Etsy Return Policy Generator

What is an Etsy return policy?

An Etsy return policy tells buyers whether they can send an item back or swap it, and how long they have. On Etsy it is not one page of text. You create return policies in Shop Manager and attach one to each physical listing, and buyers see it on the listing before they buy.

Each policy has only two checkboxes, accepts returns and accepts exchanges, and a time frame. Everything else, like who pays return shipping, what condition an item must come back in and which items are final sale, has to be written out in your shop's FAQ and listing descriptions. That is why the generator gives you both: the settings and the text, from the same answers, so they can't contradict each other.

Etsy requires sellers outside the EU to set a return policy on every physical listing, even one that says no returns, and says listings without one may appear lower in Etsy search. (Etsy Help)

Etsy's return policy options

These are the settings Etsy's form offers, checked November 13, 2026 against Etsy's help article and its Open API reference:

Etsy also offers a simple policy you can apply in the listing editor: returns and exchanges accepted within 30 days of delivery, with the buyer paying return shipping and any loss in value. The generator's defaults match it.

How to set your return policy on Etsy

1. In Shop Manager, go to Settings, then Policy settings, then Returns and exchanges.
2. Select Create Policy, tick returns and or exchanges, and pick the time frame from the dropdown.
3. Select Save and apply, then Publish.
4. To change many listings at once, go to Listings, select them, choose Editing options, then Change return & exchange policies.

You can keep several policies, for example one with returns for ready-made items and one with no returns for personalized items. A policy can be deleted only when no active listing uses it. For items where customization is optional, Etsy suggests saying in your FAQ and listing description that personalized orders can't be returned (Etsy Help).

Which return policy fits your shop

There is no single right answer, and Etsy leaves it to you. These starting points are built into the generator:

Whatever you choose for a change of mind, damaged, lost and wrong orders are a different matter. Buyers can open a case for those whatever your policy says, so the generator always writes how you fix them.

Refunds, cases and Purchase Protection

Your Etsy refund policy covers two different things: refunds you offer for a change of mind, and refunds a buyer is owed when something went wrong. You choose the first. The second comes from Etsy's case system:

• A buyer can open a case if an order doesn't arrive, arrives damaged, arrives 7 or more days after its estimated delivery window, or isn't as described. Two things must both be true first: the latest estimated delivery date has passed, and 48 hours have gone by since the buyer contacted you. For an order that never arrived, the buyer waits until 7 days after that date. Then they have 30 days to open the case (Etsy Help).
• When an order qualifies for Purchase Protection, Etsy refunds the buyer and covers up to $250 of the refund. Etsy charges anything above that to you, so on a $400 refund you pay $150. To qualify you ship on time with valid tracking, show an estimated delivery date, answer within 48 hours, meet Etsy's service standards and, for US orders, include duties upfront. An item that doesn't match your listing isn't covered, and Etsy decides each case at its own discretion (Etsy Help, full requirements).
• A refund you give before a case is opened doesn't count toward your case rate (Etsy Help).
• When you refund through Shop Manager, Etsy refunds the related transaction and processing fees to your Payment account, and you can't refund more than the buyer paid (Etsy Help).

Etsy cancellation policy

Cancellations are one shop-wide setting, on the Cancellations tab of Policy settings. You turn them on or off and pick a time frame (Etsy Help). Etsy's help doesn't list the time frames, so pick the longest one that ends before you ship, or before you start making an order if you make items after the order.

Only you can cancel a sale once it is placed. Cancelling refunds the buyer in full, and Etsy credits back the listing and transaction fees for that order (Etsy Help). If you sell both ready-made items and items you make after the order, the generator says in one sentence when each can be cancelled: until it ships, or until you start making it.

Selling to buyers in the EU and UK

This section covers EU and UK law only. Other countries, and US states, have their own rules. Each point below is taken from the law or an official page, linked beside it.

