Hi Reader!

We’ve all had the dreaded experience of a customer asking for a refund.

Sometimes, we think their reasons are valid.

Sometimes, we think their reasons aren’t valid.

And that’s where your refund policies come in. You probably already have them on your website explaining when you will and won’t offer a refund.

But your refund policies are just policies and not legally enforceable if you don’t turn them into a contract.

For those of you who offer services, you have a services agreement with your clients. You can incorporate your refund policies into your agreement. (These usually go into sections like Kill Fee, Termination, or Cancellation.)

For those of you who sell physical or digital products (including courses or memberships) through your website, you do this by having an “I agree to terms” checkbox during the account creation or checkout process. And then you spell out your refund policies in your terms of service.

For those of you who sell physical or digital products (including courses or memberships) through another website (like Kajabi or Etsy), you have the trickiest route because most only require purchasers to agree to their terms, not yours. Some of them will let you add your own “I agree to terms” checkbox, but most won’t. If they won’t, you have two options:

• Have a separate process that purchasers have to go through after purchase, where you get them to click something you can track (like a link in an email) that they agree to your terms, and if they don’t click (or don’t agree), you refund them and cancel their purchase.
• Operating knowing that your refund policies are just that, policies, and when the unreasonable customer comes along, you’ll have to issue a full refund since your policies aren’t enforceable.

Of course, none of this is to say that even if you have enforceable policies, you don’t have to bend them. You should bend them when it’s in the long-term interest of you and your business, regardless of whether you could enforce your refund policy.

👉 Your action item: Look over your refund policies to make sure they are up-to-date, and then make sure you incorporate them into either your contract or terms of service to make them enforceable.

Did you complete this task? Come share your thoughts about refund policies on LinkedIn or Facebook.

I'll be sitting at my computer until about 9:30 AM Pacific and I'd love to know if you run into any roadblocks in completing this week's task. (And if you are reading this after then, please reply! I'll get back to you ASAP.)

Chat soon,

P.S. I’m in the process of updating the box cushions in my RV, and this week, I ordered some fabric samples. Six months ago, I would have gone to Joann’s and picked out fabric since I needed the new cushion fabric to coordinate with some adjacent fabric. But that’s no longer an option.

So, I ordered samples from an online company and was told my order would ship within two days. Several days after my order, I got an email saying my order was delayed because of overwhelming demand, but that they were working on it.

I’m not in a rush, so the delay wasn’t a problem. But it was an excellent example of the reason e-commerce stores get fined by the FTC over the Mail Order Rule.

If you run a product-based business, then your bonus assignment is to make sure that your shipping and refund policies won’t land you in the same hot water as this company will. You can see all the requirements in this Mail Order Rule guide.

Starting on May 5th, I’m going to help you take all those lingering “Am I missing something?” questions about licenses, permits, and sales tax… and turn them into confident, checked-off action steps.

Think: less Googling, more doing.

Are you joining us? You can join by purchasing a monthly membership to the artist’s Courtyard ($45/month) or by getting the standalone challenge for $67.

Have a creative business friend who would benefit from this challenge? Share this with them. (It’s also the place where you can see all the nitty-gritty details of what’s included in the challenge.)

Do I need a DBA (doing business as) for my business?

Does your business need to file for a doing business as (dba), fictitious business name (fbn), assumed name, or trade name?

What even is a DBA? Short version, it’s a legal nickname for your business.

Why should you go through the arcane process of getting one? Short version, so you can legally accept payment in your business’s name.

Ready to stop wondering and take action? Read the post.

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❤️ Easy to understand legal resources should be available to every creative, regardless of their financial situation. If one of my resources has helped you and you would like to say “thank you”, you can make a contribution here. ❤️business’s