Returning and exchanging holiday gifts

The days after Christmas are the biggest for returns and exchanges of Christmas gifts that weren’t quite right. Idaho Mountain Trading Company in Idaho Falls sees a lot of exchanges on various items.

“A lot of things that get returned are gonna be shirts and gloves and hats, things like that,” Richard Napier, owner of Idaho Mountain Trading, said. “Sometimes beanies, you know, they want a different color, things like that. Once in a while, especially with junior skiers and snowboarders, we’ll guess on the size and they’ll bring that back so we can get the child fitted properly on that.”

There are a few things to remember when returning or exchanging a gift.

“It’s always easier if the tags don’t get torn off of the product,” Napier said. “We do give gift receipts that don’t state the price on there and so if you have one of those, you know that there’s a good chance it’s gonna be returned. You’re just making a wild guess on what they’re after, you know, that’s always handy to have. Because then it’s real seamless for us to return that and put them into something else.”

Most buy a majority of their gifts online. Online retailers put in more lenient return policies for holiday gifts.

Amazon returns are extended through January. Items shipped between November 1st and December 31st may be returned until January 31 for a full refund.

Best Buy purchases made in November and December can be returned through January 14th.

Target is extended the deadline for electronics returns. The 30-day refund period for items purchased between November 1st and December 25th begins on December 26th.

Finally, Walmart is also delaying it’s return policies. It’s 15-day or 30-day return policies don’t start until December 26th.

Be sure to check retailers for full policies as there may be some exclusions and exceptions.