Teachable offers tools for school owners to manage refunds, including default refund windows and custom policy options. This guide walks through:
Teachable’s refund policy
How to issue a refund through your admin
Limitations on refunds by gateway, time, and account balance
Steps for off-platform refunds
Teachable Support’s role in processing refunds
Refund policy overview
Default policy (teachable:pay and Monthly Payment Gateway)
Under Teachable’s Terms of Use, students are eligible for a full refund within 14 days of their initial payment for course purchases.
Refunds for coaching, digital downloads, or bundles containing either are set by the school owner and are not subject to the 14-day policy.
However, these purchases can still be refunded manually by the school owner within 30 days.
Policy updates, effective October 9, 2024
$10,000 USD daily refund cap per school (via Teachable payment gateways).
Additional refunds can be processed the following day.Refunds after 14 days can still be issued if:
The school has unpaid earnings or reserves available, and
The account is not in a negative balance
Schools with a negative balance must ask for our assistance to process refunds.
Issuing a refund
Issue a refund through your admin (within 30 days)
Go to Users > Students, then click the student’s name
Or go to Sales > Transactions, then skip to step 4
In the student profile, go to the Purchases tab
Click the specific transaction
Scroll to the Refund section and click Refund Transaction
Enter the refund amount and optional reason
Click Refund Transaction to confirm
A refund receipt is automatically emailed to the student. You can also resend the receipt or download it as a PDF for manual delivery.
Students should allow for their credit/debit card refunds to take up to 7-10 business days to process.
Notes & limitations
Refunds can be full or partial
Refunds do not automatically unenroll the student or stop future payments—cancel this separately in the Enrollments tab. To unenroll a student from a course and/or cancel their future payments, visit the Enrollments tab of their user profile
Refunds must be covered by account balance or reserves
Card refunds may take 7–10 business days
PayPal refunds are typically processed instantly
When a refund is issued for a transaction processed through teachable:pay or the Monthly Payment Gateway, then all transaction and processing fees are returned to the school owner. If you enabled PayPal as a payment option for your students, and a student requests a refund on a PayPal payment, then the refund will be issued to their PayPal account immediately.
Partial refunds
To issue a partial refund, enter a specific amount when prompted.
Transaction and processing fees will adjust accordingly:
Full refunds: all fees returned
Partial refunds: fees returned proportionally
Tax: refunded in proportion to the refund amount
Note: If you do not see the Refund Transaction button, it might be because the student has issued a chargeback on the transaction. Learn more about chargebacks.
Custom Refund Policies
To request a policy outside of Teachable’s Terms of Use, contact us. If approved, Teachable Support will email confirmation of your custom refund policy.
Custom Payment Gateways
Student Refund Policy
Transactions processed through custom payment gateways are handled by a third-party processor. Therefore, Teachable’s refund policy does not apply.
Issuing a Refund
School owners can issue refunds to students through Teachable (as outlined above) or through their Stripe and/or PayPal accounts. For more information about issuing refunds, contact Stripe or PayPal support.
Refund Issues
There are several reasons why a student may not have received their refund. Before contacting Teachable, we recommend reviewing the following: Balance-related errors may occur if current payouts are held for future releases or recent sales are still processing. These errors are typically resolved as payouts clear, but persistent issues should be escalated to support.
Handling Insufficient Reserves for Refunds on Teachable
If your Teachable school account does not have sufficient reserves or unpaid earnings to process a refund, you have two available options. Below, we outline each approach, including the steps involved and key considerations to help you resolve the situation effectively.
Option 1: Wait for Additional Unpaid Sales Revenue
If you anticipate earning additional sales revenue soon:
Monitor your school’s unpaid earnings through Teachable’s admin interface.
Allow time for sufficient revenue to accumulate so that the refund amount can be covered.
Once the reserves reach the required amount, proceed to issue the refund directly through Teachable. This option ensures that the refund transaction is fully recorded and reflected in your school’s admin records.
Option 2: Process the Refund Off-Platform
If waiting for additional funds is not feasible, you can issue the refund directly outside of Teachable:
Refund the student using an external payment method, such as PayPal or a bank transfer.
Notify the affected student about the processed refund and retain confirmation or receipt for your records. Important Note: Refunds issued off-platform will not be reflected in Teachable’s admin system. Maintain detailed records of the transaction to ensure accountability and transparency.
