How to match your Merchant Center return policy to your site

Match your Merchant Center return policy to your returns page field by field: window, condition, method, label, fees and refund time. Google asks for the two to agree, and its own documentation ranks the account setting above the markup on your pages. Set reminders, because seasonal changes are where the two quietly drift apart.

Critical4 min read

By Edvinas Ivanauskas How the guides are reviewed

You run this check yourself

Our scanner can’t see inside your Google accounts, so this one’s on you. Work through the checklist below without running a scan.

Why this matters

Google's return policy setup page asks you to “Confirm that the return policies are consistent in Merchant Center and across your website”. Its fix page for a missing policy adds that the website policy “is separate from setting up your return and refund policy in Merchant Center”. Two places, maintained separately, by people who rarely look at both: that is how they drift.

The Merchant Center flow doubles as the checklist. It asks for the policy URL, the countries, whether you accept returns and exchanges, the product condition, the return window and any “Window extension”, the return method and label, the currency, the restocking fee and the refund processing time. Each of those should appear on your returns page in the same terms. “Google verifies your return policies before using them”, and the status column shows “Verified”, “Pending” or “Rejected”. For a rejected one the instruction is short: “Ensure your return policy meets the requirements, and update as needed.”

Product data can override the account. The returns [returns] attribute can “override any account-level return policy you have set in Merchant Center”, and an exception policy is applied with the return policy label [return_policy_label]. If you use either, the products they cover need the same comparison. Your own pages hold a third copy when your theme adds return-policy markup; Google's structured data documentation ranks settings in Merchant Center above product-level and organization-level markup, so keep the account right, and keep the markup from telling a different story. Return policies set in Search Console count too: Google's documentation says they “get automatically added to Merchant Center”.

This is a manual check: StoreVerifier reads your public pages and cannot open your Merchant Center account. On the website half, the free scan flags a returns page with no clear window, and return-policy structured data that gives a different window from the page. Every returns check is on the misrepresentation checker; the window itself is covered in how to state a return window, and the same job for shipping in shipping policy match.

Typical evidence

A return-window difference to investigate

In this example, Merchant Center is configured at 14 days while the website says 30. StoreVerifier can capture the public policy; compare the applicable market, product, and account setting yourself before deciding what needs updating.

GMC policy

14 days

mismatch

Website page

30 days

mismatch

Target

30 days

0 days30 days60 days

16-day return window discrepancy. Update GMC return policy to 30 days to match the website.

Update both the GMC return policy setting and the website returns page simultaneously whenever the window changes. Set a calendar reminder for seasonal extensions.

The public signals this check looks for:

Merchant Center was set to 14 days at setup; the site moved to 30 days a year later and no…
Merchant Center was set to 14 days at setup; the site moved to 30 days a year later and nobody changed the account.
The site's Christmas extension ran to 31 January; Merchant Center never heard about it
The site's Christmas extension ran to 31 January; Merchant Center never heard about it.
The returns page charges £4…
The returns page charges £4.95 postage for change of mind; Merchant Center shows a free label.
Sale items are final sale on the site, with no exception policy in Merchant Center
Sale items are final sale on the site, with no exception policy in Merchant Center.
Return-policy markup from an old theme still says 60 days
Return-policy markup from an old theme still says 60 days.
The policy URL in Merchant Center points to a page that was renamed and now redirects to t…
The policy URL in Merchant Center points to a page that was renamed and now redirects to the homepage.

What it looks like once it is right

One shared sheet lists each field. Merchant Center, the returns page and the markup all say 30 days from delivery, by mail, customer-paid postage of £4.95 taken from the refund, and refunds within 5 working days, with sale items exchange-only under an exception label. It was last checked the day the Christmas extension ended.

Common mistakes

Common mistake

Merchant Center: 14 days, free label. Returns page: 30 days, customer pays postage. Theme markup: 60 days. Three answers to one question, and nobody on the team knows which one is current.

Self-check steps

Open Merchant Center, go to Shipping and returns, then Return policies, and write down every field of each policy and exception: window, condition, method, label, fees and refund time.
Open your returns page in a private window and write down the same fields, plus any exclusions or seasonal windows it mentions.
Fix whichever side is wrong, choosing the version your team actually applies, and change both on the same day.
Check that the policy URL in Merchant Center opens the returns page itself, not a redirect or the homepage.
List products with a different policy, confirm each carries the right [return_policy_label] value in your product data, and show the exception on their product pages.
If your theme or an app adds return-policy schema, check its number of days and fees against the returns page, and remove markup you cannot keep current.
If you send the [returns] attribute, clear any “Invalid format for sub-attributes” warning in the Needs attention tab before you compare values.
Put two dates in the calendar for every seasonal change: one to update the returns page and Merchant Center, and one to revert both.

Managing seasonal return extensions without creating mismatches

Christmas and sale periods often extend the return window. Both locations need to update at the same time, and both need a reminder to revert at the same time.

periodGMCwebsitesync

Standard (Jan–Oct)30d30d

Christmas extension14d60d

After fix (Christmas)60d60d

Revert date (15 Jan)30d30d

Set two calendar reminders: one to extend both (before Christmas), one to revert both (after Christmas).

The extension scenario is almost universal. The mistake is almost always the same: website updated, GMC forgotten. Two calendar reminders solve it permanently.

Questions merchants ask

Does my Merchant Center return policy have to match my website?

Google's return policy setup page asks you to confirm that the return policies are consistent in Merchant Center and across your website. Compare them field by field (window, condition, method, label, fees and refund time) and change both together.

Which one counts if the account and my pages differ?

For return information in Search, Google's structured data documentation ranks settings in Merchant Center above product-level and organization-level markup on your pages. That is a reason to keep the account right, not a licence to let the page differ; shoppers read the page.

What does a Rejected return policy status mean?

Google verifies return policies before using them, and a rejected one has not been approved. The instruction is to make sure the policy meets the requirements and update it: check that the policy URL opens, that the page states the window, method and fees, and that it agrees with the settings.

Remediation

Risk signal

Return settings drift because nobody owns them after launch. Give one person the job, keep a field-by-field record, and redo it at every seasonal change. The free scan keeps an eye on the website half; the account half is yours to check.

PriorityTreat this and any other highest-severity findings as first-priority work, then document each fix.

EvidenceRecord the current state before each change, apply the fix, then capture the corrected state so every change is evidenced.

Similar cases

Sources

Last reviewed 23 Sep 2026.

That is one issue. The library documents 134.

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