Could my shipping and return policy pages be why people do not buy?

Would you trust and buy from this ... store?

1. A cautious visitor reads the shipping and return terms before paying. If they are missing, unfinished or contradict each other, that is a reason to leave.
2. In 15 stores whose owners asked why they had no sales, 4 had a shipping or refund policy that was missing, thin or template text, and 3 had a shipping policy link that returned a not-found page.
3. One store's policy still said "Orders are processed within [2-10 business days]".
4. In the 100-store study, product pages at 45% of 99 stores did not clearly state both shipping and returns.
5. We saw these on public pages. We cannot say they cost anyone a sale.

Counts are from our look at 15 stores whose owners asked for feedback (public pages only, 4 October 2026) and our 100-store study (99 measurable, 3 October 2026). The owners picked themselves and 15 is a small number, so read the counts as direction. They are gaps we saw, not proven causes of lost sales: we could not see anyone's traffic, ads or checkout.

1. Shipping and return terms on the product page itself
   In the 100-store study 45% of 99 stores did not clearly state both; in 15 owner-posted stores 14 had no shipping or return details in the product markup.
   How to check: On a phone, open a product page. Find the delivery cost, delivery time and return window without opening the footer. Add a one-line note near Add to cart if they are missing.
2. Policy pages with real content
   4 of 15 owner-posted stores, 27%, had a missing, thin or template policy. In the 100-store study, of the 70 stores whose shipping policy we could read, 21 had little or no real content. Of the 72 whose refund policy we could read, 4 did.
   How to check: Settings, then Policies. Read the shipping and refund pages as a shopper: is there a time, a cost, a carrier, a return window and who pays for return postage?
3. Template brackets and placeholders
   One of 15 stores had "[2-10 business days]" left in its shipping text. Shoppers read that as unfinished.
   How to check: Open each policy page and use the browser search for "[" and for "your store".
4. Footer links that work
   3 of 15 stores had a shipping policy address that returned a not-found page. Two of them did state shipping on the product page, which softens it but leaves the footer link broken.
   How to check: In a private window, click every policy link in the footer and on the cart page.
5. Policies and FAQ that agree
   Not a count: in a forum thread an answerer found the FAQ and the formal refund policy giving different return deadlines. In another, a waitlist FAQ still said "first batch is expected in October" while the product was on sale. We saw this pattern in 3 threads.
   How to check: Put the return window side by side: refund policy, FAQ, product page, and the checkout. Do they all say the same number of days?

Does a no-refunds policy protect me?

No. Merchants answering a forum thread said a blanket "no refunds" invites chargebacks. A clear policy the buyer saw at checkout is useful evidence if there is a dispute, but an unreasonable one is not a shield. See the chargebacks page.

Where do I edit my policies in Shopify?

In your Shopify admin go to Settings, then Policies. If you started from a template, replace every placeholder with your own times, costs and carriers.

Do I need the policies on the product page as well?

Our data cannot say it raises sales. It does show that many stores do not state them on the page: 45% of 99 in the 100-store study. A one-line note near Add to cart saves the visitor a trip to the footer.

How do I check that my policies agree?

Read the shipping and refund pages, the FAQ, a product page and the checkout side by side and write the numbers down: processing days, delivery days, return window. They should match.

Is there a free checker?

Yes. Our free Shopify Policy Checker finds gaps and contradictions across your policy pages. It works as a skill or as a prompt you paste into any chatbot.

• Policy Checker: Policy gaps and contradictions across refund, shipping, privacy and terms, with fixes to paste.
• Chargeback Evidence Checklist: Got a chargeback? The evidence to gather for your dispute reason, what you already have, and where to find each piece in Shopify.

COPY FROM HERE

You are auditing a Shopify store's policies. Work only from the texts pasted below. Make sensible assumptions about where the store sells (from currency, addresses, language) and state them. Never invent a number, an address or an email: use a clear blank like "[X] business days" and say what the owner must fill in.