• EU and UK. These rights belong to a buyer acting as a consumer, meaning someone buying for themselves rather than for a business, who buys from a trader, meaning someone selling for their business. They don't apply to a sale by a private individual. (EU Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83, Article 2, Your Europe (europa.eu): Returns and the right of withdrawal, Your Europe (europa.eu): Guarantees, UK Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 4, UK Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 1)
• EU and UK. A buyer can cancel an online order for goods within 14 days of the day they receive the goods, without giving a reason. If one order arrives on different days, the 14 days run from the day the last item arrives. (EU Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83, Article 9, UK Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 29, UK Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 30)
• EU and UK. For digital content that isn't supplied on a physical medium, such as a download, the 14 days run from the day of the order. (EU Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83, Article 9, UK Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 30)
• EU. A buyer in the EU loses the right to cancel a paid download once the download has started, but only if before that they gave express consent to it starting within the 14 days, acknowledged that they would lose the right, and the seller has given them the confirmation of the contract that records this. (EU Directive 2019/2161, Article 4(12): Article 16(m) of the Consumer Rights Directive as it now reads, EU Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83, Article 8, UK Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 37)
• UK. A buyer in the UK loses the right to cancel a download once the download has started, but only if before that they gave express consent to it starting within the 14 days and acknowledged that they would lose the right. (EU Directive 2019/2161, Article 4(12): Article 16(m) of the Consumer Rights Directive as it now reads, EU Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83, Article 8, UK Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 37)
• EU and UK. To cancel, a buyer tells the seller of the decision with any clear statement, such as a message, and it is in time if they send it before the 14 days end. (EU Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83, Article 11, UK Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 32)
• EU and UK. Unless the seller offered to collect the goods, the buyer must send them back within 14 days of the day they told the seller they were cancelling. (EU Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83, Article 14, UK Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 35)
• EU and UK. For a buyer in the EU or the UK who cancels under the right to cancel, who pays to send the item back depends on what the seller told them before they ordered. (Your Europe (europa.eu): Returns and the right of withdrawal, EU Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83, Article 14, UK Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 35)
• EU and UK. The seller must refund everything the buyer paid, including delivery, except any extra the buyer paid for a delivery option more expensive than the seller's cheapest standard one. (EU Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83, Article 13, UK Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 34)
• EU and UK. The right to cancel doesn't cover goods made to the buyer's specifications or clearly personalized. (EU Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83, Article 16, UK Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 28)
• EU and UK. The right to cancel doesn't cover goods that can deteriorate or expire rapidly. (EU Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83, Article 16, UK Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 28, GOV.UK: Accepting returns and giving refunds)
• EU and UK. The right to cancel ends for sealed goods that aren't suitable for return for health protection or hygiene reasons once they are unsealed after delivery. (EU Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83, Article 16, UK Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 28)
• EU and UK. Being made after the order doesn't by itself make an item an exception to the right to cancel. Another exception can still apply, for example if the item is made to the buyer's specifications or clearly personalized, or can deteriorate or expire rapidly. (EU Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83, Article 2, EU Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83, Article 16, UK Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 28)
• EU and UK. Etsy's help says the law excludes made-to-order and customized items, and Your Europe says goods made to order or clearly personalised, but the words of the law are made to the consumer's specifications or clearly personalised. (Etsy Help: How do I follow EU law regarding returns and refunds?, Your Europe (europa.eu): Returns and the right of withdrawal, EU Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83, Article 16, UK Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 28)
• EU and UK. If an item is faulty or not as described, a buyer in the EU or the UK has legal rights, which can include a repair, a replacement or a refund. Nothing in a seller's own policy limits those rights. (Your Europe (europa.eu): Guarantees, EU Sale of Goods Directive 2019/771, Article 21, GOV.UK: Accepting returns and giving refunds, UK Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 31)
• UK. GOV.UK says it is illegal for a UK business to restrict or take away customers' rights or to mislead them about their rights, for example with a sign saying it does not accept returns. (GOV.UK: Accepting returns and giving refunds)
• EU. Etsy's help says consumer protection laws in the EU require some sellers to offer a minimum 14-day return policy on orders that ship there. (Etsy Help: How do I set return policies on my listings, Etsy Help: How do I follow EU law regarding returns and refunds?)
• EU. Since early July 2026, buyers in the EU can send a withdrawal request with a help request on their Etsy order, and Etsy says the seller must review it and refund a valid one. (Etsy Help: How do I follow EU law regarding returns and refunds?)

