. You won't pay to send anything back.
Late orders
We ship within [3] business days. If we can't ship your order by the time we've told you, we'll let you know and you can choose to wait or cancel for a full refund.
How refunds are paid
Approved refunds go back to your original payment method within [5] business days. Your bank or card provider may take a few more days to show it.
Questions
Email [email]. We reply within [1] business day.
That late-orders clause isn't decoration. The FTC's Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule says you have to ship within the time you state (or 30 days if you don't state one), and if you can't, you have to offer the customer the choice to wait or cancel for a prompt refund.
Template 2: UK store (legal minimum only)#
Refund and returns policy
Your right to cancel
You can cancel your order for any reason within 14 days of the day you receive it. Tell us by emailing [email] with your order number. You don't need to give a reason. You then have 14 days from telling us to send the items back to [return address].
Return postage
You pay the cost of returning items you've cancelled. If an item is faulty, we pay.
Your refund
We'll refund what you paid, including standard delivery, within 14 days of receiving the items back or of you sending us proof of postage, whichever comes first. If you chose a faster delivery option, we refund the cost of standard delivery only. Refunds go back to your original payment method. We may reduce your refund if an item has been handled more than you'd need to check it in a shop.
Items you can't cancel
Unless they're faulty, we can't accept returns of: [personalised or made-to-order items], [food, flowers and other perishables], [cosmetics, pierced earrings or other items in sealed hygiene packaging, once the seal is broken]. Delete any that don't apply to your store.
Faulty or damaged items
This policy doesn't affect your legal rights. If something arrives faulty, damaged or not as described, email [email] with your order number and a photo. Within 30 days of delivery you can have a full refund. After that we'll repair or replace it, and if that doesn't put it right, you can have a refund.
Questions
Email [email]. We reply within [1] working day.
Template 3: EU store (legal minimum only)#
Refund and returns policy
Your right of withdrawal
You can withdraw from your order for any reason within 14 days of the day you receive it. Use the "Withdraw from contract here" button on [your order page / our website], or email [email] with your order number. You don't need to give a reason. You then have 14 days from telling us to send the items back to [return address].
Return postage
You pay the direct cost of returning items after a withdrawal. If an item is faulty, we pay.
Your refund
We'll refund everything you paid, including standard delivery, within 14 days of receiving your withdrawal. We may wait until we've received the items back, or you've sent us proof of postage, whichever comes first. If you chose a more expensive delivery option, we refund the cost of standard delivery only. Refunds go back to your original payment method unless you agree to something else, and there's no fee. We may reduce your refund if an item has been handled more than you'd need to check it.
Items you can't return
Unless they're faulty, we can't accept returns of: [personalised or made-to-order items], [food, flowers and other perishables], [items in sealed hygiene packaging, once the seal is broken], [digital downloads, once you've agreed to the download starting straight away]. Delete any that don't apply to your store.
Faulty items
This policy doesn't affect your legal rights. Every new item comes with a legal guarantee of at least two years from delivery. If something is faulty or not as described, email [email] with your order number and a photo. You can choose a repair or a replacement, and if neither is possible or it doesn't fix the problem, you can have a refund.
Questions
Email [email]. We reply within [1] working day.
The button in that template is the newest rule here. Since 19 June 2026, Directive 2023/2673 has required stores selling online to EU customers to give them a withdrawal function, labelled "withdraw from contract here" or something equally clear, available for the whole withdrawal period. The customer fills in their name and order, presses a second "confirm withdrawal" button, and you send them an acknowledgement with the date and time. It's EU law, so it isn't part of UK law, but it covers UK and US stores too when they sell online to EU customers.
Common mistakes#
In October 2026 we ran an automated review of 90 UK and Irish Shopify stores and hand-checked a sample of the results, so treat the figures as approximate. 71 had a published refund policy. Most cover the basics. The gaps were the same few, over and over:
- About 6 in 10 don't say how fast the refund arrives. Someone who's just posted a parcel back wants to know when the money lands, and the law already gives you the answer (14 days in the UK and EU).
- About half don't mention the 14-day right to cancel at all. Leaving it out doesn't remove it. In the UK, if you don't tell customers about the right to cancel, it runs for up to 12 months longer (regulation 31). The EU rule is the same (Article 10).
- About 4 in 10 don't say who pays return postage. In the UK and EU that silence means you do.
- Roughly 4 in 10 are Shopify's default template, unedited or nearly so. The template's a fine start, but it can't know your exceptions or your timings.
Two more I'd add from reading them. "Store credit only" for UK or EU cancellations doesn't work, because those refunds go back to the original payment method unless the customer agrees. And "no refunds on sale items" is fine for change of mind in the US, but in the UK and EU it can't cover faulty goods or the 14-day right.
Our refund policy guide walks through a worked example, and the return policy examples page shows ten annotated clauses, good and bad.
From policy page to support replies#
The page is the easy part. The hard part is the customer who emails on day 16 asking for a refund on an engraved bracelet, and the person answering at 11pm who doesn't remember which of your rules applies.
Hay.chat turns that page into rules an AI agent follows: check the order, apply the window, draft the refund reply for approval. When a customer asks for an RMA number or just wants to know where their order is, it checks the order itself instead of guessing.
Frequently asked questions
Sources#
- UK: Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, regulations 28, 30, 31, 34, 35 and 37
- UK: Consumer Rights Act 2015, sections 19, 22, 24 and 31
- UK: Limitation Act 1980, section 5 (England and Wales)
- EU: Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83/EU, Articles 9, 10, 13, 14 and 16
- EU: Directive (EU) 2023/2673, new Article 11a (withdrawal function)
- EU: Sale of Goods Directive (EU) 2019/771, Articles 10 and 11
- EU: Rome I Regulation (EC) 593/2008, Article 6
- US: FTC, the Cooling-Off Rule; FTC, Businessperson's Guide to Federal Warranty Law; 16 CFR Part 435; California Civil Code section 1723; New York General Business Law section 218-a
- Store data: our automated October 2026 review of 90 UK and Irish Shopify stores, hand-checked on a sample (71 had a published refund policy; figures are approximate)
Turn your policy into rules an agent follows
Hay.chat applies your refund policy when customers ask about returns. Try it free for 30 days, no credit card needed.