Should You Offer a Money Back Guarantee?

One of the questions many new Internet marketers ask is whether or not they should offer a money back guarantee. It is a question worth serious consideration because the answer could deeply impact your sales as well as your overall success. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. You don’t know the person or company on the other end of the computer screen. Wouldn’t you feel more comfortable knowing you could get your money back if you weren’t satisfied?

Of course you would. Most people do and you will most likely see your sales reflect that fact. This would actually be a great basis on which to test your offers. Just run two identical offers; one with a money back guarantee and one without. Then notice the difference in your sales and you’ll know which way to tailor your future offers.

Guarantee Limitations

If you decide to implement a money back guarantee into your offers, you may choose to limit the time in which you will offer a full refund. Most such offers are limited to either 30, 60, or 90 days, although you will find some money back guarantees that are good for an entire year. This may be another point you will want to test to see which time span converts the best.

Refund Limitations

Some marketers offer a full refund with no questions asked while others will refund the purchase price if the product is defective. If you require a reason to issue a refund, be sure you are very clear in your wording or it could cause problems and you will have unsatisfied customers. By the same token if you offer a full refund with no questions asked, make sure you honor that and don’t make your customers feel uncomfortable.

Make it Easy

If you do offer a money back guarantee, make it easy for your customer to get his or her money back. If you make it too difficult, your run the risk of destroying the trust you have worked so hard to build up. The fact that your customer is requesting a refund may have nothing to do with you or your product so don’t complicate things by making them beg for it. Perhaps they have simply overextended themselves or perhaps your product isn’t quite what they thought it was. At any rate, keep their confidence by issuing their money back promptly.

Conditions

If there are any conditions attached to the refund process, be sure and state that up front. For example, if you charge for shipping and you have paid to ship the product, you probably don’t want to refund the shipping cost or you could end up losing money on the deal. Do state that at the outset, though, to avoid upsetting the customer who may not realize that the refund will be for the amount of the product only and not for the amount of the shipping. You might also state that the product must be in resale condition in order for it to be accepted for refund. Whatever your specific policies are, be sure and state them at the point of purchase.