Merchant return policy (MerchantReturnPolicy) structured data

What is MerchantReturnPolicy structured data? #

• It describes your business return policies in a structured format.
  
• Helps Google show return info alongside your products and in your brand’s knowledge panel.
  
• Can be applied at organization level (standard policy for all products) or at offer/product level (specific product exceptions).

Where to add it? #

• Usually nested under your Organization markup using the property:
  “hasMerchantReturnPolicy”: { … }
  
• For specific products with different policies, add it under the Offer markup for that product.
  

Required properties (Organization-level) #

You have two main ways to specify your return policy:

Option A: Specify return policy details directly #

• applicableCountry: Country code(s) where this policy applies (ISO 3166-1 alpha-2, e.g., “IN”, “US”)
  
• returnPolicyCategory: Type of return window
  
  • MerchantReturnFiniteReturnWindow (fixed days to return)
    
  • MerchantReturnNotPermitted (no returns)
    
  • MerchantReturnUnlimitedWindow (no limit)
    
• If MerchantReturnFiniteReturnWindow, then specify:
  
  • merchantReturnDays: Number of days customers have to return the product
    

Option B: Provide a link to your return policy page #

• merchantReturnLink: URL of the web page describing your return policy (can be your own or a third-party service)

Recommended additional properties (for detailed policies) #

• returnFees: e.g. FreeReturn, ReturnFeesCustomerResponsibility, ReturnShippingFees
  
• returnMethod: e.g. ReturnByMail, ReturnInStore, ReturnAtKiosk
  
• refundType: e.g. FullRefund, ExchangeRefund, StoreCreditRefund
  
• itemCondition: Which conditions of items can be returned (New, Damaged, Used, etc.)
  
• returnShippingFeesAmount: Cost of return shipping if any
  
• returnLabelSource: Who provides the return shipping label
  
• customerRemorseReturnFees, itemDefectReturnFees, etc. for specific fee policies
  

Example JSON-LD for a business return policy #

{

  “@context”: “https://schema.org”,

  “@type”: “Organization”,

  “name”: “FSIDM Online Store”,

  “url”: “https://fsidm.in”,

  “hasMerchantReturnPolicy”: {

    “@type”: “MerchantReturnPolicy”,

    “applicableCountry”: [“IN”],

    “returnPolicyCategory”: “https://schema.org/MerchantReturnFiniteReturnWindow”,

    “merchantReturnDays”: 30,

    “returnMethod”: “https://schema.org/ReturnByMail”,

    “returnFees”: “https://schema.org/FreeReturn”,

    “refundType”: “https://schema.org/FullRefund”,

    “itemCondition”: [“https://schema.org/NewCondition”],

    “returnLabelSource”: “https://schema.org/ReturnLabelInBox”,

    “merchantReturnLink”: “https://fsidm.in/return-policy”

  }

}

Seasonal override example (optional) #

If you have special return windows for holidays or sale seasons:

json

CopyEdit

“returnPolicySeasonalOverride”: {

  “@type”: “MerchantReturnPolicySeasonalOverride”,

  “startDate”: “2025-12-01”,

  “endDate”: “2026-01-05”,

  “merchantReturnDays”: 15,

  “returnPolicyCategory”: “https://schema.org/MerchantReturnFiniteReturnWindow”

}

Best practices #

• Place your return policy markup on a dedicated return policy page or on your homepage nested inside your Organization markup.
  
• For products with specific exceptions, add return policy markup under those product offers.
  
• Validate using Google’s Rich Results Test to ensure no errors.
  
• Submit your sitemap and request recrawling after updates.
  
• If managing lots of return policies, consider managing them via Google Merchant Center or Search Console return policy settings for easier maintenance.