Disclaimer: this article is general information, not legal advice, and it does not create a lawyer-client relationship. Consumer law differs by country and changes, so have your policy checked for each market you sell to.
A return and refund policy tells shoppers how long they have to send something back, who pays the postage and when the money reaches them. Customers read it before they buy, and you will reread it every time a return lands in your inbox, so write it before the first one arrives.
Below you will find the legal minimums in the markets Jumpseller stores sell to most, the decisions your policy has to settle, and a template you can paste into your store and edit.
Returns, refunds and exchanges are different promises
Shoppers use the three words interchangeably, but your policy should keep them apart. A return is the item travelling back to you. A refund is money going back to the customer, sometimes with no return at all, as with a duplicate charge. An exchange sends a replacement out when the original comes back, and money only moves if the prices differ.
The legal minimum in each market
In most countries the law sets a floor for online purchases. Your policy can be more generous than that floor, never stricter, and a clause that promises less than the law is simply void.
| Market | Change-of-mind period for online purchases | Counted from |
|---|---|---|
| European Union (including Spain and Portugal) | 14 days | Delivery |
| United Kingdom | 14 days | Delivery |
| Brazil | 7 days | Delivery |
| Chile | 10 days | Delivery |
| Argentina | 10 days | Delivery or purchase |
| Mexico | 5 business days | Delivery |
| Colombia | 5 business days | Delivery |
European Union, Spain and Portugal
The Consumer Rights Directive (2011/83/EU) gives buyers 14 days from delivery to withdraw without giving a reason. If you never tell them about that right, the period runs for another 12 months. Once they withdraw, you have 14 days to refund everything they paid, including the cheapest standard delivery you offered, using the same payment method unless they agree to something else. You can wait until the item is back or until they show proof of posting.
The customer pays the direct cost of sending the item back only if you said so before the sale. You cannot charge a restocking fee, but you can deduct for wear beyond what someone would do to try the product in a shop. Personalised items, perishables, sealed hygiene products opened after delivery, unsealed audio, video and software, and digital content downloaded after the buyer agreed to give up the right are excluded.
From 19 June 2026, Directive (EU) 2023/2673 adds an online withdrawal function: a clearly labelled “withdraw from contract here” option available for the whole 14 days. Each country has to write it into national law and Spain, for one, had not done so by that date, so check where you sell. Faulty goods fall under a separate legal guarantee: at least 2 years across the EU, and 3 years in Portugal and Spain for goods bought since 1 January 2022.
United Kingdom
UK buyers also get 14 days from delivery to cancel and another 14 days to send the item back. You refund the standard delivery cost and the price within 14 days of getting the item back, and the same exclusions apply. See the UK government guidance.
Brazil
The Código de Defesa do Consumidor (art. 49) gives 7 days from delivery to cancel anything bought outside a physical shop, which covers every online order. The money goes back immediately, adjusted for inflation, and Brazilian courts have held that the store pays the return postage. Decree 7.962/2013 adds that you must explain how to cancel, accept the request through the same channel used to buy, confirm receipt straight away and ask the card issuer to reverse the charge. Defects are separate: the buyer has 30 days (non-durable goods) or 90 days (durable goods) to report an obvious fault.
Spanish-speaking Latin America
- Chile: 10 days from delivery under Ley 19.496, art. 3 bis, as reinforced by the 2021 Ley Pro Consumidor. Since February 2025 a regulation lists the only goods you may exclude (installed or used beyond inspection, perishables, made to the buyer’s specifications, sealed hygiene items once opened), and the exclusion has to appear next to the price using the words “derecho a retracto”. Faulty products carry a 6-month legal guarantee.
- Argentina: 10 days, at no cost to the buyer, and stores must show a “botón de arrepentimiento” link on the home page.
- Mexico: 5 business days from delivery to cancel (Ley Federal de Protección al Consumidor, art. 56). The buyer pays freight and insurance for the return.
- Colombia: 5 business days from delivery (Ley 1480 de 2011, art. 47). You refund within 30 calendar days, the buyer pays return transport, and perishables and personal-use goods are excluded.
When you ship across borders, the buyer’s country usually decides which rules apply. Elsewhere, including the United States, rules vary by state or country, so check before you publish.
Choosing your return window
Thirty days is the figure stores copy from each other. Start there, adjust by category, and never go below the legal period of any market you ship to. Clothing and footwear can justify a longer window, since fit problems only show once the box is open. Electronics often get a shorter change-of-mind window plus a separate warranty clause. Fresh food, flowers and personalised items are usually excluded from change-of-mind returns, which you should also say on the product page.
Count the window from delivery rather than purchase. It is clearer and matches how most consumer laws count.
Who pays return shipping, and what you can charge
If the item is faulty, damaged or wrong, you pay. Send a prepaid label rather than asking the customer to claim the cost back later.
