Creators tighten their refund policy to protect against the worst customer. It's an understandable instinct and usually the wrong trade, because the stingy policy scares off far more good buyers than it saves you from bad ones.
A clear, generous refund promise does something a discount can't: it removes the buyer's risk entirely. 'If it's not for you, you get your money back' is often the sentence that tips a maybe into a yes.
Why the math favours generosity
- Refund rates on honest digital products are low — usually a few percent, not the flood people fear.
- The extra sales a risk-free promise unlocks almost always outweigh the handful of refunds it costs.
- A painless refund turns a disappointed buyer into someone who still trusts you — and might buy the next thing.
Make it easy to claim
A generous policy you make people fight for is worse than a plain one, because now you've promised trust and then withheld it. If you offer refunds, honour them quickly and without an interrogation. The goodwill is the whole return on the policy.