Upon creating a new product on Freemius you should choose which of the 4 available refund policies suits your product and your customers the best.
The configuration of the Refund Policy can be set at the PLANS → REFUND POLICY of the developer’s dashboard.
For Plugin Authors:
The “Money back guarantee” policy is known to increase conversion rates. Therefore, we do recommend setting up a refund period for plugins. That is, unless your plugin serves as a one-time solution or for a short/limited period like Database export plugins, migration plugins, etc.
For Theme Authors:
The “Money back guarantee” policy is known to increase conversions rate. Having said that, we do not recommend setting up a refund period for themes, in order to prevent abuse.
4 Refund Policies Available:
Let us have a look at the 4 refund policies available for you to choose from for your product:
1. No Refunds Policy [Default Option]
What will the buyer see?
“We stand behind our {{module}}’s quality and your satisfaction with it is important to us. However, because it’s a digital good, delivered via download, we generally offer no refunds.
If you change your mind about your purchase and have not yet downloaded our plugin, we will happily issue a full refund upon your request over the next 14 days.
Refund requests made after downloading the plugin are handled on a case by case basis and are issued at our sole discretion. Refund requests, if any, must be made within 14 days of your original purchase.”
What it means for you (the seller)?
If the customer never downloaded the paid plugin version (you can verify that in the customer’s events by searching for plugin.premium.downloaded) and has asked for a refund within the first 14 days after the purchase/upgrade, just cancel their license and subscription, and refund their payment.
Otherwise, it’s totally up to you how you wish to handle the refunds with your customer. Having said that, if a customer opens a dispute via PayPal or a chargeback with their Credit Card company, we may have to intervene, handling each case individually.
2. Strict – “Money Back Guarantee” [Most Popular]
One liner
Refund when the product had a bug/problem you couldn’t resolve.
What will the buyer see?
“You are fully protected by our 100% Money Back Guarantee. If during the next {{ period }} you experience an issue that makes the plugin unusable and we are unable to resolve it, we’ll happily consider offering a full refund of your money.”
What it means for you?
Once you receive a refund request within the valid refund period and that is due to a technical issue with your plugin that makes the system unusable, you can choose to either refund the customer right away, or try to resolve the issue. If you can’t resolve it you’ll need to process a refund.
This policy does not cover refunds for the following cases:
- Missing feature(s)
- 3rd party conflict
- Discovering a better alternative
- Customer changed their mind
Fine print
“We stand behind our plugin’s quality and your satisfaction with it is important to us. If you experience problems with the {{ module }}, we will be happy to provide a full refund within {{ period }} days of the original upgrade date.
Refunds will be offered at our sole discretion and must meet all of the following conditions fully:
- You are within the first {{ period }} days of the purchase of the {{ module }}.
- Your issue(s) derives from not being able to install the plugin properly or get the plugin to perform its basic functions.
- You have attempted to resolve your issue(s) with our support team by creating a support ticket through the [Contact Us](link to contact us) in the {{ module }}’s admin settings.
- No refunds will be granted after the first {{ period }} days of the original purchase whatsoever.
- Refunds will not be granted for missing feature(s). If you are not sure we support a specific feature, please [contact us](link to contact us with pre-sale) prior to purchase.
- Issues caused by conflicts with 3rd party plugins, themes or other software will not provide grounds for a refund.
- Refunds will not be granted if you simply decide not to use the {{ module }}.
By upgrading, you agree to this refund policy and relinquish any rights to subject it to any questions, judgment or legal actions.”
3. Moderate – “Satisfaction Guarantee”
One liner
Refund when missing a feature, didn’t work as expected or had a problem you couldn’t resolve (including 3rd party issues).
What will the buyer see?
“You are fully protected by our 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. If over the next 30 days you are unhappy with our plugin or have an issue that we are unable to resolve, we’ll happily consider offering a 100% refund of your money.”
What it means for you?
Once you receive a refund request within the valid refund period due to one of the following reasons:
- The plugin isn’t working as expected (with explanation)
- Missing feature(s)
- Technical issue (including conflicts with other plugins and/or themes)
You can choose to refund the customer right away or try to resolve the issue. If you can’t resolve it in a way that satisfies your customer you’ll need to process a refund.
Note: Customers who just changed their mind or can’t provide a reasonable explanation for the refund inquiry are not covered by the refund policy and will not be eligible for a refund.
Fine print
“We stand behind our plugin’s quality and your satisfaction with it is important to us. If you experience problems with the {{ module }}, we will be happy to provide a full refund within {{ period }} days of the original upgrade date.
Refunds will be offered at our sole discretion and must meet all of the following conditions fully:
- You are within the first {{ period }} days of the purchase of the {{ module }}.
- Your issue(s) derives from not being able to install the plugin properly or get the plugin to perform its functions.
- You have attempted to resolve your issue(s) with our support team by opening a support ticket through the [Contact Us](link to contact us) in the {{ module }}’s admin settings.
- No refunds will be granted after the first {{ period }} days of the original purchase whatsoever.
- Refunds will not be granted if you simply decide not to use the {{ module }}.
By upgrading, you agree to this refund policy and relinquish any rights to subject it to any questions, judgment or legal actions.”
4. Flexible – “Double Guarantee”
One liner
Risk free, no questions asked refund.
What will the buyer see?
“You are fully protected by our 100% No-Risk Double Guarantee. If you don’t like our plugin over the next 30 days, we’ll happily refund 100% of your money. No questions asked.“
What it means for you?
Once you receive a refund request within the valid refund period, you will need to immediately cancel the subscription and the license, and process the refund without questioning the customer’s reason.
After you process the refund, feel free to engage and ask for feedback. Even though it’s not the most popular policy, it has many benefits – How to Win Customers Loyalty with Your Refund Process.
Fine print
“You are fully protected by our 100% No-Risk Double Guarantee. If you don’t like our {{ module }} over the next {{ period }} days, then we’ll happily refund 100% of your money. No questions asked.
Just start a refund ticket through the [Contact Us](link to refund request) in the {{ module }}’s admin settings and we’ll process a refund.”
