As a business owner, you'll need to deal with returns and refunds at some point. The last thing anyone wants is for customers to be unhappy with the products they've received. This can tarnish your reputation and lead to negative reviews online, which could, in turn, affect future sales.
Provide a refund or exchange policy on your website. Make sure it's easy to find on the site. Note that while MerchMixer offers a 30-day return policy, we recommend setting your store policy to 15 business days to accommodate the return window to the vendor.
Treat each situation as an individual case. This will help you determine whether a return is necessary, which items can be returned, how much customers need to pay for returns, etc.
Be prompt when responding to return requests. Customers are more likely to give you a positive review if their request is addressed quickly.
Provide good customer service. Treat every transaction with care and professionalism. If your response time, attitude, or product isn't up to par, the customer could leave a negative review out of sheer frustration.
Consider offering free returns. This is an excellent way of making customers happy and encouraging them to shop on your website again in the future.
Refunds Due to Out of Stock Cancellations
You will need to issue a refund when an item you've sold is out of stock. In this case, it's important to be tactful with your response and provide an explanation for the inconvenience.
First, you'll receive an auto stripe email (shortly after requesting fulfillment) informing you that your payment to the supplier has been refunded.
You will then need to notify and refund your customer or recommend another similar product they might like (if any).
How to Issue a Refund on Shopify
1. Click on "Orders" from the left menu of your Shopify Admin, then select the order number that you want to refund.
2. Click on "Refund Items" and set the quantity for the items to be refunded. If you're issuing a full refund, you need to ensure that both the upper and lower numbers match (number of items to be refunded/number of items purchased).
3. Click on the blue "Refund (amount)" button on the lower right to complete the refund.
Handling End Customer Refund Requests
When an end customer asks you for a refund due to an issue with the product (factory defect, missing items, not as described, etc.), you need to ask the reason (details) and communicate this information to the vendor.
You'll need to get in touch with the vendor first for a return authorization (RMA). In most cases, the vendor will only refund you after the product has been shipped back and inspected.
To initiate a return request on behalf of your end customers:
1. On the left menu of your Shopify admin, click on "Apps" then select "MerchMixer US Dropshipping".
2. Go to "Approved Orders" and hover your mouse over the order that needs to be refunded. Then, click on the "Refund Request" button.
3. This will take you to the Return/Refund form. Fill in the required information, which includes:
Your first name and last name
Your email address
MM Order ID
The date the product was delivered to the end customer
Details of the situation and why you are requesting a return/refund on the item. Try to provide as much details as possible.
Click on the "Submit" button, and MerchMixer will notify the vendor about the refund request. Once confirmed, you'll be sent an RMA/return label that you can forward to end customers so that they can ship the item back to the vendor.
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