Why it matters

• Refund rules for digital courses are consumer law, not marketing copy: in many countries and card networks, buyers have statutory rights (cooling-off periods, 'not as described' claims) that no policy can override, so the policy's job is to be clearer than the law, not looser than it.
• A clear refund policy builds more sales than it costs: the buyers a generous policy scares you into losing are outweighed by the fence-sitters who enrol because the risk is gone, and most refund requests come in the first days from people who simply bought the wrong thing.
• Time-based policies are the practical norm: a common honest shape is a 14-30 day window from purchase, with refunds automatic for technical failure and discretionary for genuine misfit beyond the window.
• Anti-abuse clauses are legitimate but must be narrow and stated up front: policies can exclude serial refunders or learners who have clearly consumed the full course, but vague 'we decide each case' language reads as a red flag to regulators and learners alike.
• This is educational information, not legal advice: consumer rules differ sharply by country and platform, so the policy is a starting point to check with local rules and a qualified adviser before you rely on it.

Your checklist

• Write the policy in plain language a learner can read in under a minute, and put it on the sales page before the buy button.
• Choose the refund window and state it as days from purchase, with the technical-failure promise stated separately and unconditionally.
• Decide how refunds are requested — one email address, a stated response time — and honour the policy without making people beg.
• State what happens on cancellation: access removed at refund, and what happens to any private community membership.
• Add the narrow abuse clause if you want one, and keep it specific rather than vague.
• Check the rules that apply to you: platform terms, your country's consumer law and the card networks' dispute rules all sit above your policy.
• Treat refund requests as data: a spike of refunds in week one usually means the sales page overpromised, and that is a fixable product problem, not a policy problem.

❓ Refund and Guarantee Policy: The Educational Basics — FAQ

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