A while back I saw a marketing consultant on Flakebook talking about refunds, refunders, and all things refunding. Apparently, the consultant cringes every time someone says they’re worried about being scammed by refunders. The logic being, if your product is good people will want to keep it.

Predictably, all the marketing proles agreed and cheered it.

Only problem was, the consultant was dead wrong.

This is why I always take a consultant’s advice with a grain of chili pepper. They are, after all, the people who can show you 300 ways to have the secks, but can’t get a date for themselves on Saturday night.

Case in point:

I’ve been selling informational products for almost two decades.

And, in my experience, and in the experience of almost everyone I know who sells information (i.e. not consultants, employees, or freelance copywriters who work for info-marketing clients, but those of us who actually process the orders with our own merchant accounts, deliver our own products, pay for our own advertising, deal with customer service, have our names attached to the brand, etc) anyone who refunds a *quality* product knew they were going to refund when they bought it. Or, at least, they had it in their mind to — especially around Christmas, when they want to be able to afford a new PlayStation for little Tommy or whatever.

Which brings me to the point:

You can’t Value a refunder into not refunding.

If you sell to a serial refunder, they are not going to magically not return it just because it’s the best product ever created on the subject. Their rationalization hamsters will spin and spin and spin until they justify their decision.

Best advice I ever heard about this back when I used guarantees:

If someone asks you about your refund guarantee, don’t waste time answering.

Simply delete them from your list.

And, blacklist them from your shopping cart.

I still do this if I’m selling someone else’s product.

Few years ago, I remember an “Email Players” subscriber refunding Brian Kurtz’s Titans Of Direct Response product which I sold as an affiliate. I immediately cancelled his subscription, blacklisted him in the shopping cart, and said I’d do no further business with him.

I refuse to reward bad behavior.

Too bad so many marketers do…

All right, enough.

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Ben Settle