Clickbank Refunds and What You Can Do About It

Clickbank Refunds and What You Can Do About It

The internet is not the only place that refunds is an issue to a retailer.  From the perspective of the internet merchant, customer satisfaction is of the highest priority.  Because competition for customer loyalty is fierce, you know that keeping repeat customers coming back is the fastest and best way to long term financial success in sales.  So offering an iron clan refund guarantee if the customer is not satisfied sends a message to the consumer that their happiness is top priority to you and that they can shop with you in confidence.

As customers, we like to know that there is a return or refund policy in place.  We come to expect that when we get home with a product that it will be to our satisfaction of the store will stand behind the product and give us a refund no questions asked.  Sadly even outside the internet, refund fraud happens all the time.  People bring back stolen merchandise for refund to exchange what they took for money.  There are so many scams like this that one solution the non-internet retail world has turned to is store credits so the money never leaves the store.  

Within the world of Clickbank marketing, we are faced with a similar dilemma.  Except because our products are digital, the problem is compounded significantly.  Clickbank offers an iron clad refund guarantee.  But unlike more wary merchants, there is no "store credit" to protect store funds.  And because both Clickbank merchants and affiliates must abide by the policies of the marketplace, if Clickbank gives a refund, so do you.  

The problem is there really is no such thing as a "return" when it comes to a digital product.  Because you download the product to the customer, once they have a digital copy, they have it and there is no way to make sure they are not keeping it.  And that little quirk of digital sales means that the Clickbank policy is pretty much open season for internet thieves and shoplifters if they chose to buy and download products, cash in on the policy and just keep getting their money back.  

While Clickbank is working to solve this problem, we need to know what we can do until it is solved to cut down on Clickbank refunds taking profits out of our accounts which we very much deserve to keep.  The first line of defense, of course, is legitimate refunds because of customer dissatisfaction.  Put extra work and effort into putting onto Clickbank only products of the highest quality so there is little room for complaint.  That is part of it.  But the other part is making sure customer perception of the product is accurate.

On the internet, overselling a product is almost a way of life.  We all seem to turn into infomercial merchants and we sometimes give the impression our product might be something it isn't.  So go back to your web site and specifically your sales language.  It's ok to use good marketing language on those pages.  But be sure you are telling the customer the truth so there is no reason for them to have a case to say that you sold them something that was not up to what was claimed.  Have others read your marketing copy and get to know the product so they can confirm that what is being sold is what the customer gets.

By building strong customer relationships and building a community of repeat customers, you are more secure not to have to give refunds constantly.  It's an old adage of business but the best defense against lost business is satisfying the customer.  Other than that we can only trust that Clickbank will eventually solve the problem and just keep on selling and doing the best we can.