How to Handle Print-on-Demand Returns and Exchanges (2024)

Whether you’re just getting started with print-on-demand (POD) or are a seasoned hand, one thing remains true: efficiently managing customer returns is essential to keeping those 5-star reviews coming. 

One of the best parts about running a POD operation is that your POD supplier custom-makes your products and handles all aspects of order fulfillment. 

However, that doesn't extend to managing returns directly with your customers requesting them. So, it’s essential to have a system in place for doing just that. 

Remember, at least 30% of all products ordered online are returned, and 92% of consumers will buy something from you again if your returns policy is simple. 

The bottom line: Nailing your returns management should pay dividends.

So, to help you get the ball rolling, I'll walk you through how to handle print-on-demand returns in this guide. 

But before we go any further:

How We Can Help?

We have a solid range of online resources available to print-on-demand businesses in our Print-on-demand Hub. 

This includes a glossary of practical POD-related terms, FAQs, articles covering POD basics, such as reviews of the best POD companies, and a guide to selling POD products. You'll also find links to our most popular POD articles.

So, if you’re considering setting up a POD business, we recommend heading to our hub to benefit from all our top tips and expertise. It's an excellent resource for laying a solid foundation for your POD venture.

In that same spirit, here are a few tips on how to handle print-on-demand returns:

Check Your POD Supplier’s Returns Policy

When choosing POD suppliers to work with, it’s worth finding out what their returns policy is. 

Factors to consider include:

• What are their return criteria? For example, Printful accepts returns within 30 days for misprinted, damaged, or defective items, but not when it’s buyer’s remorse or incorrect size. Printify offers a similar policy.
• Where should customers send returns to? Often, the exact address varies depending on your customer's location. For example, Printful has 10 different addresses to which customers can return their items. 

Typically, you’ll find information about your POD supplier’s returns policy in their Help Center or among their online resources. I recommend going through this in detail before moving on to the next step:

Your Return Policy

It may sound obvious, but you need to have one. 

Not only that, you have to:

• Tailor it to what your business can actually offer
• Make it readily available and visible to customers

Both of the above are important because 67% of consumers check an online store’s returns page before purchasing. In other words, customers won’t order from you if your returns process is inaccessible and unreasonable. 

Let's break this down a bit more:

Tailoring Your Policy

Tailoring your returns policy to outline what your business actually offers is essential. For example, you should clarify the following information:

• If you’re not offering free returns, make it clear it's the customer's responsibility to pay for return shipping.
• Your returns conditions (i.e., under which circumstances customers can return an item)
• Return time frame (i.e., how long after purchasing can a customer request a return)
• Stress that how a POD item looks on someone’s mobile or laptop screen may differ slightly from when they have it in person. 

Here are a few scenarios to illustrate the importance of defining the above:

Suppose a customer receives a damaged item or where the print quality is poor. In that case, you should definitely refund or replace it because you haven't fulfilled your promise to the buyer. 

Alternatively, if a customer has a change of heart about their purchase or the item doesn’t fit because they ordered the wrong size, you may not want to permit a return. 

For example, they ordered a custom t-shirt and then decided they'd prefer a hoodie instead. 

Some POD suppliers won’t provide a refund where the customer cites buyer’s remorse or incorrect fit as the reason for their return.

However, they'll usually honor a refund if the goods are damaged. So, before writing your own returns policy, it pays to get crystal clear on what your POD suppliers offer.

When outlining your return conditions, it’s also worth considering which returned products you can resell. 

Make Your Policy Visible and Unambiguous

It’s no use having a returns policy no one can find. So, post a link to it on your homepage, FAQs, website footer, and each product page. It's also wise to link to your returns policy in your automated order confirmation emails.

Being transparent about your returns policy tells customers you care about them and are legitimate, which is essential for building trust and establishing credibility.

Assess What Your Customer Is Asking For

Once you have all the above in place and a customer requests a return, you must be absolutely clear on what they're asking for and why. This requires you to:

View the Evidence

Obviously, you want to trust your customers. However, it’s still important to see proof of why they want a refund or exchange. 

If, for example, the customer is complaining about the product or print quality, then the ideal evidence would be a photo or short video of the item.

You can then pass this evidence on to your supplier if they ask for it. 

If you’re satisfied that the customer qualifies for a return based on the criteria of your returns policy, then:

Offer a Replacement Product

Of course, replacing a product is cheaper than providing your customer with a full refund.

So, if the printing and/or product quality is poor, offer a free replacement. If your supplier hasn't upheld their end of the deal, they're obliged to provide a free replacement. 

Alternatively, if there’s a problem with shipping, for example, if a product arrives late or not at all, you'll have to compensate the customer accordingly. 

Of course, this is a pain, but sometimes, your business has to accept a net loss from these kinds of mishaps.

In these instances, it's always worth raising the issue with your POD supplier/courier to see whether they'll take any responsibility for shipping failures. 

