Set your refund policy

A refund policy says whether buyers may ask for their money back, until when, how much they get, and what they’re told before they buy. You write a policy once and use it on as many courses as you like, or make it the default for every course. Until you do, nothing you sell can be refunded on request, and buyers see no guarantee.

In this video · 2:36

1. 0:00Where policies live
2. 0:24A new policy
3. 0:41Who can ask
4. 1:10Time and use
5. 1:24Money back
6. 1:42Give it to a course
7. 2:13Cancelling

Read the narration

1. 0:05A refund policy says who can ask for their money back, until when, and how much. Write it once, use it on any course.
2. 0:15Open Finance in the sidebar, then Checkout & refunds, and the Refund policies tab.
3. 0:22Org defaults is what applies to anything without a policy of its own. Today, that is no refunds.
4. 0:29Click New policy, and choose Courses.
5. 0:34Give it a name buyers will understand.
6. 0:37The policy has three tabs: Policy, Eligibility and Money back.
7. 0:43First, Can buyers request a refund?
8. 0:47Off means no requests. Needs your approval lets you decide each one.
9. 0:53Approved automatically when eligible decides for you.
10. 0:57Even then, only the decision is automatic. You always send the money yourself.
11. 1:03We'll pick Needs your approval, and add a note buyers will read.
12. 1:12On Eligibility, the Refund window: here, within 7 days of buying.
13. 1:18And the Usage limit: only until a student has done 30% of the course.
14. 1:26On Money back, the Refund amount: the full price, minus a ৳200 fee.
15. 1:32For instalments, only the latest payment comes back.
16. 1:36On the right is exactly what buyers will read. Click Save policy.
17. 1:42Now give it to a course. Open the course, then its Payment Plans tab.
18. 1:52Open Discounts & instalments. In Refund policy, choose the new policy.
19. 1:58Turn on Final sale instead, and nothing on that course can be refunded.
20. 2:03Click Save Changes.
21. 2:08Now a student sees the guarantee at checkout, before paying.
22. 2:13There is no separate cancellation policy for a course. Removing a student gives no money back.
23. 2:20An approved refund removes their access and stops any instalments still to come.
24. 2:25More guides are at help.lessonq.com.

Before you start

• Who can do this: the academy owner and admins.
• What a policy doesn’t do: it never sends money. A refund that’s approved, by you or by the policy, is still paid by you, by hand, and then recorded. See Handle a refund case.
• What’s already sold keeps its terms. Each purchase keeps the policy it was sold under. Changing a policy, or giving a course another one, only affects sales from then on.

Where policies live

In the sidebar, open Finance → Checkout & refunds, then the Refund policies tab.

1. Refund policies.
2. Org defaults: the policy each kind of item uses when it hasn’t picked one of its own. Edit changes them.
3. New policy.

Write a policy

1. Click New policy and choose what it’s for: Courses, Digital products, Physical products or Bundles. A course policy is used by courses and their batches.
2. Give it a Name, as buyers will see it, like 7-day money-back.
3. Fill in its three tabs, Policy, Eligibility and Money back (below). The right-hand side shows What buyers will read, and updates as you go.
4. Click Save policy.

1. Name.
2. Can buyers request a refund?
3. Note to buyers Optional. Added to what buyers read.
4. What buyers will read, and This policy says: the policy in one place.

Can buyers request a refund?

Choice	What happens when a buyer asks
Off — buyers can’t request one	They can’t ask at all. You can still refund someone yourself, from their enrolment.
Needs your approval	Every request waits for you to approve or reject it.
Approved automatically when eligible	A request within the policy’s rules is approved at once. Only the decision is automatic: you still send the money by hand. A request outside the rules waits for you.

Eligibility: time and use

1. Refund window.
2. Usage limit.

Refund window: until when they can ask.

• Anytime.
• Within a number of days of purchase, then the number of Days.
• Until the course starts.
• Within a number of days of the course starting.

Usage limit: how much of the course they may have used.

• None.
• Up to a maximum % completed, then the Max % completed. Only what they complete after buying counts.
• No exam or assignment submitted.

Money back

1. Refund amount.
2. Instalments.

Refund amount:

• Full amount;
• A percentage, then the Percent;
• Full amount minus a fee, then the Fee;
• Full amount minus the payment processing fee: what the payment gateway kept.

Instalments, for a course bought in instalments:

• Refund the latest payment only;
• Refund every payment made so far.

Default, or one course

A policy does nothing until something uses it. There are two ways:

• As the default. In Org defaults, click Edit and choose the policy for Courses (and for the other kinds of item). Every course without a policy of its own then uses it.
• For one course or batch. Open the course, then its Payment Plans tab, and open Discounts & instalments. In Refund policy, choose the policy, and click Save Changes. A course that runs in batches has this for each batch.

1. Refund policy. Org default means it follows the default.
2. Final sale.

Final sale is the opposite: the course can’t be refunded at all, whatever the policy says, and buyers can’t ask. It’s also in the course form when you create a course.

What buyers see

At checkout, before they pay, the Refund & return policy section names each item’s guarantee, such as Money-back guarantee within 7 days. There’s nothing to tick: it’s there to read.

1. The guarantee, at checkout.

Buyers see the guarantee twice before paying: on the course page, under Buy now (7-day money-back guarantee), and again at checkout. Product and bundle pages show it the same way.

To see how a student asks, read How a student asks for a refund.

Cancelling a course

A course has no separate cancellation policy:

• Removing a student from a course moves no money. Their payments stay as they were.
• An approved refund removes their access, and any instalments still due are no longer owed.

Cancellation rules, returns and return shipping are for physical products only; their policies have those choices instead of a usage limit.

Note

Changing a policy later. Edit it from its ⋮ menu in Policies. Purchases already made keep the version they were sold under. A policy you no longer use can be archived: it’s no longer offered, but what already points to it keeps working.