What to do before you start returning.
Hopefully it’s not too late, but remember to be very careful when unwrapping your gifts to not damage the box or contents. Keep the original packaging, especially with that new iPhone and other tech-y items. Don’t use, wear, or damage the gift if you’re even thinking about returning it.
Save your gift receipts.
In an ideal situation, your gifter also provided you with a convenient gift receipt. (If not, sit tight.) That slip of paper ensures a smoother return process, and guarantees you'll be entitled to a refund of the original price, even if the item's since gone on sale (which likely everything will have, the other best part of this week). “The retailer must give you the return or exchange for the original value the item was purchased,” says shopping expert Andrea Woroch. She recommends the OneReceipt app to scan and store all your paper receipts (also handy for those gifts you gave yourself), especially if the ones you actually need tend to disappear into thin air, while proof of your daily Starbucks habit is thisclose to making your wallet explode.
What to do if you don’t have a gift receipt.
Check to see if the gift still has the tags. “Some retailers, like Nordstrom and Macy’s, use specific barcodes on the items that act like receipts, so you’re essentially covered and won’t lose the value on an item that may have gone down in price after it was purchased,” Woroch says. Otherwise, you could still get store credit for a return (depending on the store's exchange policy), but may be stuck with the current or lowest sale price.
How to decide whether to return your gift in-store or online.
If you can return an item purchased online at the brick-and-mortar store, Woroch suggests that option to avoid shipping fees — unless you were also gifted with a prepaid return label, of course. For example, Topshop, Gap, Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s all allow in-store returns for online orders. H&M does not (it also deducts $5.95 from your return for shipping). In that event, Woroch suggests calling the company to ask for a refund of the mail costs — it can’t hurt to ask.
Beware of restocking fees.
This is more applicable to electronic items than, say, a J.Crew dress, but some stores charge from 10% to 25% of the product value to “restock” it. (This helps the retailer recoup costs of repackaging an opened item or making back any money lost to resell it at a sale price.) One way to avoid such a fee is selling your new, unused item on eBay for the full price.
After the return: Make the most of your store credit or gift card.
Most likely you’ll end up with store credit or a gift card in exchange for your gift, so you’ll want to optimize your spending power at that location.
Of course, there are rules to the gift card.
“Consumers should watch out for the fees on prepaid gift cards,” says NerdWallet’s Ong. “Prepaid cards often come with hidden fees like point-of-sale fees, monthly maintenance fees, and reloading fees.” (He also shares a valuable tip for buying gift cards: They are not subject to sales tax, so make sure the store isn’t charging that!)
Yes, you can sell your gift cards for actual money.
Woroch cites that 81% of shoppers will gift those damn cards during the holidays, so chances are, you’ll be receiving a few. And no, you cannot return the gift card to the issuing store for cash, but you can sell those bad boys elsewhere.