can i do "no money back guarantee" is this possible?

22 replies
i have a product in plan in the fitness niche...its a fitness program with day by day training , nutrition and other stuff i cant disclose...

the thing with the program is that it works 100% if you commit to it...its a no hype no bull "you will have to bleed and suffer" but you WILL get results product...no bogus claims and no "shortcuts" offered and no "new secret product" lies offered only months and months of HARD WORK...in fact the "blood, sweat and tears" aspect will be my main selling point (i realize that hype and bull sell better than the truth but this is of no concern to me i want to do this project nevertheless)

i want to price the product relatively high lets say 300$...apart from the obvious reasons for this high price (make more money, greater perceived value) the real reason for the price is making people COMMIT to my program...300$ is really cheap for what they get: a new body ...no bull about it hard work works 100% of the time

a money back guarantee is where i see the problem...they cant commit if they have a way out like asking for their funds back...im even considering using the "there is no money back guarantee! buy this and commit!" as a selling strategy...

my question is: is it possible to do a "no money back guarantee!" and what payment processor would allow this? i would make it super clear on the website that there is no money back...i would even devote a whole video explaining the reason for this and how they should not buy my product if they dont seriously plan on committing to my blood,sweat and tears stuff...

any thoughts would be greatly appreciated...
#no money back guarantee
  • Profile picture of the author DeadGuy
    There are two reasons for offering a money-back guarantee. One is to show your own confidence in the product you are selling. Second is the doubt that all customers have before making their purchasing decision. You know that you are an honest person and you know that your product is great... but your customers don't. Your success rate will be very, very low if you don't take these hurdles out of the customer's way.

    This is especially true for higher dollar products. Ask yourself this. Would you buy a $300 Blu Ray player that didn't come with a guarantee? Most people simply don't care about a guarantee on a low dollar product, which is why lots of folks sell $7 IM products.

    Even if you do a superb selling job, and your visitors fall in love with your product, they still need assurance in case they make a mistake. It is just human nature. "I like this, but what if I'm wrong." The guarantee answers that objection.

    Final thought. If someone bought your product without a guarantee, would you refuse give them their money back if they asked for it? Refunds are just a fact of internet marketing life and you need to take it into consideration.
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    You are making this work at home stuff way harder than it is. Ready for some sanity? Clear your head and start over.

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    • Profile picture of the author atvking
      Originally Posted by DeadGuy View Post

      If someone bought your product without a guarantee, would you refuse give them their money back if they asked for it? Refunds are just a fact of internet marketing life and you need to take it into consideration.

      this is the thing...i have nothing to guarantee...hard work,blood, sweat, tears and massive suffering works 100% of the time...

      as for your question i would refuse to give them their money back after say 2 weeks...this is not about me being a greedy ******* its about commitment ... if they e-mailed me after say 3-4 months and asked for money back and gave me a legit reason other than "i was too lazy" then i would refund no problem...


      sometimes the best way to keep people committed to something is to give them no easy way out...i would go out of my way to explain the pain and suffering and no money back stuff ...big red letters all over the sales copy with "warning: this is a massive commitment AND you wont get your money back!!!!" so i would not be misleading anybody


      what im looking for is a payment processor that would agree to my no refunds plan...non reversible transactions for credit cards if there is such a thing...
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      • Profile picture of the author DeadGuy
        Originally Posted by atvking View Post

        this is the thing...i have nothing to guarantee...hard work,blood, sweat, tears and massive suffering works 100% of the time...

        as for your question i would refuse to give them their money back after say 2 weeks...this is not about me being a greedy ******* its about commitment ... if they e-mailed me after say 3-4 months and asked for money back and gave me a legit reason other than "i was too lazy" then i would refund no problem...


        sometimes the best way to keep people committed to something is to give them no easy way out...i would go out of my way to explain the pain and suffering and no money back stuff ...big red letters all over the sales copy with "warning: this is a massive commitment AND you wont get your money back!!!!" so i would not be misleading anybody


        what im looking for is a payment processor that would agree to my no refunds plan...non reversible transactions for credit cards if there is such a thing...
        All you have to guarantee is the purchase price. Nothing more. This always a problem with digital product creation and there really is no way to get around it. Refunds are simply a part of doing business, whether brick and mortar or on the internet.

        It seems that what you are saying is that if your customer makes 100% commitment, your product will work. IMHO it is quite difficult to make a 100% claim about the effectiveness of any product, in any niche. This is just an opinion and nothing more, but not offering an absolute guarantee will more than likely raise a lot of flags in your site visitors' minds... which is exactly what you want to avoid.

        You also may find it difficult to find any credit card processor to agree to your terms, for lots of reasons... and I would encourage you to NOT ask them that question. Can you imagine the potential liability they would absorb?

        If you have a good product and are willing to support it, why are you concerned about refunds? Again, it is just a fact of business life. Does anyone like it? No. Do we live with it? Yes. Simply because we always gain much more than we lose.
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        You are making this work at home stuff way harder than it is. Ready for some sanity? Clear your head and start over.

