Your Google Merchant Center Return Policy: What to Set and Where

You wrote a return policy for your store, but Merchant Center now shows a “Missing return and refund policy” issue, or the return policy you added there says “Rejected”. Your Google Merchant Center return policy lives in two places, and Google checks both: To set up returns, you’ll need to create return policies in your Merchant Center account. The same page asks you to Confirm that the return policies are consistent in Merchant Center and across your website, for example, in the footer, returns page, and web banner. (Google’s page on setting up return policies).

This post walks through where the settings are, what each one means, how they relate to the policy page on your store, and how to give some products a different policy.

Where do I set my Google Merchant Center return policy?

In Merchant Center, the return settings sit with shipping. Google’s steps:

1. Open Shipping and returns under “Products & store” in the left menu.
2. Select the Return policies tab, then Add return policy.
3. Fill in the “Add a return policy” flow and select Save.

You may see suggested answers. Google says they are based on information collected from your website, and you can accept them, change them or start from scratch. Read them before you accept: a suggestion is only as good as the page it came from.

Adding the policy here is optional. Google puts it this way: When you submit your product data to show Shopping ads or free listings, you may also choose to provide information about your return and refund policies. If you skip it, Google may work out your policy from your website and label it on your listings as applying “For most items”. Adding your own removes that label, and Google says The return policies that are uploaded and verified will take precedence over what we’ve collected from your website.

Google’s page also says You can also set up shipping or return policies in the Search Console. Our reading: whichever tool you use, it’s still one policy, and it still has to match your store.

What does each return policy setting mean?

The “Add a return policy” flow has eleven parts. Here they are in Google’s order, with what to check on your own store for each:

1. Return policy URL. Google asks you to Enter the URL for the return policy on your website. Use the page shoppers actually reach from your footer, not a draft or an old address that redirects.
2. Countries. A policy can cover one country or several. If you accept returns at home but not from abroad, Google’s example is one policy for the countries you accept returns from and another for the rest.
3. Do you accept returns? Three choices: returns for defective and non-defective products, defective products only, or no returns.
4. Exchanges. Yes or no.
5. Product condition. New products only (unopened or never used), or new and slightly used.
6. Return window. A number of days, or lifetime.
7. Window extension. A longer window for a date range, such as the holidays.
8. Return method. In store, at a drop-off location or by mail. For mail, you also pick how the customer gets the return label: download and print, in the box, or the customer’s responsibility.
9. Currency for any fees.
10. Restocking fee. No cost, a fixed cost or a percentage of the price. Google’s Shopify page notes You can offer free returns by selecting No cost for the “Restocking fee” section.
11. Refund processing time. How many days until the customer gets their money back.

Every one of these answers is a claim Google can compare with your website. If your page says 30 days and the setting says 14, one of them is wrong.

Does the Merchant Center return policy have to match my website?

Yes. Google lists the website requirements on its setup page. Three of them catch merchants out most:

• It covers change of mind. Make sure that the return policies are applicable not just to defective products, but also to more general cases, such as buyer’s remorse. If you only take back faulty items, say so in both places.
• Anyone can read it. Make sure that the return policy is accessible to all users visiting your online store, without having to log in, sign up, or enter any personal information. A password page, a pop-up you can’t close or a policy inside the customer account area all fail this.
• It says the same thing everywhere. The footer link, the returns page, an FAQ answer, a banner promising “free returns”: if two of them disagree, Google has no way to know which is true.

Google checks the policy before using it: Google verifies your return policies before using them. The Status column on the Return policies tab shows Verified, Pending or Rejected. For a rejected policy, Google’s advice is to make sure it meets the requirements and update it as needed. Google doesn’t list the reasons for a rejection on that page. Our reading: start with the written page, because that’s what the settings are compared with.

A quick way to compare: open your policy page next to the Merchant Center form and tick off the eleven settings above. Each one should be stated on the page in plain words: the window in days, who pays return shipping, any restocking fee, how and when the refund is paid.

What does “Missing return and refund policy” mean?

This is a different issue, and it’s about your website, not the Merchant Center settings. Google’s fix page explains it: Your account has been disapproved or pending disapproval because we’ve detected that your website does not have a clear return and refund policy. (Google’s page: How to fix: Missing return and refund policy on your online store).

The same page is clear that the two are separate: This is separate from setting up your return and refund policy in Merchant Center. Filling in the Merchant Center form doesn’t clear a website issue. Google’s fix is on your store:

1. Make the policy easy to reach. Google suggests a link in the footer of every page.
2. State how returns and refunds work, including all requirements and timelines, such as the reason for a return and the return window.
3. Keep it consistent across the site: the footer, the returns page and any banner.
4. If you don’t take returns, say so. If you don’t accept returns or refunds, clearly state that on your website. A missing page and a “no returns” page are not the same thing to Google.