Etsy's return policy form has no setting for where a buyer lives, so a business selling there picks a path in the generator. Returns for every buyer is this tool's suggested approach: it is a voluntary offer, and buyers everywhere get it. Keeping your own policy leaves your Etsy settings as you set them and writes the legal right into your policy text as an exception. Either way the legal right applies to buyers in the EU and UK.

Answer Yes, as a business and the generator adds a section on these rights to your policy text, listing only the exceptions for what you sell, and a reply for a buyer who cancels under the law.

This tool covers the main points of the right to cancel in the EU and the UK. For faulty items, when a refund is due and who pays to send an item back, it links to the official pages instead of restating them. It covers only EU and UK law, not other countries' or US states'. It is not legal advice: if you're unsure what applies to your shop, ask a lawyer where you are.

• Faulty or not as described. Your Europe (europa.eu): Guarantees, GOV.UK: Accepting returns and giving refunds
• When a refund for a cancellation is due. EU Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83, Article 13, GOV.UK: Accepting returns and giving refunds
• Who pays to send an item back after a cancellation. Your Europe (europa.eu): Returns and the right of withdrawal, UK Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 35

What is Etsy's return policy for buyers?

Etsy has no single return policy. Each seller sets their own, and sellers don't have to accept returns unless their listing says so (Etsy Help). You'll find the policy on the listing page, and it can differ between items from the same shop.

To return something, message the seller and agree on the details before you post it. If an order doesn't arrive, arrives damaged or late, or is significantly different from the listing, Etsy's Purchase Protection can give you a full refund on qualifying orders. Start a Help request with the seller. If it isn't solved after 48 hours and the latest estimated delivery date has passed, you can open a case. For a parcel that never came, wait until 7 days after that date (Etsy Help, case rules). To cancel, ask the seller: only they can cancel an order (Etsy Help).

Return policy template

Here is what the generator writes with its default answers, the same terms as Etsy's simple policy. Change the answers above and it rewrites itself for your shop.

MapleAndTwine Return Policy

This policy explains how returns, exchanges, cancellations and order problems work at MapleAndTwine.

RETURNS AND EXCHANGES

I accept returns and exchanges within 30 days of delivery.

Items must come back unused, in their original condition and packaging.

You pay for return shipping. If an item doesn't come back in its original condition, you are responsible for any loss in value.

HOW TO RETURN AN ITEM

- Message me through Etsy within 30 days of delivery with your order number and whether you'd like a refund or an exchange.
- I'll reply with the return address.
- Send the item back within 30 days of delivery, packed so it arrives safely. Tracked shipping is best.
- For a refund, I'll refund the item price through Etsy within 3 business days of receiving it.
- For an exchange, I'll ship your new item once the return arrives.

DAMAGED, LOST OR WRONG ORDERS

These problems are covered whatever the item and whatever my return policy says. Message me through Etsy and I'll put it right.

- Arrived damaged: send me a photo of the item and the packaging as soon as you can. I'll send a replacement or refund you in full, whichever you prefer. You won't need to send it back unless I ask, and if I do, I'll pay the postage.
- Wrong item, or not as described: I'll send a replacement or refund you in full, whichever you prefer, and I'll pay for any return shipping.
- Hasn't arrived: if your order hasn't arrived by the end of the estimated delivery window shown at checkout, message me. I'll check the tracking with the carrier, and if it can't be found I'll send a replacement or refund you in full, whichever you prefer.

CANCELLATIONS

You can ask to cancel until your order ships. Message me through Etsy as soon as you can. If it hasn't shipped, I'll cancel it and you'll get a full refund.

QUESTIONS

Message me through Etsy with any question before or after you order.

Nothing in this policy limits your legal rights.

Answer return requests with Alura

A clear policy is half the job. The other half is answering the buyer who writes in about a return, a broken item or a parcel that never came. Alura Customer Messages drafts each reply from the buyer's order, your shop policies and the way you already write, and nothing is sent until you press Send. See Customer Messages.

Setting up your shop policies? The Etsy Privacy Policy Generator writes the privacy tab the same way.