After you’ve bought an information product where you can download it immediately you jump in and get started reading it or trying it out (if it’s software) and you usually don’t expect to find anything wrong with it or find out it doesn’t live up to your expectations. However, occasionally something isn’t what it was promised to be and in most cases the vendor has offered a refund guarantee. So what should you do if you ever want to take up that guarantee and get your money back? What are some legitimate reasons to ask for a refund?

The biggest reason people ask for refunds for information products, particularly products in the ‘make money online’ niche is false advertising, or advertising that promises more than it delivers. We’ve all heard the hyped up promises and occasionally we believe them. Usually they come in the form of offering the ’secret’ technique that will enable you to make a large amount of money in a small amount of time. You should know that these promises aren’t literal and there are usually long disclaimers at the bottom of most sales pages that make it clear that the kind of results they are claiming are anything but usual.

Sometimes a vendor promises that their product will have ‘X’ effect on your business. It could be that it will double your sales or increase your traffic. These kind of promises are things that you can test in a reasonable amount of time and if you put in an honest effort and follow the instructions and it doesn’t deliver, it is always appropriate to request a refund. If in doubt, check the fine print to see what kind of disclaimer is actually provided or just make the request and see what happens, particularly if you have paid a reasonable amount of money for the information.

Perhaps a simpler reason to request a refund is if the information you are provided with is outdated. This happens quite regularly on the internet. I used to do a lot of selling on eBay and bought a lot of information products about how to do so successfully. However, eBay often changed its policies and when this happened information products went obsolete quickly.

It is up to the publishers to make sure their products reflect current policies and procedures and if they don’t I feel you are totally justified in requesting your money back. Of course, if you pay for a product and find the download page isn’t available anymore, this is instantly a justifiable reason for a refund.
If you can’t contact the vendor in these circumstances you can also go to your credit card processing company or Paypal and work through their systems. I also think it’s appropriate with software in particular to request a refund if the product is much more complex to use than is advertised.

I have one software program in particular that I use that was advertised as being simple to use, but when I downloaded it and accessed the support website there were almost 100 15 minute videos related to learning to use it! I guess the publisher thought all those videos were ‘bonuses’ for their customers but seriously it took so long to get a grasp on it that I often wondered whether it was worth it and considered requesting a refund. Most good software programs are complex as it’s just a part of using something that is highly functional, but the issue is whether this was made clear when you purchased it and whether it was really appropriate to your needs.

Whatever reason you decide to request a refund, it is always a good idea to state your reasons in your email or to call the support team personally to discuss it. I’ve found everytime I’ve requested a refund I’ve been dealt with professionally and given the refund without question. But insulting someone might get you into trouble. Explain what your expectations were and why you formed those ideas and show how you have tried to use the product and how it has failed you. This could also be good feedback for the publisher and they may appreciate the response.

Of course the problem with requesting a refund for an information product is that you can usually continue to use it after you’ve received your money back. This is often expected by publishers, but it’s up to you to be honest about the fact that you’ve a real problem with the product and not just because you regret spending money. That’s your problem and sometime you have to just deal with that yourself (and stop buying things you can’t afford).

If you make a habit of refunds from popular information product sellers and networks you might get banned. This could be a real problem if you regularly buy things from Clickbank or PayDotCom vendors for example. If you follow these guidelines and you’re honest then you shouldn’t have any problems.

James Spacey is a blogger and affiliate marketer from Australia who teaches people how to make money online from internet marketing.

[tags]information products, make money online, refunds[/tags]