How to write a returns policy for your online shop

To write a returns policy for your online shop, cover six things in plain English: how long customers have to return, how to start a return, the condition items should be in, who pays return postage, when and how they’ll be refunded, and any items that can’t be returned. Make sure it gives UK customers at least their legal rights, and keep it short enough to read on a phone.

Below is a structure you can follow, with example wording to adapt.

Start with the legal minimum

As of October 2026, your policy has to sit on top of UK consumer law, not replace it. For goods sold online to consumers, the key points are:

• The 14-day right to cancel under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, starting the day after delivery.
• A further 14 days for the customer to send the goods back.
• A refund within 14 days of getting the goods back (or proof they were sent), including the original standard delivery charge.
• Rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 for faulty goods, which no policy can take away.

Our guide to the legal pages every UK online shop needs explains these rules in more detail. This article is about turning them into a policy customers actually understand.

1. How long customers have

Say the number of days and when the clock starts. Be precise.

Offering longer than 14 days is common and can make people more confident buying. If you do, it’s cleaner to apply the same rules to the whole period, so customers don’t need to work out which rules apply on which day.

2. How to start a return

Give clear steps, and keep them simple.

1. 1Email us at returns@yourshop.co.uk or use our contact form, with your order number.
2. 2We’ll reply within one working day with the return address and instructions.
3. 3Pack the item securely and send it back within 14 days of telling us.

You must also make the model cancellation form available (a short standard form set out in the regulations), though customers can tell you in any clear way. Linking to it from the returns page is enough.

3. What condition items should be in

Be reasonable and specific. You can ask for items to be returned undamaged, but you can’t refuse a refund just because the box was opened to look at the product.

4. Who pays return postage

If customers are to pay for change-of-mind returns, you must say so before they buy. Otherwise you pay. Either way, state it clearly:

• “Returns are free. We’ll email you a prepaid label.”
• “If you change your mind, you’ll need to pay for return postage. We recommend a tracked service.”
• “If your item is faulty or we sent the wrong thing, we’ll cover the cost of returning it.”

5. Refunds: when and how

Tell people what to expect, so they don’t chase you.

6. Items that can’t be returned

Some goods are exempt from the 14-day cancellation right. Only list exceptions that genuinely apply to your products, such as:

• Items made to the customer’s specification or clearly personalised.
• Goods that go off quickly.
• Sealed goods not suitable for return for health or hygiene reasons, once unsealed.

If you rely on the hygiene exception, the seal needs to be obvious and the product page should say it can’t be returned once opened.

7. Faulty or damaged items

Give faulty goods their own short section, because the rules and the tone are different.

8. Warranties and guarantees

If your products come with a guarantee or warranty, mention it and link to the details. Make it clear that it’s in addition to the customer’s legal rights.

Write it so people read it

• Use headings that match questions: “How do I return something?”, “When will I get my money back?”
• Short sentences, no legal jargon, and “you” and “we”.
• Put the key facts (days, cost, refund time) right at the top.
• Link to it from the footer, product pages, the basket and order confirmation emails.
• Date it, and update it when anything changes.

Common mistakes

• “No refunds, exchanges only”: this conflicts with the legal right to cancel.
• “Sale items cannot be returned”: sale items have the same legal rights.
• Asking customers to pay return postage without having said so before purchase.
• Copying another shop’s policy that doesn’t match how you actually work.
• Promising a refund time you can’t meet because your warehouse checks returns slowly.

Make your process match the policy

A policy is only as good as how you run returns day to day. Read our guide on how to handle returns for a UK online shop to set up the process behind it.

In short

Write a short, plain-English page that covers the return window, how to start a return, condition, return postage, refund timing and genuine exceptions. Give at least the legal minimum, handle faulty goods separately, say who pays postage before people buy, and link to the policy wherever customers make decisions.