The store policies payment processors check, with a checklist

Why policies matter to processors

Payment processors and card networks review the live website of a business before and after approval. Clear, specific policies show a reviewer that customers can find how you ship, refund, protect data and settle problems. Missing or boilerplate pages are an easy reason to ask questions.

Policies also have to be honest. They should describe the business you actually run and the products you actually sell. Processors commonly restrict pharmaceuticals, products marketed with health claims and other categories, so read your processor’s current acceptable-use and restricted-business list, and see our guide to Stripe for research peptide stores.

This is general information, not legal advice; check the rules in your jurisdiction and with your processor, and have counsel review your final policies.

Shipping policy

A shipping policy should let a customer predict when an order leaves, how it travels and what happens if it goes missing. Use numbers you meet on a normal week, not your best week.

• Handling time: “Orders placed by [cutoff time, timezone] on business days ship within [X] business days.”
• Carriers and services: “We ship with [carriers] via [services].”
• Regions: “We ship to [countries or states]. We do not ship to [exclusions].”
• Costs: “[Rate or table]. Orders over $[threshold] ship free within [region].”
• Tracking: “You will receive a tracking link by email when your label is created.”
• Lost or damaged parcels: “Contact [email] within [X] days of the expected delivery date.”

Returns and refunds policy

A refund policy should state the window, the conditions, how to start a request and when money comes back. Research supplies often cannot be resold once opened, which is a legitimate condition; state it clearly rather than implying no refunds ever.

• Window: “Request a return within [X] days of delivery.”
• Condition: “Unopened items in original sealed packaging are eligible. Opened items are not eligible unless they arrived damaged or incorrect.”
• Process: “Email [address] with your order number and photos of any damage.”
• Return shipping: “[Who pays] return shipping. We provide a label for our errors.”
• Refund method and timing: “Refunds go to the original payment method within [X] business days of approval.”
• Manual payments: “For orders paid by [Zelle, Cash App or Venmo], refunds are sent back through [method].”

Privacy policy

A privacy policy should describe what you actually collect and share. The most common failure is a template that names analytics or ad services you do not use while omitting the ones you do.

• Data collected: “[Name, email, shipping address, order history, device and usage data].”
• Purposes: “To process orders, provide support, send transactional email and, with consent, marketing email.”
• Sharing: “With [payment processor], [shipping carrier], [email provider] and [analytics], only as needed.”
• Retention: “We keep order records for [X] years for tax and accounting.”
• Choices: “Unsubscribe from marketing at any time; request access or deletion at [email].”
• Effective date: “Last updated [date].”

Terms of sale and business identity

Terms of sale govern the transaction and are where research-use terms belong. State them plainly and make sure no product page, FAQ or email contradicts them with health, dosing or human-use claims.

• Research use: “All products are supplied for laboratory research use only and are not for administration to or ingestion by any person or animal.”
• Eligibility: “By ordering you confirm you are at least [21] years old and purchasing for research use.”
• Order acceptance: “An order is accepted when we confirm it. We may decline orders we cannot fulfil lawfully.”
• Pricing and errors: “Prices are shown at checkout in [currency]; we may cancel orders placed at an obvious pricing error.”
• Liability: “To the extent permitted by law, our liability is limited to [the order value].”
• Governing law: “[Jurisdiction].”

Placement, consistency, versions and disputes

A policy only counts if a customer can find it before paying. Link every policy in the footer of every page and link the refund policy and terms from checkout. Then check the whole site says the same thing.

1. Link shipping, refunds, privacy, terms and contact in the site footer.
2. Link terms and the refund policy next to the checkout button, with an unchecked box to accept terms.
3. Compare policy, FAQ, product pages and checkout for windows, thresholds and handling times; fix every mismatch.
4. Add a “last updated” date to each policy and keep old versions with their dates.
5. When a dispute arrives, gather the policy version in force on the order date, the terms acceptance, tracking and support messages.
6. Review policies whenever carriers, processors, regions or refund rules change.

How Torva handles this

Torva’s policy reviewer checks that shipping, returns, privacy and terms pages exist and are substantive, at least 300 characters each, and flags claim language inside them. It is a review aid for findings, not legal certification or a promise of processor approval. The storefront footer shows the contact details you enter in Settings, so identity stays consistent across pages.

The Setup guide unlocks card processing through Stripe only after the research-ready store is live on your own domain, because processors review the live site. See payments and Torva Watch. You can preview a store free now, no card needed, and review its policy pages.