Additional Considerations
When deciding between waiting for unpaid revenue and processing refunds off-platform, consider:
The urgency of the refund request and the potential impact on student satisfaction.
The timeline for earning sufficient unpaid revenue if opting to wait.
Administrative record-keeping requirements if refunding off-platform. By carefully evaluating these factors, you can choose the option that best fits your circumstances while maintaining a positive experience for your students.
Refund Date - If the refund was issued on a credit/debit card transaction, then it may take up to 7-10 business days to process with Stripe.
Refund Destination - Refunds are issued to the student’s original payment method. Make sure that your student is checking the correct account and/or bank statement.
Statement Details - If the original transaction was processed by teachable:pay or the Monthly Payment Gateway, then the refund will appear on the statement as Teachable. If the original transaction was processed by a custom payment gateway, then the name of your school will typically appear on the student’s statement.
Chargeback - If the student disputed the transaction with their credit/debit card company or PayPal, then the transaction is put on hold by their bank and a refund cannot be processed until the student withdraws their dispute.
Frequently asked questions
Requesting a Refund (Student Guide)
Step 1: Contact the School Owner
Refunds for courses are managed directly by the school owners on Teachable. To request a refund:
Locate the school's contact information (typically available on the school's website or on your purchase receipt).
Reach out to the school owner through their provided contact form or email with your refund request.
Step 2: Wait for a Response
Once you've contacted the school owner, allow at least 3 full business days for a response. This timeframe gives the school owner an opportunity to review and address your request.
Step 3: Escalate if Necessary
If the school owner does not respond within the 3 business day period, you can escalate the issue to Teachable Support:
Gather evidence of your initial refund request, such as a screenshot of your email or contact form submission with the timestamp visible.
Submit this documentation to Teachable Support, clearly providing the name of the school involved.
Teachable will use your provided information to contact the school owner on your behalf.
Step 4: Resolution
In most cases, once all steps are completed—including either a response from the school owner or additional follow-up by Teachable—the refund process will be concluded in accordance with the school's refund policy.
Note: Remember that refund eligibility is determined by the school's refund policy, which may be the standard 14-day policy or a custom policy set by the school owner.
Related Topics
Managing course issues with school owners
Contacting Teachable for support with school disputes
Documentation requirements for escalated issues.
How do student refunds work at Teachable?
Teachable gives you the flexibility to offer the refund policy that’s right for your business.
The default student refund policy is 14 days, effective August 25, 2023. However, Teachable schools can request a custom refund policy that is longer than 14 days.
Refunds for student purchases can be issued by a school admin or Teachable Support.
Refunds issued by school admins
A school admin can always manually issue a student refund within 30 days of purchase regardless of your school’s refund policy length.
If a school admin would like to authorize a refund to a student after 30 days, they will need to log in and ask support to complete this request for them.
Refunds issued by Teachable Support at the student’s request
Teachable Support can issue refunds on your behalf at the request of students in accordance with your school’s refund policy under certain conditions.
In order to uphold our commitment to empowering creator ownership of their relationship with their students, Teachable Support will only issue student refunds when
(1) the student has attempted to contact the school directly to request a refund with no response,
(2) Teachable Support has reached out to the school directly to request a refund on behalf of the student with no response, and
(3) if the refund was requested within the school’s refund policy period.
Refunds issued by Teachable Support at the school’s request
Teachable Support can assist you with issuing a student refund after 30 days when the in-app refund option is no longer available. To request a refund on behalf of a student, contact us with the student email and transaction details.
How do I request a custom refund policy for my school?
To request a custom refund policy, contact us. Once approved, Teachable Support will email you confirmation of your custom refund policy.
How can I confirm whether I already have a custom refund policy in place?
Once a custom refund policy is approved, Teachable Support will email the Teachable admin confirmation of the custom refund policy. If you can’t find this email and would like to confirm that you already have a custom refund policy in place, please log in to contact us.
What are my options for a refund policy?
Teachable gives you the flexibility to offer the refund policy that’s right for your business. While the default student refund policy is 14 days (effective August 25, 2023), Teachable schools can set a refund policy that is longer than 14 days by filling out this form. Once you have confirmed, we can process your custom refund policy request.