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        • Profile picture of the author ozduc
          Here is another way to look at it. It sounds like the program goes for several months which in the fitness and weight loss niche is understandable as results don't happen overnight.
          So what you could do is charge them $60 monthly for say 5 months. =$300
          Deliver the content to the customer daily, weekly, monthly or what ever works for the program. Offer a 14 day money back guarantee or even 30 day. BUT you are only responsible for refunding the last payment received. That way if someone gets into month 3 or 4 and decides to ask for a refund you only owe them the last payment received of $60. If you do a 14 day guarantee and they ask for the refund in week 3 of month 4 then you are not obligated to refund anything.
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  • Profile picture of the author johnyeo90
    If you really apply the no money back in your selling.. i think you will lost a lot of business because people afraid they ddn't get what is promise..
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  • Profile picture of the author Loren Woirhaye
    You can sell without a money back guarantee - though buyers are
    able to open disputes with any payment processor. You have to
    be prepared to fight those disputes.

    Merchant Accounts will work with you, if you specify in your salesletter
    that there will be no refunds, then you have evidence. Jim Straw
    is a notable direct marketing legend who years ago did away with
    money-back offers without a significant drop in sales.

    Many if not most software products from premium companies carry
    a warranty but not a money-back offer if the seal is broken and
    the software has been installed. Many of them also have transferable
    licenses though, so an unhappy customer may sell the software on
    the 2nd hand market.

    Until recently I thought if a customer opened a dispute with PayPal
    on a downloadable product PayPal would always find in favor of the
    customer.... but this is not true. A Warrior who has sold tons of
    software and other downloads set me straight. This is what he
    wrote to me:

    I don't think we've ever lost a PayPal dispute. You simply Escalate the dispute, indicate it was a "Non-tangible, Digital Download" and that the customer did in fact receive the product (which he did). PayPal will close the dispute and return the funds to you.
    I think it's essential to be upfront and indicate that the sale is
    non-refundable, but emphasize the level of support, quality and
    service the customer can expect.
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    • Profile picture of the author atvking
      @Loren Woirhaye

      thank you very much that was very useful i will definitely try with paypal...

      @deadguy

      im not really concerned with serial refunders or somebody getting my stuff for free...my main focus point would be to "ball and chain" people to my program by making the transaction non refundable...as for my 100% success rate this is based on simple physics and chemistry: if you spend more than you consume you will lose weight 100% of the time...

      @ozduc

      you are right its a 6 month program...i will consider your split payment option...the trick is to get people to commit and 300$ is a hefty price tag...but then again its harder to commit for less money ie. once you drop 300$ for something you will be much more serious and committed to it than if you just dished out 50$ for a part of it...

      @don schenk

      thanks for the info on rescission...very useful ...as for your business example im aware that no money back is a bitter pill to swallow and will put some people off...these kind of people who need a money back guarantee are probably not determined to change their life and would probably fail at my blood/sweat/tears approach anyway and are probably better off not getting my program...just my thoughts i dont have to be right about this...

      @actionplanbiz and @ tyson faulkner

      this is exactly what im offering a result and not a service because one has to do the work all alone i only offer the "battle plan"...hard work ,in physical fitness, pays off 100% of the time...my info is 100% spot on this will be easy to see for the customer since i will not be plugging any snake oil or bull**** promises other than : blood sweat tears and results
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      • Profile picture of the author ozduc
        Originally Posted by atvking View Post

        @ozduc

        you are right its a 6 month program...i will consider your split payment option...the trick is to get people to commit and 300$ is a hefty price tag...but then again its harder to commit for less money ie. once you drop 300$ for something you will be much more serious and committed to it than if you just dished out 50$ for a part of it...
        I may be wrong here but I think that if someone is committed then they will stick with it regardless. Even at $300 you will still get people dropping out. However at $50 a month I think you will get more people signing up.
        As i said I could be wrong and the only way to know for sure is to split test.
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  • Profile picture of the author Loren Woirhaye
    This applies to Oregon, but probably most transactions in the United
    States.

    Oregon Department of Justice - Consumer Protection, 3-day Right of Rescission

    When I was doing bigger-ticket direct selling I was aware of a 3-day
    "right" customers had to rescind their orders and back-out. Other
    than that, all sales were final. In one case I worked with a company
    where customers had 10 days. I probably wasn't legally obliged to
    honor the 10-day cool-off period, but the company probably would
    have "fired" me if I did not.
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  • Profile picture of the author Don Schenk
    Look at what that says for Oregon...

    "3-day Right of Rescission
    The "three day right of rescission" is also referred to as the "cooling off rule." It is a popular misconception that consumers have this right for most purchases. In fact, it is the exception, rather than the norm.

    Typically, the only time you will get a three day right of rescission is for a home solicitation, also known as a "door to door sale." There are a few other times you may be able to rescind an agreement within three days, such as with a home mortgage, but usually, if you buy something, it is yours. There is no "cooling off period" for the purchase of a motor vehicle. There is no "cooling off period" for the purchase of a good, just because it is really expensive or you decide you made a mistake in buying it. There is no "cooling off period" if you buy something from a telemarketer."

