No-refund rules for virtual goods must be disclosed before purchase

What it is

Skins, points, and level packs, once delivered, are often claimed non-refundable. Disclose before purchase means, before pay is pressed, stating “no refund / here are the exceptions” at the same visibility as the price—not buried in store terms or popped after capture. It is not whether refunds are findable for physical orders. This is a class of virtual goods that must know there is no way back before the deal.

Why it happens

People import a “buy” schema from physical shops and assume a cooling-off. Virtual goods are hard to claw back once granted, so merchants use no-refund to cut arbitrage. If disclosure happens after success, the decision is already made; it becomes a disclaimer, not a choice condition. A sentence beside the pay control is more likely read than a policy in settings. Unstated exceptions (unused still refundable, child mis-buy, statutory cooling-off) leave people between a no-refund expectation and occasional refunds, and support scripts explode.

Studying it

On the IAP confirm layer compare no disclosure, folded terms, one sentence plus exceptions beside the button. Watch whether people who later try to refund say “I didn’t know then,” and whether some leave without buying.

Independent variables: disclosure placement, exceptions listed, checkbox required. Dependent variables: post-purchase “I didn’t know” tickets, leave after seeing no-refund, checkboxes blindly ticked.

If the lab task is named “refund,” people hunt policy. Use “buy an item,” then ask whether it can be refunded. Do not treat a store-platform mandate as in-app disclosure already done.

Where it stops holding

Some jurisdictions still give digital content a cooling-off; the UI cannot write statutory refundable as non-refundable. Consumed (watched, uses spent) vs unused must be split. Subscription virtual entitlements follow subscription rules, not one-shot IAP. Gift-card balances may have another rule; do not reuse one “virtual goods never refund” sentence on skins.

Applying it

• In the confirm-pay viewport, a sentence at price-level visibility states no-refund and links exceptions (failed delivery, minors, statutory cooling-off).
• Do not only place that sentence in the first-install license.
• Do not introduce the rule for the first time on the success page; if success repeats it, it must match confirm.
• Verify by buying a test item with long terms covered: “can you refund after, any exceptions.” “Yes” or “don’t know” fails disclosure.

Related

• Within the group: H7.15.1 Virtual currency top-up vs spend rates must be calculable · H7.15.3 Child IAP needs parental consent and spending caps · H7.15.4 Probability items must disclose drop rates
• Adjacent: H7.07 Refunds and after-sales · W10.01 In-app purchase and virtual currency · H7.05 Order confirmation
• Search terms: digital goods refund · no refund IAP · virtual item policy