Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

What would be a good return policy for selling personal care products online?  I understand with clothing and other related goods, its usually 10-30 days as long as its unworn, tags are still attached, etc.  But I have a hard time making a decision when it comes to personal care products.  With clothes and shoes, a customer can just try them on and decide they don’t fit, don’t like it etc and return them as long as everything is still intact, but its much different with personal care products.

 

Is it fair to have a policy stating that no returns or exchanges should be made if the products has been used in any way?  Larger retailers such as Sephora.com do allow for returns and exchanges on used products but they are quite large.  What about smaller retailers?  What is fair?

It`s fair if you first provide a comprehensive set of information about your product. We work in fabrics, part of the textile industry. Not only do colors have to *exactly* match, but the structure and form of the fabric is critical.

When we`re shopping online, we simply can`t see the real fabric, feel it, test it, and verify the true color (as opposed to a photograph). To solve the problem, most fabric companies offer a "swatch," a small sample at a nominal shipping cost.

If your personal care products can`t at all be truly demonstrated through pictures and words, then what about a small sample so the customer can physically test the product?

Otherwise, it`s your obligation to fully and completely show the product, explain it, and leave no questions unanswered. At that point, you definitely can refuse all returns other than damaged in shipping.

Thanks for the response. I do plan on having a 30 day policy, but wasn’t sure if I should if the product has been used or not.  Samples is a great idea since its hard to convey specific information by words only (especially scents, etc) 

That is a tough one.  The "Big" companies can absorb the cost, of having `used` products returned.

That is a great response by CraigL.  One thing I would add is have you thought about adding electronic gift cards to your online business?  If you offer gift cards online, you can make your return policy such that recipients receive store credit instead of money back returns.  You`re still allowing the customer to get new products, and its guaranteed upsell for you.  I work for an e-commerce solution that offers electronic gift cards for our clients and they have had great success with this feature. The only problem is that setting up gift card capabilities can be complicated because they require unique, effective systems to trade balances and account for usage. Business rules must be supported for use, in conjunction with, or to the exclusion of different offers. But if your business is growing and you want to upgrade your site with a new ecommerce platform, its worth looking into.  Especially for the upcoming holiday season.

-------------------------

DBShopVis
Marketing Team
www.ShopVisible.com

Gift cards - thats a really good idea.  Thanks!