Buy a gift on Amazon this holiday season, and you’ve got until Jan. 31 to send it back. That’s up to nearly three months of breathing room, depending on when you buy.
Sounds generous. It’s also good business. Stores know a long return window makes you more willing to buy — and they’ve gotten very good at clawing some of that money back on the way out.
They’ve got plenty of chances. Retailers figured about 17% of holiday purchases would come back last year, according to the National Retail Federation’s 2025 returns report. That’s roughly $1 of every $6 spent.
The same report found that when stores charge for returns, the top reasons they give are the cost of processing them and rising shipping costs. In other words, they’re passing their bills to you.
I’ve spent decades watching companies write rules that look friendly on the front and cost you on the back. Here are six return traps to know before you start shopping and how to sidestep each one.
1. The long window isn’t the same everywhere
Amazon told its sellers in an October announcement that items bought from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31 can come back until Jan. 31.
Other big stores set their own clocks:
- Macy’s: Buy from Oct. 5 through Dec. 31, and you have until Jan. 31, according to its 2026 holiday policy.
- Best Buy: Buy between Oct. 30 and Dec. 31, and you have until Jan. 15, according to its return policy. That’s about two weeks earlier than Amazon. Paid My Best Buy Plus and Total members get until Jan. 31 on purchases through Dec. 3.
- Walmart: Its returns page says only that holiday timing may stretch the window on eligible items. Last year, purchases from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31 could go back until Jan. 31, CBS News reported.
The trap is assuming every store works like the one you used last. Before you buy, note the return-by date for that store. I’d put it right on the calendar.
2. Mailing it back can cost you
Here’s where cheap gifts get eaten alive. At Macy’s, if you’re not a Star Rewards member, mailing a return costs $9.99 plus tax — and it comes straight out of your refund.
Run the numbers on a $25 sweater. Mail it back, and you get about $15. That fee just swallowed about 40% of the gift.
The fix is easy. Macy’s says Star Rewards members get free return shipping, and joining is free. You can also skip the mail entirely, since Macy’s takes online purchases back in its stores.
That’s the rule I’d follow everywhere: Before you mail anything back, check whether walking it into a store is free.
3. Restocking fees hit the big-ticket stuff
Some returns cost you even when you bring them in person.
Best Buy charges a $45 restocking fee on activatable devices like cellphones, excluding prepaid phones. On drones, digital cameras, camera lenses, camcorders and projectors, the fee is 15% of what you paid.
Return a $600 drone you’ve opened, and you could get back $510. That $90 gap is the price of changing your mind.
There are two ways around it. Best Buy says there’s no restocking fee on unopened products. And shoppers in Alabama, Colorado, Hawaii, Iowa, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma and South Carolina are exempt, according to the policy.
So if you’re giving pricey electronics, leave the box sealed until you’re sure it’s a keeper.
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4. Electronics and Apple run on a shorter clock
The holiday deadline you heard about may not apply to the gift you bought.
At Amazon, Apple-brand products bought in the holiday window have to go back by Jan. 15, not Jan. 31.
At Best Buy, the extended holiday window doesn’t cover items bought with a third-party contract, such as phones you activate with a carrier. It also skips holiday decorations like artificial trees and lights. Activatable devices there get just 14 days in most cases.
Walmart’s page lists 30 days for consumer electronics, compared with 90 days for most items. Target says electronics follow separate return rules, too.
My advice: If the gift plugs in or has an Apple logo on it, assume the deadline is earlier and check.
5. Marketplace sellers can play by their own rules
When you shop a big retailer’s website, you’re not always buying from that retailer. Plenty of listings come from outside sellers using the store’s site.
Walmart’s returns page says most Marketplace sellers give you 30 days. Best Buy says the longer windows its paid members get don’t cover Marketplace purchases.
Target has a similar wrinkle. For items from its Target Plus partners, you need the receipt or the original payment method to return them.
Amazon is the exception worth knowing. Its holiday rules cover items from outside sellers, too, whether Amazon ships them or the seller does.
Before you click “buy,” look for the “sold by” line on the listing. If it’s not the store’s name, read that seller’s return terms first.
6. No receipt can mean store credit — or nothing
Gift givers, this one’s on you.
Best Buy says that without proof of purchase, you may have to hand over an email address, you’ll get store credit rather than a refund, and the store can turn you down or cap what it takes back. You also won’t get back the sales tax.
Damaged or scratched items, or ones missing major parts, can be refused.
At Target, a gift receipt or packing slip gets the job done. Without one, you may walk out with a merchandise return card. And Target won’t take back a gift-receipt return in the store until at least the day after the gift was bought.
Why the hard line? Retailers have a fraud problem: The NRF report estimated that about 9% of returns are fraudulent — and honest shoppers end up paying for that suspicion.
The fix costs nothing: Ask for a gift receipt every time, and keep your own receipts and order emails until the return window closes.
Bottom line
A long return window is a nice perk. It’s not a promise that you’ll get every dollar back.
Write down each store’s deadline, return in person when you can, keep electronics sealed until you’re sure, and hang on to every receipt.
And if one of those returns turns into a gift card, don’t let it gather dust. Here’s how to cash in the gift cards Americans haven’t used.
If you’re shopping, check the Black Friday sale dates at every big store, and learn how to get your money back when the register rings up the wrong price.
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