What Makes a Good Returns Policy? Our 9-Point Checklist
Most shoppers only read a returns policy after something has already gone wrong. By then the fine print is no longer a hypothetical — it's the difference between getting your money back and writing the purchase off. Below is the exact checklist our editors walk through before we list any merchant. It takes about five minutes per policy. Use it on anything above roughly $50.
1. How long is the return window?
30 days is the baseline we expect for physical goods. 14 is legal minimum in much of Europe but feels tight. Fewer than 14 days is a deal-breaker for everything except perishables. Extended windows around the holidays are a nice sign of good faith.
2. Who pays return shipping?
Three patterns exist. "Free returns" is strongest. "Prepaid label at buyer's cost" is fine and honest. "Buyer arranges and pays, no prepaid label" is the weakest — it's not a return policy so much as a return obstacle.
3. Is there a restocking fee?
Up to 10% we shrug at. 10–20% goes in the review's "cons" section. Above 20% is a red flag — it usually means the merchant is betting most customers won't bother.
4. Is the original packaging required?
"Original box required" is reasonable for electronics. "Original tags attached" is reasonable for apparel. "Original packaging, unused, in resalable condition" is a stack of conditions that can be interpreted as narrowly as the merchant likes. We grade generously, but we flag policies where the language sounds designed to give the merchant an out.
5. How fast is the refund processed?
Look for two numbers: time to process after they receive the return, and time for the refund to hit your bank. "Processed within 5 business days of receipt · refunded within 10 business days" is excellent. "Processed within 30 days" is the outer limit of acceptable.
6. Is the refund in original payment, store credit, or either?
"Refund to original payment method" is standard. "Store credit only" is fine only if it's clearly disclosed before purchase. A policy that switches from one to the other based on factors the customer doesn't control is a problem.
7. Are exchanges handled separately?
Good policies spell out the exchange flow (shipping label, replacement timing) independently from the refund flow. Policies that only describe refunds tend to handle exchanges poorly — customers report being pushed into "return, refund, re-buy" loops when they wanted a straightforward exchange.
8. Are there exclusions, and are they reasonable?
Exclusions are normal: personalized items, opened software, intimate apparel, final-sale items. We check that exclusions are disclosed before purchase (not just on the returns page), and that "final sale" isn't silently applied to most of the catalog during promotions.
9. What actually happens when a shipment arrives damaged?
This is the real stress test. Strong policies have a separate damage-claims process with a short deadline (e.g. "photograph within 48 hours of delivery") and a clear refund-or-replace promise. Policies that only describe "defective on arrival" without a damage protocol usually punt damage claims into customer-support tickets that drag on.
How we score it
Each item is graded pass / partial / fail. Five or more "pass" grades plus no more than one "fail" gets a merchant past our returns gate. Everything else either gets flagged in the review's "cons" list or knocks the merchant out of contention. The weight we put on a policy relative to product quality is deliberate — a decent product with a bad returns policy is, in our experience, a worse customer experience than a mediocre product with an excellent one.