Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hi,
  I thought that I would post this to get an idea of how you handle returns. I don`t have a policy yet for my business. Since I am starting to get alot of orders and things are moving forward I would appreciate any helpful hints. I will be implementing these when my website is up and running. I sell Messages made with Signal Flags.

What has worked for you?

Suggestions?

Kathy




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Are these Signal Flags special made for one individual? What would you do with the ones you return?

I have a simple return policy.  Don`t like it (for any reason) return it to us for a 100% refund.  They have 30 days from receipt of the jeans to make up their mind.

K.I.S.S.

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Daniel the Denim Doctor

Are these Signal Flags special made for one individual? What would you do with the ones you return?

I do both custom orders and pre-made banners. They are both selling well although at this point more custom. What started out as just selling these on eBay has become a good business. I know that if anyone wanted to return I could rotate them back into stock.

I thought about a 30 day return but just wanted to find out the average. I also want to know who is responsible for the shipping if they decide to return.

For a young start-up 30 days seems like a long time because of I am using my capital at this point to pay for the supplies that I need.

Any thoughts?


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Kathy,
I had a customer return 3 aprons just before Christmas. I
refunded her the entire amount but not the shipping.
Hope that helps
Sarah

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Sarah Founder www.sarahsperfectgift.com Gift giving made easy

It really depends on the merchandise for your return policy. To return stuff at Target, you probably have 30 days, but to return a car, you have 5 (if you`re lucky) and it has to be in good condition.

Here is my suggestions: If a customer wants to return something, ask them why they want to return it. If it is defective, offer to exchange it before letting them return it. If they want to return it just because they don`t want it anymore, then that`s up to you. You can take it back and refund the money, you can charge a "restocking fee" and return part of the money, or you can say all sales are final. Of course, if there is shipping charges, you`ll also need to state if you will cover it or if the customer will.

 I highly suggest that if you do any custom orders you make it very clear at the beginning of the sale that you don`t want it back without some sort of penalty, because you can`t just resell it to someone else.

Also, all return policies need a timeline. Whether it be 30 days or 30 months, set a limit on the time. Maybe you could include that on the order form a line on "if you don`t like it, call me within 7 days of the receipt" or something like that.

Thanks Sarah and FiberArtist,

It does help and both of you offer good suggestions. I think that I will go with the 30 day back policy.

Also the asking them why they want to return it is a great idea. If it can`t be worked out for an exchange then I will refund their money. I also think that they will be resposible for shipping.

Lastly with the business that I have even though some of the flags are custom they can be rotated back into stock as long as they are not damaged. I think that I will put that also in the return policy. If they were to damage it in so way like spilling food on it or something on that line then they couldn`t return it.

Thanks for your help,
Kathy




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Thanks for the input above since I`m also trying to figure out a policy. I`ll be having an online store, so what does everyone think about 30 days return policy and giving a store credit for the returned merchandise and the store credit must be used within 60 days?  The customer would pay return shipping charges, unless it is my error of shipping an incorrect item.

jillybeans

I think that it is a good idea and sounds reasonable.

Kathy


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