The reason why some WSO vendors get so many refund request

It high volume, high sales, but also high refunds. You're ultimately betting that enough people will not ask for a refund, if only because they're too lazy and/or embarrassed to do it.

I understand what you are saying but I sort of disagree.

I'm not disagreeing that great after sales support should be important - but in my experience the refund rate is directly proportional to how you sell the product and not really related to after sales support - unless the product is complicated or technical and people can have problems, or your download process is not good.

The reason most people in IM have high refund rates is because of the way the product is promoted.

The usual trend is to recruit affiliates - as soon as you do this you are likely to see higher refund rates.

I have practically zero refunds across everything I've ever sold in the IM space over the last 15 years.

Why - because I rarely use affiliates and when I do they are people I know and trust. I don't get people I don't know to promote my stuff.

Therefore - everything I sell is to people who know what they're getting and want it.

I don't do hyped-up sales letters which make something sound different/better than it is.

The main reason people refund is because they did not get what they expected.

Now - for many IMers this is fine - they're playing a numbers game, so they expect refunds and accept that if you line up 50 JV partners to promote your stuff then you should expect refunds because you don't have any real idea of what their lists are like and how their relationship with their list is.

If you just want high sales numbers then that's all just part of the game.

For me, I take my time, my effort and my customers seriously and hate to get refunds - so I do things differently - and consequently very rarely get a refund request.

In fact, I'd say I've had less than 20 refund requests in the last 10 years.

That's because I make my products have AT LEAST the value that I'm charging and I don't fluff up my sales messages to try and make them sound something they're not. In fact, some of my sales letters are 1 paragraph which basically says "this is what I'm selling, this is who it's for and this is the benefit of getting it - here's where you can buy it".

I would like to believe those WSOs are below the expectations that the sales letter pitched. I am in IM business for 4 years, not actually that long. I have only requested one refund so far as the WSO is totally crap. 40 pages of basic information you found in the Internet. My expectation for WSO these days is rather simple. One or two new techniques to be added to my arsenal of Marketing methods will be worth my 9.99 bucks.

I believe that WSOs are all good investments if you put them into actions.

Mostly newbies (who are seeking a quick fix) and the desperate (ran out of quick fix options) who are seeking the "magic pill in a bottle" go after these wso's not realizing that they can:

A. Find the information and freeware versions of these products online if they take the time and effort to do the online research.

B. Do most of the work these wso's offer manually, if they take the time and effort to do it. There is no easy way to make money online and you have to be willing to put the time and effort and patience in doing it just as you would an offline business if you want to start seeing online success. And the sooner this point is realized the better!

Hmmm...maybe I should bundle this advice in a wso and sell it...lol :p

Mostly these refunds are higher, because people expect magic push button to earn money immediately.

WSO sales pitches are written in a way for people to take action(ie buying that wso). But, many wso product missed the same way to make people to take action to understand the product is the main problem for refund.

Totally agree with @khooster1!

I refunded a few WSOs because the Sales letter was promising the world and the content was crap or insulting.

I remember last year I bought a WSO from a very respected warrior, and it contained videos of how to setup Aweber with the Aweber interface from 2009 or so... not to mention that the membership website where the content was published was impossible to navigate, the videos were over the menu bar.

Then there was this other WSO I bought, about how to create mobile websites when in fact they were telling you to buy a theme (costing around $200). Not only that, but the 2 ladies selling this WSO were also providing their affiliate link to buy that theme. So, I was paying them $10 on the WSO to make them $50 on that commission - sick!

I also bought a WSO from which I only got the link to a website, but that was worth it.
It was not about the quantity, it was about the quality of the information. Of course I didn't asked for a refund for that.

Warriors try too hard with their sales letters. They should really tell only the truth about their offer to avoid refunds from customers that feel deceived when they access the WSO content.

To reduce Refund rate always try to provide best After Sales Services and high quality stuff that is what matters.

If buyers are happy then you make a lot of money.

I agree about the support. However, maybe they also offer a lousy product?

Many WSOs offer little value, unproven theories, or are cobbled-together info from other "experts". Perhaps if WSO creators concentrated on making something original with real-world credibility, refunds wouldn't happen.

Yes, you are occasionally going to run into a serial refunder. But if you have tons of refund requests, there is a deep problem with what you offer and how you support it.

Wrong.

The reason why IM-related products get high refund ratios is not the post-sale support... it's the pre-sale pitch: hype, blind copy, get-rich-quick-with-no-effort mentality (both from the vendor and the buyer's side), etc.

