How to Write Etsy Shop Store Policies

Article by:  Anna from The  House of Mouse

A frequently overlooked part of an Etsy store is the policies section. Your store policies tell your customers what to expect from you. I am always sad when I see a store with no policies, because I know it is costing them sales. Customers look at your store policies to judge what kind of customer service you will offer; if there is nothing there they are likely to walk away.

Shop policies do not only help your customers but they also help the store owner stay consistent and have actions in place for certain situations.

You can find the page to edit your policies buy logging in to Etsy, click “your Etsy” and look for the “policies” link in the left hand column, click it.

Here are some things to consider when writing your store policies.

Welcome

• You don’t need to put a lot of information here, any personal information you want to share can be put in your profile. A brief introduction is fine here and you can encourage buyers to contact you if they have any questions.

Payment

• State what methods of payment you will take (PayPal, cheque etc)
• If you take PayPal, a brief description of how to pay with PayPal is useful. Lots of people don’t realise they can use this method to pay with their credit or debit card without having to sign up for a PayPal account. It helps to explain how they can do this. This is what I say in my policies, you can copy and paste it if you want

“You do not need a PayPal Account to pay for your items through PayPal:

You can choose the PayPal Option during checkout. After you submit your order click the “Pay Now” button. Scroll Down and you will see the option to pay with a Credit or Debit Card WITHOUT having to sign up for a PayPal account.”

• State that you will not send packages until payments have cleared.
• Encourage buyers to contact you if they are having any problems with payment
• Tell your buyers what you will do in the event of non-payment. Non-payment is a common problem on Etsy, part of this is down to the way the system works there and it can be confusing to new buyers on Etsy, other times people are just messing you around. This forum post has some great advice on how to deal non-payment, but it helps to leave something about it in your policies too. Will you leave negative feedback for non-payment and no-response to emails? I do, but it is a personal choice. Whatever you decide, put it down in your policies. It will make it easier for you to follow through on it when non-payment happens to you.
• If you offer payment plans explain how this works to your customers.

Shipping

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