Shopify Refund and Shipping Policy: What to Include

A Shopify refund policy, shipping policy and contact page do their job when each one answers the questions customers would otherwise email you: how long delivery takes, who pays for returns, when the refund arrives, and how to reach you. In Shopify you manage them under Settings > Policies, where the return and refund policy, privacy policy, terms of service, shipping policy, legal notice, contact information and subscription policy live. This is not legal advice.

Where policies live in Shopify

Shopify’s store policies page, read on October 23, 2026, explains both where you write them and where customers see them. Under Settings > Policies you can use automated store policies, which generate and publish content from your store settings and update it when those settings change, or write your own. Automation is switched per policy with Use automated policy, for the return and refund policy, terms of service, shipping policy and contact information. Shopify’s templates are in English, and some are also available in French, Italian and Spanish; for other languages you write the policy. The templates are informational and not legal advice, and Shopify says you are responsible for their accuracy. Shopify also archives past versions of the main policies for two years and lets you export them, which helps when a customer quotes a policy from last spring.

Customers meet the policies in more places than the footer. By default, Shopify links every policy in the checkout footer, adds a link to the return policy on the order review page, and shows a link to the shipping policy on product pages and in the cart. The shipping policy is therefore read at the moment a shopper decides, and it should answer the cost and the delivery time in its first two lines. Link the policies from your store’s own footer menu as well, since some customers look before they reach checkout.

Review an automated policy before you rely on it. Check that it matches your real practice, that it matches the return rules and instructions of any returns app you use, and that it does not promise delivery or shipping times you cannot meet. Add specific disclosures if you sell auto-renewing subscriptions, regulated products such as alcohol, products with market-specific rules (safety, labeling, cosmetics, electronics, children’s products, food-contact materials), or run a child-directed site.

Shipping policy: what to include

Answer these in the policy, in numbers where you can:

• Processing time before an order ships, and which days count.
• Delivery time and cost per shipping method and region.
• Free-shipping threshold, if any.
• Who pays duties and import taxes on international orders, and when (see international taxes and duties).
• What happens if a parcel is lost or damaged.

A model opening that answers most of these in four sentences: “Orders placed by 2 p.m. on a weekday ship the same day. US delivery takes 3 to 5 business days and costs $5.95, free over $60. International orders take 7 to 14 days; duties are shown and collected at checkout. If a parcel arrives damaged, email us a photo within 7 days and we will replace it.” Every number in it has a home in Shopify: the shipping rates and the free-shipping condition in Settings > Shipping and delivery, the duties setting under Settings > Taxes and duties. Change the policy whenever you change one of those settings, or the policy and the checkout will disagree.

Returns and refunds policy

Write the policy and set matching return rules. Shopify’s return rules decide when customers can request returns of fulfilled items and cancellations of unfulfilled items. Your default rules include a return window, return shipping costs and a restocking fee, with final-sale items as exceptions. The window can be 14, 30 or 90 days, unlimited, or a custom number of days, and it can start at each item’s delivery or at the delivery of the last item in the order. You can set different rules per market, and changes apply only to future orders.

Turn on self-serve returns and cancellations if you want customers to request them from their accounts, where eligible items, return fees and an estimated refund are shown. You do not need it for return rules to apply when you process returns by hand in the admin. Return rules in Shopify POS need POS Pro. For customers in the European Union, Shopify’s return rules page says to set a return window of at least 14 days and to set Starting from to Delivery of last item in order, so the right of withdrawal runs from the final delivery. Put EU customers in their own market if your general window is shorter.

The policy should also say who pays for return shipping, the condition the item must be in, how exchanges work, when the refund is issued and to what (original payment method or store credit), and which items are final sale. More on handling the other side of the conversation is in angry customers and in the shipping and returns hub.

Contact and service standards

The contact information policy can be automated from your store settings, like the shipping and refund policies; check that the public details it shows are the ones you want customers to use. Then add three things the automation cannot know:

1. Channels and hours. Email, chat, phone if you offer it, and the hours someone answers. Use the same hours you set for Shopify Inbox under Chat settings > Availability, so chat and the policy promise the same thing.
2. A reply time per channel. Shopify’s customer service guidance gives an SLA as an example of a service standard, “resolving 80% of inquiries within 24 hours”. Pick a number you can meet in your busiest week; targets are in response times and SLAs.
3. What to send. The order number, and a photo for damage claims.

Reuse policies in chat

The Inbox agent answers from your store policies, product catalog, Knowledge Base facts and published storefront content. A clear policy therefore improves its answers too, and a policy that contradicts a product page makes the agent inconsistent. Questions to cover first are listed in the Shopify FAQ guide. The wider setup topics are in the running a store hub.

Frequently asked questions

Does Shopify have policy templates? Shopify’s automated store policies generate and update return and refund, terms of service, shipping and contact content from your settings. They are informational, and you need to review them.

Do I need a refund policy? Shopify lists a return and refund policy among the policies to manage, and an unclear one leaves customers to ask, or to dispute the charge with their bank. Whether the law in your market requires one, and what it must say, is a question for a local adviser.

How long must I accept returns in the EU? Shopify’s guidance for EU customers is a return window of at least 14 days, starting from the delivery of the last item in the order. Your own window can be longer, and Shopify’s presets include 14, 30 and 90 days.