Any way to spot bad purchasers of WSO's?

I'm not sure what the laws are elsewhere, but here in the UK I believe it isn't allowed because of something called the Data Protection Act.

I wouldn't waste emotional energy on refunds, you should always integrate them into your calculations beforehand anyway.

My refund rates are very low usually only 2% or 3% in most markets, however I always set aside 10% of sales that come in specifically for refunds.

Then when anyone requests a refund, I've already emotionally detached myself from the 10% set aside so it is no big deal.

If someone is a serial refunder (buys multiple products from you then refunds), then obviously ban them for life from buying from you, and delete and block them on any lists you have.

But if someone requests a refund for the first time, it is best to just give it out quickly in my experience and move on.

If ur refund rate is about 0.1% then why so much worry?

This is part of business. you cannot change few peoples mind even though you are offering them most value added product but still they will ask for refund.

I've worked in areas related to fraud and risk in online payment processing for quite some time. If you know the facts of number of $$ loss to business and consumer by credit card fraud you would understand why.

The way electronic product sold and delivered to end user is simply by entering personal details and clicking links to download. There is no such thing as real genuine seller or real genuine buyer. In the e-commerce business, consumer (people that spend money for your product) is always be the weaker side which is why they must be protected.

In the real world, it will be merchant versus buyer. And at the end of the day it is all about online payment processing is being regulated.

My understanding is: as long as there is no proof that credit card is being presence and swiped to a POS terminal and customer signature - which is there will never be for online transaction - then when a customer dispute come, merchant will be charged for the refund. If as a merchant, you receive many dispute, then your acquiring bank will flag you and investigate why, because they also being flagged as accepting bad merchant by the payment processing provider (visa/master etc).

Exception i know when an online merchant will win is when they are accepting global security measures such as accepting VerifiedByVisa or MasterCard SecureCode (Something like online PIN, which is have equality to ATM PIN or signature). Very little business applying this, because the requirements including certification by global payment processing provider such as visa and mastercard, not to mention the $ cost of infrastructure as company secure server etc. And the down fall is, not many banks or card issuers in the world enroll to this global security measures program (which is in the end the number of customer is only a handful have this online PIN). Not worth the cost.

From the way it is being regulated at the moment, yes it is possible for people to exploit this regulation to purchase WSO by WSO and then ask for a refund. Of course you can simply negotiate by provide support and try to convince them you will help etc, but at the end of the day when they dispute it with their bank or paypal, you will- loose your money guarantee.

* know your customer, if they refund too often, dont do any business with them (ban, ignore, etc)
* focus on your business which is to sell as much as possible (dont focus on preventing refund or know for what reason unless you want to, even if you want to automate this by using refund form to save your energy)
* do your homework: expected sales, % of refund allocation, maximise your profit! :-)

Hope that helps.