Offer a Refund

It may be the case that the customer no longer wants a replacement product and wants their money back. If their refund request is legitimate and falls within your criteria, you must honor it.

Once it’s firmly established that a return/exchange/refund will happen, you need to be able to rely on an effective and efficient returns system to execute the request:

Make It Simple for You and Your Customers

As I've already mentioned, if you want good reviews, you need to make it easy for customers to return the goods they aren’t happy with. 

Here are a few ideas to help you achieve exactly that:

Integrate Your eCommerce Site With an Automated Returns Portal

Integrating your eCommerce store with an automated returns portal empowers you to handle POD returns more efficiently. 

For example, if you have a Shopify website, the Shopify App Store has lots of self-service returns portal integrations. These apps make it easy for customers to choose the items they want to return, which should reduce the number of customer support requests you receive.

On top of that, an automated system will provide faster and more accurate communication between your business and customers.

Not least because these kinds of self-service portals usually offer:

• Automated emails that confirm the return
• Automated updates on the return's status
• A notification when the refund or exchange is processed. 

Of course, this kind of software usually isn't free, so be sure to do your research first and factor that into your business's budget. 

Track Returns

Hopefully, you won’t have to handle large volumes of returns. Nonetheless, using data to identify recurring return patterns is a good idea. 

For example, are you getting more return requests for a particular supplier or product? 

You can usually track returns data via your ecommerce platform. But, on top of that, plenty of returns management software tools are out there. For example, the Shopify App Store has a range of returns management tools, including Happy Returns and Loop Returns.

By analyzing returns data, you're better positioned to:

• Identify product quality problems.
• Improve your product descriptions; for example, if customers want refunds because products don’t fit, you may need to provide a more precise sizing guide.
• Identify poor-quality POD suppliers.

Consider How to Reduce And/or Avoid Returns

As well as all the above, it's worth employing strategies to reduce returns. 

For example:

• As we've already touched upon, ensure product descriptions are as detailed and transparent as possible. Descriptions should include information about product quality, fit, materials, and sizing. These details empower customers to make more informed decisions before they buy. 
• Use a POD supplier that offers high-quality products. In some cases, POD services use branded products – for example, Printful, Printify, and Gooten all offer branded apparel. Needless to say, when products are high quality, they're less likely to be returned.
• Before selling anything, order product samples to quality control what the products look and feel like. 
• Ensure your POD supplier has quality control checks in place. For example, how do they check designs before and after they're printed? For instance, Printify has three checks: when blank products arrive at their printing locations, before a design is printed, and after printing to compare the product to the original design. 

Why's It So Important to Handle Print-On-Demand Returns Correctly?

As mentioned throughout this blog post, it makes sense to handle returns correctly because it’s good business sense. 

The statistics show that 62% of US shoppers are either somewhat or very unlikely to shop again at an online store after a poor return experience. 

It goes without saying that to grow your store, you need repeat customers – as that's where 65% of revenue comes from! In addition, loyal customers spend more, with 70% spending up to 2x more on brands they're dedicated to. 

For all these reasons, an effective returns system is a worthy investment.

Top Reasons for Returns

Before I wrap up this guide, let's examine the top five reasons customers return items. With this info in hand, you're better positioned to try and overcome these hurdles:

1. Buying the wrong size: An Amazon report found that 34% of returns are because of incorrect sizing. As mentioned, you can address this by offering customers detailed sizing descriptions and charts. 

2. Damaged products: More than 80% of returns occur because of damaged products. So, check with your supplier to see how products are packaged before they're dispatched. This goes a long way to minimizing damage during transit. 

3. The product doesn’t match the description: 64.2% of customers return products because they don’t match the product description. So, again, take the time to ensure your descriptions are accurate. 

4. Shipping takes too long: 22% of shoppers abandon a purchase because shipping takes too long. Unfortunately, you’re in your POD supplier’s hands where this is concerned. So, before committing to a supplier, research to see who offers the quickest shipping times for the products you're looking to sell. It also pays to be really clear on each product description about estimated shipping times. 

5. Buyer’s remorse: Sometimes, you can do little to mitigate this. Customers can simply change their minds, where offering a great customer experience, clear information, reasonable prices, and a clear and visible return policy is paramount.

How to Handle Print-on-Demand Returns: My Final Thoughts

So, there you have it; we've reached the end of my ‘how to handle print-on-demand returns' guide. Here are my final thoughts:

If you don’t have the correct systems in place, handling returns can be time-consuming and exhausting. 

But hopefully, writing an iron-clad returns policy, using a self-service returns portal, and doing everything you can to avoid returns in the best place will better equip you to manage customer returns more efficiently. 

Before I wrap things up, here's one final pro tip: Factor return costs into your product pricing strategy to mitigate potential losses. This helps to soften the blow when there's nothing you can do but offer a refund.  

That's all from me! Do you have any stories to tell about handling print-on-demand returns? Tell us in the comments below.