    I believe it's that way in Ohio too.

    That said, years ago I heard Jay Abraham talk about the importance of giving a guarantee. He claimed the extra sales you would make by offereing a guarantee would out weigh the relatively small number of returns.

    So in 1993 I implemented a full, no-questions-asked guarantee in a retail service business I owned. I saw an expensive Yellow Pages ad go from not bringing in a lot of business to overnight bringing in 10 times cost each month. (When the new phone books came out.)

    I'm a beliver. My competitors thought I was crazy. They have no idea how effective that was.

    :-Don
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  • Profile picture of the author captivereef
    i think with a $300 product a money back offer is good, however i would only make 7-10 days and not the standard 60 like so many other Im people do.

    however many good retailers in the IM niche like incansoft are doing great with a no refund policy
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  • Profile picture of the author tush
    Who are you to the buyers? I guess if have sold products before and people believe in them, you might do well. If you are just starting out and have not build your brand and credibility, it might be tricky
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    • Profile picture of the author Tyson Faulkner
      It can be hard to put a guarantee on your products when you know that they work and you've put a lot of time and energy into them. But you have to look at it from your customers vantage point.

      Many people have been scammed or gotten crappy information in the fitness market so they are wary, and if there's no way to get their money back if it's just a bunch of garbage, they will stay away. But if you offer a crazy guarantee, people will know that it's the real thing and if it's not they'll feel good about being in control.

      Being at a high price point has it's advantages too though, people who DO buy will take it more seriously because they have invested a good amount of money into it. But it will be hard to get them to take the plunge without that guarantee.
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  • Profile picture of the author Greg Jacobs
    Stage Pitching and Call Center Coaching Pitching usually comes with the mandatory 3 day cool off (though I dont think they tell you) and after that your money is gone gone gone. Part of the business model....

    Since the sales process on these models is so intense they can get away will still converting peoples and not offering the refund guarantee.
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  • Profile picture of the author ladyspinner
    It is not good business to do a no money back guarantee. You are showing that you are not confident in your product.
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  • Profile picture of the author moniez
    On an entirely different note, do you think your program will actually sell? After all, don't most diet programs sell well because most people are lazy and they want some sort of shortcut like most diet programs offer? People know that they can go run 5 miles a day, eat nothing and lose weight, but they don't want to. They don't want to work hard.

    Aren't you sort of taking the marketing out of the product? I don't know if this makes much sense, but most people know that if you exercise religiously and eat well you're going to lose a ton of weight.

    They want you to convince them that you have some sort of breakthrough that can help them shed pounds effortlessly.

    My 2 cents.
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  • Profile picture of the author ogm
    No Guarantee = no confidence in your own product. You will lose sales.

    What you could do is offer is offer 200% money back guarantee, but a fine print somewhere in terms of service that people will need to present proof that they followed the program to the tee and it didn't work for them.

    This setup works much better then offering no guarantee. You can keep refunds very low.
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    • Profile picture of the author ozduc
      Originally Posted by ogm View Post

      What you could do is offer is offer 200% money back guarantee, but a fine print somewhere in terms of service that people will need to present proof that they followed the program to the tee and it didn't work for them.
      Hmmm that's a great way to get yourself in Hot water with the FTC.
      Burying anything like that in the fine print is the exact reason the FTC is cracking down on a lot of the Weight loss niche.
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  • Profile picture of the author Adria.John
    Originally Posted by atvking View Post

    i have a product in plan in the fitness niche...its a fitness program with day by day training , nutrition and other stuff i cant disclose...

    the thing with the program is that it works 100% if you commit to it...its a no hype no bull "you will have to bleed and suffer" but you WILL get results product...no bogus claims and no "shortcuts" offered and no "new secret product" lies offered only months and months of HARD WORK...in fact the "blood, sweat and tears" aspect will be my main selling point (i realize that hype and bull sell better than the truth but this is of no concern to me i want to do this project nevertheless)

    i want to price the product relatively high lets say 300$...apart from the obvious reasons for this high price (make more money, greater perceived value) the real reason for the price is making people COMMIT to my program...300$ is really cheap for what they get: a new body ...no bull about it hard work works 100% of the time

    a money back guarantee is where i see the problem...they cant commit if they have a way out like asking for their funds back...im even considering using the "there is no money back guarantee! buy this and commit!" as a selling strategy...

    my question is: is it possible to do a "no money back guarantee!" and what payment processor would allow this? i would make it super clear on the website that there is no money back...i would even devote a whole video explaining the reason for this and how they should not buy my product if they dont seriously plan on committing to my blood,sweat and tears stuff...

    any thoughts would be greatly appreciated...
    I think you are right on your side, but for marketing one has bend his rules and ethics a bit. For sales, Money back guarantee is a good way to develop customer confidence. I fear, if you remove this, the sales would also drop.
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