Our guide to a missing refund policy has the steps for each platform. If the issue arrived alongside “Website needs improvement”, our post on that warning covers the other pages Google expects.

How do I set a different return policy for some products?

Your first policy is the default for everything. For products with other terms, such as final sale items, personalized products or a shorter window for one category, you add an exception policy and tag those products with a label.

1. In Shipping and returns → Return policies, find the policy and select the plus button in the “Actions” column.
2. Enter a name in the Exception label field, then set the terms that differ: returns accepted or not, condition, window, method, fees and refund time.
3. Save it.
4. In your product data, put that label in the return policy label attribute (return_policy_label) of each product it applies to.

Products with no label keep the default. Google’s attribute page says Use this attribute if your product has a non-standard return policy. and If no value is provided, the default return policy you configured will be applied. (Google’s page on the return policy label attribute). You can also use the keyword “default” for products on the standard policy.

The label in your product data has to match a label you created in Merchant Center. If it doesn’t, Merchant Center can show an “Invalid return policy label” issue and apply your default policy instead. And as with the main policy, any exception should also be written on your store: a product marked final sale in Merchant Center but returnable under your website policy is a mismatch.

On Shopify, WooCommerce and other platforms

Shopify

Google’s Shopify page describes two steps and explains why: Adding your return policy in both locations helps ensure that Google accurately represents your policies in search results and Shopping ads. (Google’s return policy page for Shopify users).

1. In Shopify, set your return rules (return window, return shipping costs, restocking fee, final sale items) and write your return and refund policy under Settings → Policies.
2. In Merchant Center, add the same terms under Shipping and returns → Return policies.

Google’s page doesn’t describe the Google & YouTube app copying your Shopify return rules into Merchant Center, so treat them as two separate settings. If you change your window in Shopify, change it in Merchant Center the same day. Google’s Shopify page also covers seasonal exceptions, such as a longer holiday window or final sale items during the holidays. It doesn’t say how to send a product-level label from the Google & YouTube app. Our post on connecting Google Merchant Center to Shopify covers the rest of the setup.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce creates a draft page called “Refund and Returns Policy”, which its Google for WooCommerce documentation describes as a sample to edit, not a standard. Rewrite it with your real terms, publish it and link it in your footer. That documentation doesn’t describe the plugin sending return settings to Merchant Center, so add the policy in Merchant Center yourself. If you use a feed plugin for exception labels, check that the return_policy_label field holds the label name you created in Merchant Center and nothing else.

Other platforms

The same two places apply on any platform: a public policy page linked from every page, and matching settings in Merchant Center. If you send products with a feed file, the exception label goes in a return_policy_label column.

What we see in real cases

Paraphrased from merchants’ forum posts:

• A merchant’s return policy was rejected in Merchant Center every time, even with the same number of days in Shopify and Merchant Center. A helper pointed out that Google reads the written policy too. The merchant rewrote the page to be clearer and the policy was accepted.
• A store owner sure their footer had policy links found, after a helper looked at the live store, that the links weren’t showing. Checking the store as a visitor caught what the theme editor didn’t.
• One store found its robots.txt file was blocking its policy pages, so the pages were there for shoppers but not for Google’s crawler.
• Several merchants preparing for a review lined up shipping times, return terms and business details across the website and Merchant Center. Mismatches between the two came up again and again in the replies.
• Helpers in several threads suggested checking the policy pages in a private browser window and on a phone, where some gaps only show up.

Our reading: most return policy problems are mismatches or pages Google can’t read, not missing settings. Our free store check reads your refund policy the way a visitor sees it and reports whether it states a return window and how refunds are paid.

FAQ

Do I have to add a return policy in Google Merchant Center?

Google describes the Merchant Center return settings as something you may choose to provide. A clear return and refund policy on your website is a different matter: without one, Merchant Center can show the “Missing return and refund policy on your online store” issue.

Why was my return policy rejected in Merchant Center?

Google checks a return policy before it uses it, and a rejected policy hasn’t passed that check. Google’s advice is to make sure the policy meets its requirements and update it. Our reading: compare the settings line by line with the policy page on your store first.

Can I tell Google I don’t accept returns?

Yes. The Merchant Center flow has a “No, I don’t accept returns” option, and Google’s fix page says “If you don’t accept returns or refunds, clearly state that on your website.”

What happens to products without a return policy label?

They get your default return policy. Google says “If no value is provided, the default return policy you configured will be applied.”

Does Shopify send my refund policy to Merchant Center automatically?

Google’s Shopify page describes two separate steps: set up return rules and a written policy in Shopify, then add a return policy in Merchant Center under Shipping and returns. Do both, with the same terms.