Etsy Return Policy Generator

Yes. Etsy requires all sellers to have a defined return and exchange policy in their shop settings. Buyers can see your policy before they purchase, and Etsy references your stated policy when mediating disputes. If you have no policy set, Etsy defaults to treating all sales as final — which can still result in buyer disputes that Etsy may resolve in the buyer’s favor. Having a clear, detailed policy protects you and reduces the chance of a case being opened against your shop.

At minimum, your Etsy return policy should state: (1) whether you accept returns, exchanges, or neither; (2) the time window buyers have to request a return or exchange; (3) who is responsible for return shipping costs; and (4) how you handle items that arrive damaged or defective. If you sell custom, personalized, or digital items, you should also address those explicitly — Etsy’s buyer protection program recognizes “not as described” claims differently from “change of mind” returns, so being specific matters. The generator above covers all of these automatically.

Etsy only provides a single shop-wide policy field, so you cannot set separate return windows per listing type in the policy settings area. However, you can and should address different item categories within your single policy text — for example, stating that standard items are eligible for returns within 30 days, while custom orders and digital downloads are exempt. This is exactly what the generator above does: it builds a single comprehensive policy that covers all the item types you select. You can also add item-specific notes in individual listing descriptions to reinforce your policy for that specific product.