This could be applied to any business in the world, not just WSOs

While I agree with the basic premise of your post, there IS another dimension that people who are only on the "buying" side of this business rarely see (not saying that's you, OP - just sayin'...)

The list of "dirty buyer tricks" is lengthy and there's really not much you can do to ward them off if you're selling a digital product that's popular and widely discussed.

They WILL find your offer... and they can make you cynical and untrusting of your "audience", even if you're the most pure-hearted of marketers.

We're talking about folks who buy and refund within two minutes... fraudulent chargebacks months later from purchases using stolen credit card info... group buys where they collect more $ than your product costs, buy it for 30 people, then refund and keep all the cash (my favorite is when two groups of thieves get into flamewars over who has the "right" to be sharing the files!)

So - we wind up in a combative posture as sellers AND buyers.

Buyers don't deserve having to pay for the privilege of "instant access" when the seller hasn't spent 20 minutes considering the post-sale fulfillment experience for his customers. Have they even attempted to login to their own membership backend before? You're right - some of them haven't. Stupid!

This one kills me during consults with IM'ers...

They're in a MASSIVE rush to get their advertising up and start generating sales...

McLeod: "So, let's say we went live with the offer in 2 hours... what happens on the other end of the buy button - RIGHT NOW?"

Marketer: "Uhhhm..." to "We're 'going to be' doing ___, ____, and ____"

Outstanding customer experience is one of your most deadly-effective sales weapons - must be why so few know how to wield it safely.

While on the other end of the transactions...

Sellers can't be expected provide one-on-one coaching, hand-holding and private consulting for a $10 special report or WP Plugin as some buyers literally demand (extort?)... not when that's not part of the offer.

I swear, some people have a defective "patience" gene - they literally have ZERO patience.. like a timespan of minutes before going nuclear about whatever it is they're fuming about this time.

The drama and venom surrounding sub-$100 transactions is mind-boggling to me.

One universal suggestion that would make EVERYONE happier:

Better documentation and FAQ's from more sellers, being read and applied FIRST by more buyers.

It's a nice dream.

Brian

How much service do you expect from a $7 offer?

very well said, AndyHenry... similar experience here, less than 1.8% refund/cbs in over 13 years online fulltime, and few affiliates... that's the right way to do things, what you outlined in your post

Because the majority are Certainly Really Awful Products?

My refunds were always well below 1%.

Offer real solutions, real value and don't hype it up.

It's a catch 22 fueled by hungry desperate customers who believe in Santa and the Tooth Fairy.

Sal

There are a host of reasons why people refund, but there are many who browse the WSO just for the purpose of buying something and immediately asking for a refund...just so they can keep the product and their money. I'm sure there are a lot of those.

It is all about the customer, no matter what the product or service is.

I think it's also about the quality of some of these products, which just comes back to giving value to the customer...

in my opinion it is because there are so many week wso's with great sales letters.... people are buying and are disappointed because they realise that the sales letter was only a lie !!! very few wso sellers are delivering real VALUE.....

In my eyes most WSO's are worth the money they cost. It's that easy: If you're a newbie it will be worth the money because you won't know most of the stuff in the WSO. If you're an experienced marketer you should know what to expect and be happy if you find one or two "gold nuggets" in there.

So why should there be a reason for a refund? Most of the WSO sellers here tell you what you get right in the sales thread (okay, there's a lots of hype, but everyone into IM knows already that it's just hyped up so why should anybody care?)

Andy hit it right ion the head:do not promise something you cannot deliver. Products heavy on hype and light on replicable results will get hit hard by refunds. Is it really that surprising?

It would be nice also if there are checks in place to block serial refunders.

Mike Lantz who owns W+ said the refund rate is about 3% across all WSO's going through his platform: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post7243593

Not too bad for this market....

There's a TON of people who use purchasing your product as a 'foot in the door'..

When someone purchases a product from you then pitches you to promote their product in exchange out of a sense of obligation.

They purchased your product, now you have to join Amway or sendoutcards.

Someone purchases a product then all of a sudden realizes they live within 4 hours and you should meet with them, if you don't, you're an asshole.

They demand a phone call to discuss the product they've purchased in detail just so they aren't 'missing' something.

Personal critiques of everything "is this ok, is that ok" and demands for one-on-one coaching.

Trust me, I used to bend over backwards for people, doing this and that, well beyond the scope of the original purchase.

But not anymore, half the time people don't appreciate it and you never here from them again. I finally started respecting my time and answer questions when it's convenient for me and within the scope of the product they've purchased.