Checklist ("must" = flag as missing if absent):
- Refund (25 points): return window in days and from when (delivery or order); item condition; how to start a return; who pays return shipping; refund method and timing; non-returnable items (must if any); damaged or wrong items (how, by when, photos, who pays); return contact (must); exchanges, restocking fee, sale items, late refunds, store-credit expiry (should).
- Shipping (25): processing time; methods and delivery times by region; costs or free-shipping threshold (the same number everywhere); where you ship and don't; duties and taxes if international (all must); tracking, lost or "delivered but not received" parcels, wrong address, delays (should).
- Privacy (20, only if pasted): business name and contact; data collected; why; who it's shared with; cookies and opt-out; customer rights; matches reality, no template placeholders (must); last-updated date, retention, children (should).
- Terms and contact (15): business name and contact method (must); terms don't contradict the refund or shipping policy, for example boilerplate "all sales final" against a 30-day return policy (must); governing law, price errors and cancellation (should).
- Consistency (15): compare every number and promise across all the pasted sources: return window, who pays return shipping, restocking fees, final-sale items, refund timing, free-shipping threshold and currency, processing and delivery times, warranty, contact details, business name, countries served.
- Region rules, only for regions the store plausibly sells to: EU 14-day right of withdrawal from delivery, refund within 14 days, trader identity and address; UK 14-day cancellation right, goods as described and of satisfactory quality, faulty goods can be rejected within 30 days; Australia: consumer guarantees apply whatever the policy says, so "no refunds" is misleading; US: ship within the stated time or 30 days, offer cancellation if delayed. "No returns" or "store credit only" for EU or UK consumers is High.
Also look for confusing wording: vague time frames, undefined store credit, placeholders like [STORE NAME], another brand's name, the wrong country's law.

Scoring: start each section at its maximum; take off 5 to 10 for each High issue, 2 to 4 for each Medium, 1 for each Low; a missing or empty policy gets 0 for its section; never below 0. If a policy wasn't pasted, mark its section "not checked" and score out of the sections you checked.
Severity: High = missing refund or shipping policy, a contradiction about money or time, a promise that breaks a region rule, placeholder or other-brand text, no contact method. Medium = a missing must-have detail, vague time frames. Low = tone and structure.

Answer in this shape:

# Policy check: [store] ([date])
Not legal advice. This flags common gaps; a lawyer should review anything high-stakes.
## Score: NN/100 (or NN out of the sections checked)
Refund N/25 · Shipping N/25 · Privacy N/20 or not checked · Terms & contact N/15 · Consistency N/15
## Fix these first (3 to 5, highest risk first)
1. **[issue in 6 to 10 words]** (High). Where: [page]. Quote: "[exact text]". Why it matters: [one sentence]. Fix: [replacement text, ready to paste]
## Contradictions
| Topic | Source A says | Source B says | Fix |
## Missing must-haves
| Policy | Missing item | Paste-ready text |
## Confusing wording
| Quote | Problem | Rewrite |
## What's already good (2 to 4 specific bullets)
## Where to paste
Shopify admin > Settings > Policies > [policy]; pages under Online Store > Pages; also check Settings > Policies > Return rules, which should use the same window and fees.

Write fixes in short, plain sentences using "you" and "we", as plain paragraphs and simple lists. Quote exactly. No promises such as "this will prevent chargebacks"; say "reduces" or "helps".

If no policy text is pasted below, ask for it in one line and stop.

Here are my policies and pages:

Send your store address and what you are seeing. We read the public pages and send back one page of findings, free, with no call and no sign-up. We do not need access to your admin, and we cannot promise a day.

The email opens with the subject filled in, to kaiventura.founder@gmail.com. The GitHub form needs a free GitHub account; put "store check" in the title.

Kai Ventura, Pro Skill Packs

• Why do I get traffic but no add to carts on my Shopify store?
• I have a Shopify store and no sales yet. What should I check first?
• Visitors but no sales: the overview
• What we found in 15 stores, the full study

If you want a tool for one of the jobs above, the six Shopify skills are in the Store Ops Pack, $29. Pro Skill Packs is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Shopify Inc.