We read the public refund policy page of 124 Shopify stores on 27 September 2026. A 30 day return window is the clear norm: 66 stores (53%) use exactly 30 days and 88 (71%) give 30 days or more. Only 21% promise free returns, 10% charge a restocking fee, and 44% name items that are final sale. Most of the policies are short, with a median of 281 words.
If you are writing a refund policy for a new store, the most useful thing to know is what shoppers already expect. So instead of guessing, we read the refund pages of well known Shopify brands in apparel, beauty, home, food and drink, electronics and pets, and counted what they actually promise.
How we did it
We requested the standard /policies/refund-policy page that every Shopify store can publish, from 251 well known online brands, one request per second. 124 of them returned a readable Shopify refund policy, and those 124 are the sample. We then read each page for the return window, fees, who pays return shipping, store credit rules, final sale items and a few other signals, and checked a sample of stores by hand against their own wording.
A store counts as "not clear" when its refund page did not state a window in words we could match, for example when the window lives on a separate FAQ page. The full per store results are published as a CSV file so you can check any number here.
Return windows: 30 days wins
| Return window | Stores | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Under 30 days (7, 14, 15 or 21 days) | 17 | 14% |
| Exactly 30 days | 66 | 53% |
| 31 to 59 days | 1 | 1% |
| 60 to 89 days | 12 | 10% |
| 90 days or more (100 day trials, 120 days, 365 days) | 9 | 7% |
| Not clear from the refund page | 19 | 15% |
The median window is 30 days and the average is 42, pulled up by a handful of long guarantees. Many of the long windows come from bedding, luggage and furniture brands, where the product is hard to judge in a day. Several streetwear labels sit at the short end, between 7 and 15 days.
What else the policies say
| The policy mentions | Stores | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Exchanges | 92 | 74% |
| A contact email address | 58 | 47% |
| Items that are final sale | 54 | 44% |
| What to do with damaged, defective or wrong items | 46 | 37% |
| Free returns or a prepaid return label | 26 | 21% |
| The customer paying for return shipping | 18 | 15% |
| A restocking fee | 13 | 10% |
| The EU or UK right to withdraw within 14 days | 13 | 10% |
| Refunds as store credit only | 4 | 3% |
Two gaps stand out. More than half the policies do not print an email address on the refund page itself, which means a shopper with a problem has to go looking. And only one store in ten mentions the 14 day right of withdrawal that shoppers in the EU and UK have by law.
Five things worth copying
- Put the window in the first sentence. The clearest policies open with one line: "You can return unused items within 30 days of delivery."
- Count from delivery, not from purchase. It is fairer to the customer and avoids arguments about slow shipping.
- Say who pays for the return label. Fewer than four in ten of the stores say it either way. If you deduct a label fee, give the amount.
- List final sale items by name. "Swimwear, earrings and gift cards are final sale" beats "some items cannot be returned".
- Give one contact route on the page. An email address or a link to the returns portal, right under the rules.
What the law adds on top
In most US states a store can set its own refund terms, as long as it tells shoppers what they are. Selling to the EU or the UK is different. Consumers there can cancel most online orders within 14 days of receiving them without giving a reason, and you have to refund them within 14 days of being told, including standard delivery costs. A store policy can offer more than that, never less. If you ship to Europe, say so in the policy, and set up the refund page with that in mind.
A simple structure for your own policy
- The return window, counted from delivery.
- What condition items must be in.
- Final sale items, listed by name.
- How to start a return (portal, email or form).
- Who pays return shipping, and any fee.
- How and when the refund is paid (original payment method or store credit).
- Damaged, defective or wrong items.
- Exchanges.
- Extra rights for customers in the EU and UK.
- Contact details.
The free refund policy generator writes a policy in this order around your store. For the other pages Shopify expects, see the Shopify legal pages guide and the Shopify legal requirements checklist.
Frequently asked questions
30 days. In our sample of 124 Shopify stores, 66 (53%) used exactly 30 days and 88 (71%) gave 30 days or more. The median was 30 days.
No. Only 21% of the stores we read mentioned free returns or a prepaid return label, and 15% said the customer pays for return shipping.
About one in ten. 13 of the 124 stores (10%) mentioned a restocking fee.
The median page in our sample was 281 words. A clear policy that covers the window, condition, final sale items, how to return, who pays shipping and how refunds are paid fits in 300 to 500 words.
Yes. Consumers in the EU and UK can cancel most online orders within 14 days of receiving them without giving a reason. Your policy can offer more, never less.
The per store results, with the return window and each signal we checked, are published as a CSV file linked in the article.
Thirty days, counted from delivery, is what shoppers expect from a Shopify store. Say the window in the first line, list final sale items by name, say who pays for the return label, put a contact email on the page, and add the 14 day right for EU and UK buyers if you ship there.
Pick your window, your fees and your regions. We write a clear policy for your store in about a minute.
Sources
Shanti, A. (2026). Shopify Refund Policies in 2026: What 124 Stores Actually Promise. FreeTOS.org. https://freetos.org/blog/shopify-refund-policies-2026-study
This article explains the rules in plain language. It is not legal advice. Last reviewed 27 September 2026.