For change-of-mind returns, the law decides in some markets: the store pays in Brazil and Argentina, while in the EU, UK, Mexico and Colombia the buyer can be asked to pay if your policy says so. Where you have a choice, it is the most expensive line in the document. Covering it removes a reason to hesitate at checkout, and charging for it protects your margin on cheap items. Set the figure alongside your shipping methods, since outbound and return postage come out of the same margin.
Restocking fees are not allowed on statutory withdrawals in the EU and UK, so limit them to returns you accept beyond the law, and put the exact amount in writing.
Items you can exclude
An exclusion only holds if you state it before the sale, and it has to match what the local law allows:
- Perishables such as food and fresh flowers
- Items made to the customer’s specifications or personalised
- Sealed hygiene products, such as cosmetics or underwear, once the seal is broken
- Sealed audio, video or software once opened
- Digital downloads, if the buyer ticked a box agreeing to start the download and lose the right to cancel
Brazil’s consumer code has no list of exceptions, and courts have ruled both ways on personalised and perishable goods, so get local advice before refusing a cancellation within the 7 days.
Handling a return request
- The customer sends the order number, the item, the reason and photos if something arrived damaged.
- You confirm receipt at once and reply within a stated number of business days with the return address or a label.
- You inspect the item when it arrives, then refund, exchange or decline, and tell the customer which and why.
A reference number per request helps you match parcels to orders, but the legal withdrawal right cannot depend on it: in the EU and Brazil, a clear message from the customer within the deadline is enough.
Refunds, payment methods and chargebacks
Refunds go back through the method the customer paid with. The card issuer decides when the money shows on a statement, so promise the date you send it. Bank transfer and cash on delivery orders need the customer’s account details, so say how you collect them, and check what your payment gateway can refund automatically.
Store credit works as an option the customer chooses, never as a replacement for a refund the law requires in money. In Jumpseller you can issue that credit as a gift card code. If a customer files a chargeback instead, your defence is the published policy, tracking, proof of delivery and your message history, so keep all four.
A return and refund policy template you can copy
Replace everything in square brackets and delete the clauses that do not apply. Before publishing, check it against the section on legal minimums: in the EU and UK the refund deadline is 14 days and includes the standard delivery charge, and in Brazil and Argentina change-of-mind return postage is on you.
[Store Name] Return and Refund Policy Last updated: [Date]
1. Your right to return. You can return any item within [X days] of delivery. If the law where you live gives you a longer period to cancel an online purchase, that period applies instead. To start a return, write to [support email] or use [returns page URL].
2. Condition of returned items. Please return items in the condition you received them, with tags, accessories and packaging where possible. We may reduce the refund to reflect handling beyond what is needed to check the item.
3. Items we cannot take back. [Perishable goods; personalised or made-to-order items; sealed hygiene products once opened; digital downloads once started with your consent.] These exclusions do not affect your rights if the item is faulty.
4. How returns work. Send us your order number, the items and the reason, plus photos if anything arrived damaged. We confirm receipt immediately and reply within [X business days] with the return address [or a prepaid label].
5. Return shipping. If the item is faulty, damaged or not what you ordered, we pay for the return. If you changed your mind, return shipping is [paid by you / paid by us].
6. Refunds. We refund within [X days] of receiving your request, using the payment method you used for the order, unless you ask for store credit. We may wait until the item reaches us or you send proof of shipping. The original standard delivery charge is [refunded / not refunded].
7. Exchanges. We exchange items for a different size or colour while stock lasts. Follow the steps in section 4 and tell us which replacement you want. Price differences are charged or refunded.
8. Damaged deliveries and cancellations. Please tell us about transport damage within [X days] of delivery, with photos, so we can claim from the carrier. This does not shorten your legal guarantee. You can cancel any order that has not shipped by writing to [support email], for a full refund.
9. Your legal rights. Nothing in this policy limits the rights you have under the consumer law that applies to your purchase.
Contact: [Legal business name], [registration number], [address], [support email], [phone].
Publishing the policy and linking it at checkout
Give the policy its own page, link it in the footer next to your terms and privacy policy, and add a link near the payment button so the terms count as disclosed before purchase. Repeat it in the order confirmation email, the message customers search for later.
In Jumpseller, go to Pages > Legal in the admin panel, open the refund policy and either paste your edited text or click Use Our Template, then add the page to your footer menu. The legal pages guide walks through each step. If you advertise on Google Shopping, a missing or hard-to-find return policy is one of the reasons Merchant Center suspends accounts (Google Shopping setup).
Date the document and keep old versions. A dispute is judged on the terms shown when the customer bought.
Next step
Publish the policy, then place a test order and check that the link appears on the product page, cart, checkout and confirmation email. After that, review your terms and conditions and privacy policy so the three documents say the same thing about returns.
